The Promise (4 page)

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Just do it Jack.”

“I don’t wanna hurt you Soph,” he said, sliding further inside of me at a slow and teasing pace.

“You won’t,” I reassured him. W
hen his eyes met mine, still looking unsure, I pulled myself up to meet his lips. I wrapped my hand around the side of his neck and pressed my lips to his forcefully hoping to wipe away his doubts as I raised my hips to meet his.

Reluctantly
, he pushed into me fully, stealing my breath and letting out his own guttural moan.

“Oh my God
, Baby,” he ground out desperately before his lips finally crashed against mine without restraint. “Sophie, you feel amazing,” he whispered huskily as he pushed deeper inside of me.

He alternated between kissing me a
nd sweet whispers as our bodies found a sensual rhythm. Before long, he began to increase his speed and I found myself meeting him thrust for thrust, relishing each touch, the more he gave himself to me.

“More Jack,” I whimpered desperately into his neck as my head began to swim. Immediately giving me what I wanted, I felt
the delicious friction building, our moans becoming louder as our innocence seeped shamelessly into the grass below us. I could feel a heat building within me at the same time his breathing began to quicken and as if we’d both choreographed it perfectly, we hit our intense, emotional climax together.

As Jack and I lay silently in the grass he held me as our breathing evened out pressing his forehead against mine. Never taking his eyes from mine
, he placed a satiated kiss on my lips and spoke softly. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I replied as he ran his lips down my jaw.

“That was amazing, Baby,” he said as his lips continued down my skin. ”I think I just found my new favorite hobby.” I felt him smile against my neck when I laughed quietly at his words. “What’s so funny? I’m serious. What do you say we drop out of school on Monday so we have all the free time in the world?”

“You’re insane!” I exclaimed laughing harder.

“Hey you asked for it!” he said, meeting my lips with his again. “That’s what you get for stealing my innocence, Baby.”

“You stole mine too
, dork,” I challenged but he shook his head at me.

“I was attacked,” Jack joked. “I was saving myself.”

“In that case, please allow me to apologize!” I laughed sarcastically. “I had no idea you were waiting for marriage. I thought you were just waiting for me to give you the green light.”

“Same thing,” he shrugged. “Either way, it would’ve been you
, Baby.” My eyes softened at his words as he kissed me chastely on the lips. “It’s always been you Soph. You’re my forever.”

When he finally lifted himself from me, I thought he’d want to head back to the party but after he helped me
get dressed, he readjusted his jeans and lay next to me on the grass instead.

He took his phone from his pocket and put on our favorite playlist before laying it beside us
in the grass. I’m not sure how much time had passed. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. We just laid there talking, listening to music and
being
.

Every
so often, I felt his gaze on my face and I would glance over at him. He touched my face, kissed me gently and then we began talking again. I started to drift off in Jack’s arms when one of my favorite songs started playing through the speakers on his phone. I smiled to myself that he had such a sappy song on his playlist but remained silent, not wanting to ruin the perfection of the moment. Jack must’ve thought I’d fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, he began quietly singing along to Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis into my hair in his deep, rich southern voice.

When he made it to the part that tugged at my heartstrings most, the part that told me Jack confesse
d his unconditional love for me, I couldn’t take it any longer. I pulled myself up to him and kissed him deeply startling him from his thoughts. He blushed when I pulled away and chuckled nervously. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Sorry, looks like you’re busted,” I said looking him in the eyes with more love than I ever thought possible
for a girl of eighteen.    

I knew that night as I lay looking into those beautiful blue green eyes
of his that had so often smiled down on me that I would marry Jack Walker someday.

And I would have had life not interfered.

“I love you, Jack,” I whispered into the empty park as a tear slid down my cheek before I walked back to his truck.

***

On the way to the cemetery, I stopped to get a small bouquet of flowers for Jack. It had been awhile since I have visited his grave. Even when my dad passed I’d never spent a lot of time visiting. I just didn’t see the point I guess. His soul isn’t here. There was always something a little different with Jack though. Even though I knew he wasn’t here in spirit, something about being close to his final resting spot made me feel more of a pull to the place.

I walk
ed over to Jack’s headstone and stood there silently for awhile. I run my hand over the smooth granite that bears the name of my lost love and crouched down to take it in. I gently brushed my fingertips over the letters etched into the cool surface dusting the debris away, feeling completely overwhelmed with memories, both good and bad.

Releasing a deep breath, I know I need to do this. I need to talk to him and explain to him
why we’re leaving but for the first time in months, I am speechless. I’ve never had a hard time talking to Jack. Even since he’s passed away I still talk to him often.

