Page 107 of Promise Me

“Because … I was in love with hockey, and it was taken from me in seconds. I’m afraid that if I let myself feel too much for Sadie, and her memory comes back, it’ll be the same.”

I’ll lose the one thing that I care most about in this world.

Of course, I don’t tell them that part.

They can put it together.

Miles lets out a puff of air. “That’s the most you’ve said to us about your life since you got back.”

“So, are you saying that you’re in love with Sadie?” Dad asks.

My gaze flashes to him, and then Luca chuckles.

“Shit, she’s only been living with you for a few weeks. That was fast.”

I shake my head and run a hand down the front of my face.

“It’s something,” I say and then refuse to fight the grin.

“What does Linc think?” Miles asks.

My smile slips.

“He doesn’t know.”

“He doesn't know that you like his sister?”

“He doesn’t know a lot,” I reply.

Dad chuckles and gets up. “You’d better tell him. He’s your best friend.”

“I know. It just … he asked me to help her, and now we’re … I don’t even know what we are.”

“Are you planning on having a fling with her?” Luca asks.

“What? No. Why would you ask that?”

“Because if you’re not, then you need to tell him, and you need to tell him before he finds out from someone else. He won’t like that you’re hiding this from him.”

“I’m not hiding this. I’ll tell him. I just want to make sure the timing is right.”

“Anytime is the right time,” Dad says from the kitchen.

I know he’s right.

I nod, and the conversation switches to more work talk between Luca’s company and the garage Miles owns. Last summer, he built a house behind it on some property that he bought, and they just finished the apartment that’s attached to theside of the garage. The plan is that someday Dad will move into it, but until then, Miles is considering renting it out.

The rest of breakfast is uneventful, but one thing is for sure by the time I’m backing out of the driveway and heading home.

I’ll be back next week and many more after that.

I pull into my parking spot behind the bar, pop inside to check on the staff, and then head upstairs.

I can smell my apartment before I open the door. The lemon scent that fills the stairwell makes my stomach growl, which is saying something, because I just ate my weight in food at my dad’s.

Sadie doesn’t hear me when I open the door. She’s in the kitchen, the counters are a mess, and she’s swaying side to side as Laney Wilson plays through my little Bluetooth speaker.

I take this moment to watch her.

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