Page 14 of My Promise To Keep

He shook his head. ‘Nah, won’t even discuss it. Bree is dating and tries to encourage Zo, but she says she’s not there yet.’ That shouldn’t have given me relief. I should have just wanted her to be happy.

‘What did Luke make you promise?’ I asked out of nowhere, and Doug blinked as he took a drink. ‘He had us all in there, getting us to promise him shit, what was yours?’ Be careful, Leo. This was a dangerous conversation.

He shrugged and looked as though he didn’t want to answer. ‘Why did it take you this long to ask?’

I narrowed my gaze. ‘I don’t know. I never thought about it before.’

‘He asked me to take care of you.’

Oh. The answer surprised me, and I took a breath.

‘He told me he’d asked you to take care of Zoe. He knew you’d be each other’s connection to him, so he asked me to make sure you didn’t give up on work, on being happy.’

Fuck. The lump rising in my throat was uncomfortable.

‘Shit,’ I whispered as that guilt came back to me. I made a promise, and I was fucking it up.

‘He loved you, brother. He just wanted you to be okay.’

I knew that he did. He wanted me to be better than just okay. Luke wanted me to be happy, really, truly happy.

‘I’m going to open my own shop.’

Doug grinned, and knowing me better than anyone, he knew what that meant for our night out.

‘Let’s get to work then.’

Rib Tattoos Fucking Suck

Zoe

Five (and a half) Years Ago

Stepping into the shopcaused my heart to swell with pride. He’d done it.

I looked around, taking in the artwork on the walls, the cool décor, the retro-style furniture, and then I found him. My heart lurched in my chest. When I told him two years ago that I needed space, I never imagined it would mean so much space, but life got in the way.

He’d left town, gone to the city, to his job, and I got on with running the bar. We shared happy birthday and happy Christmas texts, but I haven’t seen him since that night, since I kissed him.

When Doug told me he was opening his own shop today, I couldn’t stay away any longer. I had to be there. I had to see it — see him.

As his eyes found mine, they lit up, widening and filling with joy as he rushed over and swept me up into his arms, swinging me around as a laugh burst out of me. It was okay. We were okay.

‘You did it,’ I said softly as he put me back on solid ground and beamed with pride.

‘I did.’ Taking my hand, Leo pulled me further into the tattoo shop toward one of the chairs. ‘I missed you, munch.’

‘I missed you too, sugar.’

He leaned in to press his lips to my forehead, and I breathed him in. His warmth, his scent, the calm joy of having him close.

‘You want to be my first?’

I’d like to pretend that him saying that to me, with that ever-present naughty look in his eyes, didn’t do something to me, but I’d be lying. I’d felt it that night at the fair, and it was why I’d kissed him — why I wanted him to kiss me back.

It was a crush on my best friend, something that two years apart had apparently only made worse, and it was something I would ignore until it went away.

‘I would be honored.’

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