Page 2 of Pinky Promises

He tosses the hoodie onto the chair at my desk, giving a small fist pump in the air when it lands perfectly. Just as he climbs into bed, a loud clap of thunder booms, startling me and tearing me out of my daze. Storms aren’t my thing—in fact, they’re downright terrifying. There’s only one thing that terrifies me more than storms, and that’s losing Callum as my best friend. I worry that one day we might drift apart, and just the thought alone makes me want to go into a panic attack. If I allowed myself to give in to any feelings that I might start to feel for him, that could make that fear a reality, leaving me alone.

“Hey, come here,” he says, lifting his arm so I can cuddle into him. It’s not unusual for us to share a bed. He is my person; he has been all our lives.

“Better?” He adjusts the covers over us with one arm while the other holds me tight against him.

With my arm draped over his stomach, the smell of fresh soap and mint invades my senses. How do guys smell so good without even trying? We settle into our own little bubble, the noise from below a worry of the past.

“Much.” I smile against his chest.There’s that funny butterfly feeling in my stomach.I quickly swallow those feelings down.

He presses a kiss to the top of my head. Again, that’s not anything new for us. “Good, me too.”

A moment of silence passes between us as we watch the night sky light up through the french doors. My body rises and falls in sync with his breathing. His thumb traces small soothing circles on the skin exposed from my tank top.

“Thank you for knowing what I needed before I did.”

He chuckles, and my body vibrates as the sound of his laughter travels through me.

“Don’t you know, B”—he calls me the nickname only he gets to use. Just like I am the only one allowed to call him Callum instead of Cal as he prefers, without getting my head bitten off—“I will always be there to make you feel safe—your knight in shining armor.” Another reason to never cross that line with him.

“Promise?” I look up at his blue eyes. Even in the darkness of my room, the blue around his irises shines bright.

He extends his pinky finger out in search of mine, and I wrap my own around his. It’s something we’ve done for as long as I can remember. It was a secret that no one knew but us, a promise of no matter what, it was the two of us against the world. “Pinky promise. Now, let’s get some sleep. I’ve got you.”

Calmness washes over me, wrapping me up like a blanket when I feel his lips press to my scalp a second time. My body begins to relax, and my eyes close as I ignore the party’s chaos below and the storm outside.

---