Page 11 of A Royal Promise
“Your guess is as good as mine. They reminded me how well your arranged marriage turned out, but I mean…have they met Clarissa? I would never be able tolikeher, let alone love her.”
“I usually look on the bright side of things, but she’s just awful. So, why did you tell your parents you were engaged and not just say you are in love with Bri?”
“I didn’t want there to be any room for them to argue. If I only told my parents I love her, it might not have been enough to stop them from trying to marry me off to Clarissa. It sounds stupid now that I’m saying it out loud.”
“It’s notentirelystupid, just a little poorly executed.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He laughed. “But you’re right. I didn’t think through the ramifications. Now my parents want to talk with me and Bri about making a public announcement and planning a wedding…and she still has no idea I’ve pulled her into this. I convinced my parents to skip our monthly game night with her family—mostly to buy me some time to think things through and talk to Bri before my mom says something to Queen Caroline. There’s no way this will stay a secret for long.”
“Yeah, there’s no way you would’ve come out of game night unscathed,” she agreed. “How long ago did you tell your parents you were engaged?”
“The end of last weekend. I know I’ve pushed it by waiting this long. I’m meeting Bri at our treehouse this morning to tell her.”
After a short pause, she asked, “What are you going to say?”
“I’m planning to enact our marriage pact.”
Rosalie gasped. “Excuse me, yourmarriage pact?” She practically screamed the last two words.
He pulled the phone away from his head as his ear rang. Drew took a minute to explain everything that had happened eleven years ago and how he’d dreamed of cashing in the promise he made with Bri back then.
“Wow. I had no idea.” Rosalie’s voice grew quiet. “Do you think she’ll agree to this? I mean, you were kids when you made that promise.”
“I have no idea if she’ll consent to marrying me, but I have to try. I’m more scared of losing her than anything. I can deal with the fallout for not telling my parents the truth, but I don’t want her to be angry with me for dragging her into this. I can’t lose her friendship.”
“Then tell her that. Honesty is the best policy, Drew. You can’t control how she’ll respond, but you can tell the truth.”
“You’re right.” He released a long sigh, letting out all his pent-up anxiety. “Thanks, Rosalie. I really needed to talk this through.”
“Anytime. You keep me updated, okay? I’m invested.”
“I will.”
“And Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“For what it’s worth, I hope she agrees to go through with this. I always thought you two would make the perfect couple.”
He hoped Bri would go along with it too. More than anything in the world. Because while their engagement may not be real, his feelings for her were. Feelings Bri had no idea existed. But he hoped enacting their marriage pact would give him the chance to show her how much he cared about her.
After he hung up with Rosalie, Drew reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a single sheet of paper, stained and wrinkled at the edges. He reread the childish handwriting for the hundredth time. He carried The Marriage Pact with him most days as a reminder, a sort of countdown until he could enact it and marry the person he loved. Until then, he’d done his best to avoid dating any other women.
There was no placeholder.
There was no one else on his radar.
There was only Bri for him. There would onlyeverbe Bri for him.
And even though they’d made the pact when they were kids, Drew still took it seriously. He carefully folded the paper and placed it back in his pocket as the car came to a stop. When he looked outside the window and saw Westridge Palace, his heart raced.
It was time to propose to his best friend.
He scrambled to grab the pink tumbler filled with peach iced tea from the cupholder. The driver came around and opened the door for him. Drew stepped out, giving him a nod of thanks before walking around the side of the palace. With each step he took toward his and Bri’s spot, he calmly whispered to himself, “Breathe.”
When their treehouse came into view, a smile pulled at his lips. It was tucked perfectly into a large oak tree, still standing strong even after all these years.
They had visited this spot any chance they got when they were kids, but it had been much too long since they’d last met here.Drew climbed up the ladder with his free hand, being sure not to spill any tea.