Today however i
s different. Today it seems so final.
Too final
. I don’t want him to feel abandoned even though that’s the way I selfishly feel sometimes.

“Hey, Babe,” I start
, sitting down on the small patch of grass in front of his marker. “I just came to talk to you. I miss you so much.”

The quiet surrounds me. I know what I
needed to say but I just couldn’t find my starting point. No matter, I can’t leave until I’ve said what I needed to and I’m not in a hurry so I settle myself.

“I brought you some flowers. I don’t know if guys care about that or not, but I wanted to bring them. I tried to find something manly but there’s a sickening shortage of manly flowers in the world. You’d think someone would’ve tried to remedy that by now,” I exhale
before going silent again for a moment. “Jack, this sucks. I don’t want to bring you flowers. You should be bringing
me
flowers. You should be here with me and you’re not and now I’m stuck buying you these stupid flowers that I know you don’t care about.”

My throat is constricting now.

It won’t be long and the tears will start falling. I need to focus. “Sorry … I didn’t come here to bitch like a lunatic. I wanted to talk to you about something. Ana and I were talking and she thinks we should leave Camden and start over somewhere else. She keeps saying that I can’t move on here but honestly, Jack, I don’t think I can do that anywhere. I don’t want to. I think she needs it though. I don’t want to leave, I don’t want to throw all of our memories behind but I promised you that day at the airport that I’d take care of her and I know this means something to her. I don’t think she can move on or heal in that house. She’s done so much for me that I know I have to help her with this. I know you’ll understand, Jack. I know you get it but it’s still so hard to leave here. I want to be as close to you as I can even though I know we’ll never be the same, but Ana doesn’t work that way. She needs to move on to be happy and she deserves to be happy. I know this is what you meant that day at the airport about taking care of each other. I don’t want to leave, Jack. I don’t want to leave you but I know I have to keep this promise to you and it just sucks!”

Tears are streaming down my face now but I don’t care. I can’t hold them in anymore and to be honest, I
don’t want to. I don’t care that there’s a woman a few rows over. Normally I’d save these tears for when I’m alone but right now I don’t want to control them. “So in order to make you happy, I’ll go but please know that I’ll come back to you. I’ll always come back to you, Jack.”

Minutes pass as I s
it with him, my exhausted body leaning up against the old oak tree that shades his final resting place. I pick at the grass beneath me, a nervous habit I picked up when I was a kid and waiting to be chosen at dodge ball.

“I brought the phone with me so we could listen.” I put on Leona while I told him about my vis
it to the playground. When it comes to the part he sang to me that night and so many after, I stop talking and sing with him. I feel the tears streaming but it doesn’t matter to me who else is in the cemetery. For that moment, we’re together, singing while I lay crying in the grass.

Later that night whe
n I get home, I don’t speak to Ana. I head straight to Jack’s room and collapse onto our bed. I’m emotionally spent from the day, falling asleep before my head hits the pillow. The last thing that goes through my mind while I drift off is Jack walking towards his gate at the airport. That was the last time he left Camden, Leona Lewis and me behind.

Tomorrow i
s going to be a real bitch.

Ana

The drive to Rockport ta
kes about five hours. Since we have to drive separately, I wonder how Sophie is doing. Leaving this morning had been harder than I thought it’d be but I was able to hold it together until I made it to the highway. I don’t think Sophie managed quite so far.

She’d made it until about four thirty
this morning before her nightmares assaulter her and since we both knew sleep would elude us, we decided to get an early start. We’d met Sophie’s Aunt Debbie at Meg’s Diner for breakfast so she could see her before we left for Rockport.

Everything we own
is packed into Jack’s truck and my Jeep with the exception of the small trailer Sophie is pulling that contains our couch and beds. Since the house and everything in it is really all I have left from my family, I can’t bear to sell it so I offered our cousin Lucy and her son JT use it for awhile. That way, she can keep an eye on the place and someone could get some use out of it. Maybe I should have given it to them, but selfish as it is, I just can’t bring myself to do that. 

Our new apartment
is definitely smaller than the house we’re used to, but it’s cozy and I really feel like we’ll settle into it nicely over time. The plan is pretty open and since we don’t have much furniture, I think we’ll have plenty of space for the two of us. Our bedrooms are on opposite ends of the apartment, separated by the living room and kitchen. We each have our own bathroom, probably one of my favorite features after sharing one for so long, and we have a small balcony overlooking the pool below. I’ll have to go into town and look for some nice furniture to put out there so we can enjoy it over the summer. All in all, I have to say I was happy with the place I’ve chosen, even if it is completely different from our house back in Camden.

