Page 38 of Promised Secret
“Listen, there’s been a misunderstanding,” I told her. The sooner I cleared this up, the quicker I could get back to Dan. Our food was quickly cooling on the tray, and nobody wanted a soggy corn dog.
She tilted her head in a way that reminded me of Karla. Her blonde hair fell down her shoulders, reaching all the way to her hips. She had hair like Rapunzel, and while some guys might find that hot, I couldn’t stop imagining the tangled mess in bed.
Short hair was so much more convenient, plus Dan’s hair felt so nice between my fingers. His hair had grown out recently. It wasn’t super long, but long enough for me to get a good grip.
I bet he’d look sexy with him flat on the bed, his black strands fanning his face, and me on top of him…
And whoa!
Where hadthosethoughts come from?
I wasn’t too manly to admit I loved Dan, but not like that… Neverlikethat.
I loved him in the way best friends loved each other. In the way you loved the person who knew you best.The person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with…
Why did it suddenly sound like the vows Mom took with Victor when they got married?
Surely some wires got crossed or something, because I wasn’t even into men like that. Besides the whole jerk-off session with Dan the other day, I’d never been physically attracted to men. Fine, there was the one other time I got an erection kissing him…
Maybe this was the new version of the Dan effect.
The adult version.
When we were kids, he had a way of getting everyone’s attention, and now as adults, he was what? Getting me hard?
None of this made any fucking sense, but then Mom’s vowsto Victor came into mind:when I look at him, I see my future.
And my god, could I resonate with that.
My ten-year-old self knew there was something special about Dan the first time I met him. He looked at me and didn’t see a victim. He saw me as someone who could be a protector, when I’d been anything but.
I wanted to be the hero he saw in me, even if I was still the terrified little boy inside.
My thoughts were swirling faster than I could keep up with. My relationship with Dan was now under scrutiny.
Jessica put her hand on my arm. “Misunderstanding? You’re Clay Segall, aren’t you?”
I couldn’t think straight with this distraction here, but there was one thing I was certain about. I looked at Dan, and I saw my future, because I couldn’t see anyone other than him next to me.
Dan stood, eyes piercing me where Jessica was touching me. Emotions flashed in his eyes. Pain and something else, but he turned around too quickly for me to discern what it was.
And there goes my future, quickly striding away from me.
Chapter Fourteen
CLAY
There came a time in every man’s life when he had to decide between doing what was proper and doing what his heart wanted.
Fuck manners when the person who’d restarted my heartbeat was hurt and running fromme.
I brushed off Jessica’s arm, threw apologies over my shoulder as I dropped my tray at the table Mom and Victor were sitting at, and booked it after Dan.
I vaguely heard Mom shouting my name over the drum of my heartbeat in my ears, but my feet didn’t slow down until I’d caught up to Dan.
“Wait,” I called, reaching out to grab his shoulder. Dan stopped, but he didn’t turn around.
I huffed out a couple of breaths, trying to get the air in my lungs. Working as a police officer for a slow-paced town had slowed me down as well. I’d kept up my weighttraining at the gym, but I really needed to work on my cardio.
