Page 9 of Sanction

“Yeah, you just missed it,” Maverick says as he slaps him on the shoulder like it’s no big deal.

Everyone seems to think it's no big deal.

“Dani, I’m sorr...”

“Save it,” I snap.

His eyes widened and he glanced over at my mom.

“I’m ready to go,” I say as I brush past him and march to my mom's car.

That’s why he was late? A girl? I angrily swipe a tear from my eye. I’m so mad at him. He broke his promise. He’s never broken a promise to me.

I’m sitting in the back seat when there’s a tap at my window. It’s Travis. I sit with my arms folded, facing the front. He slowly opens the door. I can tell he’s trying not to set me off. He knows by now it won’t be pretty.

“Dani,” he says quietly.

“You promised,” I say through a quiet sob.

“I know I did. It’s my fault. I wasn’t paying attention…”

“I know what you were doing Travis.” I glare at him.

“I’m sorry.” He reaches for my shoulder, but I lean away.

“Just go away,” I whisper.

He sighs and steps back, closing my door. As soon as he walks away, I let the tears fall.

The next morning, I woke up to blueberry pancakes being delivered to my room. Travis sat a tray across my lap that held my favorite mug filled with Sunny D. The pancakes made my stomach growl and I tried to pretend I wasn’t impressed. Even though I was.

“I messed up Daniella. I’m sorry I wasn’t there and I want to make it up to you,” he tells me as he takes a seat at the edge of my bed.

I quietly cut a piece of pancake and slid it through some syrup. “I’m listening.”

He smirks. “I’m thinking of lunch at Shrimpy’s, then a movie?”

I raise a brow.

He purses his lips and rubs his hands together. “And I'll take you to the track.”

I smile and set down my fork. “I’m liking the offer. I do believe twenty dollars to go towards my gambling endeavor is necessary though.”

He shakes his head and flings back on my bed. “You do realize it’s illegal for you to gamble?”

I shrug.

“How would you like that, Princess? Large bills or small?” He teases.

“You know me. Go big or go home,” I joke.

We laughed and he sat up next to me as I finished off my pancakes. He even let me turn on Friends. Mom got me hooked a few months ago.

His face grew serious when he cleared his throat. “Dani, I will never break another promise to you again.”

I couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the guy next to me. This was one of the things I loved about Travis. When he was wrong, he said he was wrong, and he tried to fix it. I know I’m only twelve, but sometimes I feel older. Like I skipped the whole pre-teen stage and I went straight to young adulthood. I’m sure it has to do with the atmosphere I was raised in. A motorcycle club isn’t your typical childhood experience.

Sighing with a full belly, I leaned back against the headboard and let my head fall to his shoulder.

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