Maverick, a friend and ex
of mine, has agreed to come and help us get the big stuff moved in, insisting on dinner and crashing on our couch before he drives back tomorrow. After we move the beds and couch up, Sophie and I grab our necessities and excuse ourselves for the night. When I walk into my bedroom, I’m surprised to see Maverick sprawled out across my bed.

“Mav, what the hell are you doing?” I ask.

“I’ve come to tuck you in, Baby,” he responds with a sly grin.

“First of all, I’m not your baby and haven’t been since I caught you cheating on me with that tramp of a girlfriend you
have. Second, get out.” I walk through the bathroom door and shut it behind me, throwing my belongings on the sink. Of all the things I need in my life, Maverick Miller and his big bag of bullshit isn’t one of them. 

Maverick and I met in high school but didn’t actually start dating until a
fter we’d graduated. Things had been getting pretty serious between the two of us when I caught him groping the town’s welcome wagon of a slut Natalie Peirce at a bonfire one night. I was supposed to be at work but we’d been slow and my boss had let me leave early. Ever the dutiful girlfriend, I’d rushed to the party to spend time with Maverick, only to find him knee deep in that whore. Not that I’m bitter.

Actually, even though Ma
verick had broken my heart I know we’ll always be friends. Dating him had been a mistake I’d later realized, because monogamy isn’t really his thing. He’d tried but he just wasn’t one of those guys who’d settle down until he had to.

W
here he fell short in the commitment department, he’s more than made up for with his friendship. If it hadn’t been for Maverick and Sophie, Jack’s death would’ve killed me. I’m trying to forgive him for cheating on me. Even though I knew we’d never get back together, I still love him and can’t deny the attraction and appreciation of his friendship.

Coming
out of the bathroom, I find Maverick leaning up against the doorframe.

“Oh my God, Maverick! What part of ‘get out’ was so hard for you to grasp onto? Seriously!” I sn
ap at him.

“Come on, Ana. Let’s just forget about all the bullshit for one night before I go back home. You know you c
an’t deny you want me,” he grins his stupid, cocky grin at me. I should slap it right off of his face. I won’t though and he knows it. “Who knows when we’ll even see each other again? This could be our last chance to make up for months, Baby,” he leans into me and whispers into my neck. He smells amazing and I won’t deny myself one quick glance at his hardened chest. I place my hand over his abs, gently caressing as I reach up to whisper seductively into his ear.

“Mav?” I breathe into him.

A deep groan rumbles in his chest and I can hear the victory in his voice when he speaks, “Hmm, tell me what you need, Baby.”

“Are you bat-
shit crazy?” I ask, pinching the sensitive skin at his side.

“Ow!
Shit Ana! What the hell did you do that for?” he rubs his side furiously as his eyebrows come together.

“Get. Out.”

He glances down at me and laughs quietly to himself. “When did you get so violent, Ana?”

“About the same time you decided you couldn’t keep
your dick in your pants.” It’s a low blow, but one that we both know he deserves. In the months we’d been together I’d never denied Maverick anything. That’s why when I saw him that night with Natalie, we both knew it wasn’t me to blame.

“Ana,”
Maverick starts as he looks down at the floor before facing me, his soft eyes full of regret. “You know I never meant to hurt you right?”

I release
out a deep breath. “Yeah, I know.”

“But you still
won’t give me another chance?” he asks, sounding defeated.

“Nope,” I sigh
quietly for what seems like the hundredth time.

“Okay, I understand,” he says
, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing me on the top of the head.

“Love ya, Ana,” he whisper
s before turning to walk out of my room.

“I know, Mav,” I sa
y to myself as I watch him leave.

Why i
s my life so complicated? All I wanted was someone to help us unload beds.

***

The next morning after Maverick leaves, I drive into town to run some errands. I’ve been lucky enough to find a job at a hole in the wall pub called Lila’s through a friend back in Camden and tonight will be my first night.  I stop into the post office and grocery store to get some stuff for the apartment. As I head into the gas station, I hear my phone go off. I glance down to search for it in my purse and stop watching where I’m going long enough to run right into a glorious, rock hard chest.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watch…“

“You okay?” I look up into steel blue eyes. They’re filled with concern at first but quickly become laced with humor as he watches me struggle to understand the concept of speech.

“Holy shit.”
Really Ana? That’s the best you can come up with?

“Holy shit, indeed,” he chuckles. Only then do
I realize I’m still groping his magnificent chest in front of the gas station.

Regretfully, I peeled
myself from his body, immediately hating myself for the decision, and take in the rest of the magnificent man who stands before me. Once I tear my eyes from his chiseled chest, I find perfectly tanned skin that frames a warm smile and the most kissable, full lips I’ve ever seen. Beneath the dark five o’clock shadow that surrounds his black goatee, I see deep dimples that I long to trace my fingertips across. His smile reaches his eyes and when I look up to meet his gaze, my breathing falters again. His black hair falls seductively across his brow trying to distract me, but nothing can distract me from these eyes. These eyes own me.

