Page 73 of Promise Me

I let out a soft laugh.

“The latter.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“You sound like a therapist,” I tease. “Ask it the way it first comes to your mind.”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“Do it.”

“No.” Now he’s laughing.

“Just ask me the question the way Hudson would ask it.”

“No.”

“Hudson!”

“Fine. On a scale of one to ten, how much do you want to cry right now?”

I open my mouth, ready with a smart-ass remark, but pause. That definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.

I start to crack up, and then shove his arm.

“Wow.”

“You said to just ask it.”

“I know.”

“That’s why I think them through.”

“You can’t now. I know how your brain works.”

He just shakes his head.

I think his question over for a moment.

“A three.”

His brows shoot to his hairline. “A three, huh?”

I nod. “One for the picture I saw when I left, one for how Dad looks at me when they mention something I don't remember, and one for us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because it took me hitting my head a little too hard for us to become friends. It makes me sad.”

He pulls into a spot behind the bar, gets out, and opens my door for me.

“Don’t waste any tears on me, Sadie. I’m not worth it, and besides, after another week as my roommate, you’ll be singing a different tune. One that will have you eager to not remember thepast—you’ll simply just want to move forward and be happy again.”

We ascend the steps in silence as I think over his words.

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