Page 131 of Promise Me Nothing
Or at least, aren’t as bad as he’s imagining.
“I brought her here for areason,” he spits. “There was a plan. I can promise that it didn’t include you getting your dick wet. And when you run off to London at the end of summer, guess who gets stuck cleaning up your mess.”
At the callousness of his words, I see red, my logical mind flying out the window.
“Fuck you, Lucas!” I shout, jamming a finger into his chest. He bats my hand away, his nostrils flaring. “I was against this from the very beginning. So don’t try to rest the blame on me. It wasyouthat made up the excuses so I’d bump into her. It wasyouthat said I needed to be the one to spend the most time with her.”
“That’s not how it was.”
“That’sexactlyhow it was.Youbrought Hannah here.Youwere the one who was so sure that if she met Ivy, felt welcomed, thought she had a family here, that she’d be that much more likely to help. And then what did you do as soon as she got to town? You bailed. You spent all your time with Otto or Lennon or who-the-fuck-ever, going off to surfing competitions and disappearing. And you left me to handle your stupid fuckingplan. So I handled it.”
He just shakes his head, the anger rolling off of him in waves.
“Nothing else to say?” I taunt.
We stand in silence for a second, just glaring at each other, our chests heaving like we’ve been running for miles.
And that’s when I realize what I’m seeing on Lucas isn’t anger.
Well. It is.
But it’s different.
Because mixed in with that anger is pain. And if I know him at all… regret.
“Look,” I say, dropping my arms and resting my hands on my hips, trying to sort out what to say to deescalate this. “We all have feelings involved in this. Much more than I ever would have thought if you’d told me this was going to happen. But this is where we’re at.”
Lucas continues to glare at me, and I can tell he’s trying to hide how he feels. But I can see the pain of guilt around the edges. The emotions he feels because we both care about someone who was supposed to be a means to an end.
A way to possibly change Ivy’s life forever.
We just never really thought through the fact that bringing her here would change all of our lives, too.
“When you told me about Hannah and Joshua…” I shake my head. “I mean… that was years ago. Almost a decade. We were just kids ourselves, okay? I think we both wish things had worked out differently. And I’m truly sorry that I talked you out of contacting her back then. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good relationship with hernow.It doesn’t mean the only reason Hannah is here is because we need her to help Ivy. Not anymore.”
He sighs, downs the rest of his drink, sets it on the counter.
But before I can say anything else, make my final plea, I see something.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. The front door slowly being pushed open. The blare of sunlight illuminating the room and the outline of someone standing in the doorway.
Hannah.
Hannah is standing in the doorway.
Why is Hannah standing in the doorway?
All I can see is the expression on her face.
The pain and disbelief in her eyes.
Her almost ashen skin.
“I forgot my phone.”
It’s the only thing she says, her eyes connecting with mine for only a brief second, then flitting to Lucas, a hint of fear and sadness mangled in with rock bottom devastation.
And like an idiot, I’m so stunned by her presence that I just stand there, my mouth gaping, surprise etched in my every atom of being.
