Page 82 of Every Broken Promise
“I know the Kanes. They’re family,” I stated as I removed his hand and got out of the car. To try and diffuse the tension, I turned back before I closed the door and gave him the brightest smile I could muster. “You were a lifesaver today, Ronnie.”
“Prince Charming, don’t you forget that,” he joked.
I just waved and began to walk toward the auto shop. Tyler was staring at me—nope, he was staring at Ronnie. Even as I walked closer to him, his eyes didn’t move from the car behind me.
Once I was near hearing distance, he nodded toward where I assumed Ronnie was still parked.
“Who’s the tosser?” he asked with a bite to his tone.
“How dare you,” I hissed.
What I said went over his head. Instead, he pulled out a rag from his back pocket and cleaned his hands.
“Who’s that guy, beautiful? And why does he keep looking at you?”
Ignoring him, I kept walking until I was inside the garage with him. Without bothering to turn back toward Ronnie, I moved to the side where the button to close the bay window was, and I pushed it.
Ty raised a brow at me when we made eye contact, but he didn’t say anything about my actions.
Once the door was down enough that it covered half my body, I moved my hand up and pointed my finger in his face.
“How dare you steal my car? I should have called the cops on you. That shit is illegal.”
“Jesus,” he murmured as he took a step toward me.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Tyler?” I shouted his name as I tried to hit his chest.
I don’t think it was so much that he took my car but the fact that I had to get a ride with Ronnie because of him. Add the fear that went through me upon not seeing my car—that shit wasn’t nice.
Tyler wrapped both his hands around my wrist and pulled me flush against his body, and then he kissed me.
The first kiss he ever gave me was slow—a promise of what was to come. This kiss was fire. It incinerated me, and all I could do was hold on for the ride. Tyler fought my mouth for dominance. The kiss was almost angry with a twinge of bitterness.
All the time we wasted when all along we could have been doing this.
THIRTY
If I could reliveany day of my life on a loop, I wanted it to be this one. Astrid was in my arms. Her hands were wrapped around my shoulders, and her mouth was making the sweetest fucking noises as I kissed her.
This was not where I expected things to go once she found out I took her car from her. I figured she would bitch me out, but once I had her here, it would give us a chance to talk and clear the air.
Deep in my bones, I knew all we needed was some time to lay our cards on the table. She couldn’t hate me after I came clean. We had too much history to let it go to waste.
When I saw her get dropped off, I wondered who the douchebag was. In that moment all I could think about was the fact that she still had a life outside of the moments we shared—moments I forced upon her—and I was jealous. I was jealous of everyone who she gave her time to freely. Time that once upon a time used to belong to me.
It’s crazy how a thousand feelings can rush through you at once. Some are filled with pain, others with loneliness. Where would we be now if I had told my best friend I was falling in love with her?
In trying so hard not to be like my father and Ezekiel, I turned out just like them. I had pushed my best friend away from me, and I didn’t have to say any words to do so. My silence spoke volumes.
“You said my name,” I groaned against her lips, as my hands moved down from her hips so I could grab her and lift her.
Instinct took over on her part, and she wrapped her legs around me. She fit perfectly against my body.
My hands were meant to carry her.
I cupped her ass, and she squirmed, causing her pussy to grind against me. What I wouldn’t give at this moment to have her do that against my aching dick bare.
No one was here today but me. It was a slow day, and I told my family I could manage on my own unless I had to do some towing because the deal I made with Haywards’ Garage was my own, and I wouldn’t bother my brothers with it.
