Page 45 of Promised Secret
The bathroom door opened, and I caught Jones’ eye before I could end the kiss.
He couldn’t hide the fluster on his face as he backtracked. “Looks like they’re cleaning the bathrooms rightnow,” he said to someone behind him as the door swung fully closed.
Clay turned around at the sound of Jones’ voice, but he only saw a closed door. He faced me again, and his hand stroked my face nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, my heart hammered so hard in my chest I heard the pounding in my ears. Clay’s eyes were closed, so he probably didn’t know that we’d just been caught kissing.
Jonesknew.
Chapter Sixteen
DAN
My heart was racing through the rest of brunch. I kept watch of Jones, trying togauge for a reaction, but he was decisively not glancing my way.
By the way he was avoiding both my and Clay’s eyes, I knew there was no doubt we’d been caught.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck!
How had we come to this?
It all started with one drunken kiss, and that was all it was supposed to be. But then my greed took over until Clay and I were acting like it was totally normal for two stepbrothers to be kissing.
And now we were caught byJones, no less. I loved my friend, but everyone knew he was a gossip. I could already imagine it. By the end of the night, the entire town was going to be talking about it, which meant our parents were sure to find out too…
I could already picture mylao-ba’s face of horrorat finding out his child was going around kissing his wife’s son.
Jones and Ryan invited us back to their cabin after brunch since Karla was playing at her friend’s house today. I was quick to agree, hoping to get Jones alone to do some damage control.
Jordan and Wren had other obligations and parted with us outside the diner. Ryker and Sam came with us too, stating they wanted to see the puppies.
Clay’s usually calm energy turned excited at the mention of puppies, and as soon as we arrived at their cabin, he was bouncing toward them.
Lily had recently given birth to three puppies. The two black ones were already spoken for after they were old enough to leave their mom, and Jones and Ryan decided to keep Lily’s mini-me for Karla.
I could only watch from afar, being allergic to them and all, but I had to admit the puppies were cute, tiny little things. And Clay looked fucking adorable gushing over them.
Today, I couldn’t even appreciate the view, not when I was full-on panicking.
“Can we talk in private?” I asked Jones while the others were distracted with the pups.
He looked like he dreaded this conversation as much as I was, but he nodded and led me to his bedroom. Shutting the door, he leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest. He was closed off, his expression unreadable, and I was panicking evenmore.
“So…” I started, kicking my feet against his wooden floor. I tucked my hands into my front pockets, feeling like I was a kid sent to the principal’s office. I didn’t know the best way to start the conversation, so I ended up with saying, “You saw.”
Jones nodded, crushing any last hope that maybe he hadn’t seen after all.
My mouth was dry, but I still pushed out the words. “Can you keep it a secret?” I asked softly, eyes begging him in request.
He frowned, and something akin to hurt flashed through his face.
“Do you really think I’d blab about this to others?” he asked, and there was no masking the hurt now.
My mouth opened, but I was speechless. I was such a shitty friend because Ihadn’texpected him not to gossip about this. That was just how things worked in small towns like this, and even if Jones was one of the best guys I knew, I didn’t think he would be the exception.
The problem was, I’d worried for so long about what would happen when my secret crush was exposed that the only outcome I could see was one where my life imploded. I wasn’t thinking about Jones being my friend. He was the person who’d set off this ticking time bomb.
I missed the chance to explain myself, and Jones let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Wow, okay. I can’t believeone of my best friends thought I could hurt them like that by spilling their secret.”