“Sorry …”

“Drake! Come on, man! We’re gonna be late!” A voice booms from across the lot. Mystery man shakes his head slightly before he raises his arm to acknowledge the owner of the voice, looking down at me again.

“Sorry about that, Miss
…?” It takes me another few seconds to realize he’s asking me my name.

How am
I so affected by a mystery man at the gas station?

“Walker. Analise Walker,” I finally
manage to choke out.

“Drake Mitchell,” he
introduces himself as he holds his hand out to me. “It’s a pleasure running into you this morning Analise,” he smiles and winks.

As I ta
ke his hand into mine, I immediately feel jolts of electricity running through my veins.
What the fuck is that
?     

“Dude really?” I can
hear the agitation in the now familiar voice as it comes booming across the lot once more.

“I apologize again, Miss Walker. That’s just my very loud cousin Chase. We’re running late for work. Are you planning on staying in Rockport?” Had any other stranger asked me this,
I’d tell them to get lost. For some reason though, I can’t say that to Drake Mitchell.

“Uh huh,” I say as I nod
dumbly. Apparently this is how I communicate now.

“Okay, well I hope I
bump into you again,” he smiles and throws me another wink as I stand there gaping like a moron. I’m pretty sure I hear a deep, rumbling chuckle coming from him as he walks toward the truck parked across the lot.

Once I fi
nd both my dignity and my phone, I see the missed call from Sophie and call her back. After walking like a zombie through the convenience store, I head home to have lunch with Sophie before my first shift. I recount the meeting with Drake and much to my humiliation she laughs in my face. I’d really hoped it wasn’t as bad as I’d made it seem in my head but according to her, it’s worse.

M
uch worse
.

As beau
tiful a man as Drake Mitchell is, after that embarrassing first encounter, a little part of me hopes I never see him again.

***

Chase

God I do
n’t want to go to work today. I never should have had those last couple of drinks last night but I’ve never had much control over myself where beer is concerned. I haven’t had a hangover in awhile so the one I’m rocking today definitely has me by the balls.

The last thing I want to do w
as go in to work but anything is better than hanging around Rockport all day. I love my hometown but ever since I’d broken things off with Lauren, I don’t like hanging around here much. It’s bad enough she cheated on me with half the guys around this town. The last thing I want are the looks I’ve gotten ever since it happened.

I glance down at my watch to see how late we
are for work and realize Drake has been inside for at least ten minutes.
What the fuck?
I check the rearview mirror and see what, or should I say
who
, is holding him up. He’s standing in front of the door talking to a pretty, petite dark haired woman I’ve never seen before. She looks pretty hot from here but I don’t need to see her to know she’s good looking. Drake is pickier than anyone I’ve ever met when it comes to women. That doesn’t matter right now though. What matters is the fact that he’s paying me hourly and has the balls to make me late.

“Drake! Come on, man! We’re gonna be late!” I yell, laughing when I
saw the girl jump and him shaking his head slightly. He waves me off, silently telling me to shut up as he keeps talking. He’s buying me lunch today. Fucker. I count to ten and look over to see him still grinning like an idiot.

I am too hung over for this shit.

“Dude really?” I yell again. Normally, I’m laid back and patient but an alcohol induced headache and three hours of sleep somehow manages to rip all of the niceness right out of me.

I reach across the cab of my truck and grab the Tylenol out of my glove box before popping a few into my mouth and chasing them with coffee. Drake
is still running his mouth to the pretty brunette so I decide to shut my eyes for a minute and drift off. After a few minutes, I hear the door dinging and cringe myself awake just in time to hear Drake slamming the door shut.

“What the hell were you screaming across the lot for?” Drake ask
s. “I was talking to someone.”

“We’re late fucker,” I sa
y groggily. “Some of us don’t own the company.” Drake laughs as I put the truck into gear and pull out of the space and made my way onto Madison just in time to hit the light. “Who was that anyway?”

“Back off cousin,” he warn
s. “She’s new in town and I’m gonna ask her out.”

“First of all, I think
it’s really lame that you’re picking up chicks at the gas station,” I start as he laughs. “If you’re that hard up, you can have her.” I’m about to make my second point when a grey Dodge pulls up next to me at the light and I hear the music booming from the speakers. I glance over to see who the owner of the intrusion is and immediately feel my jaw drop. Behind the wheel of the truck is the most gorgeous blonde I’ve ever seen in my life and she’s singing along to Alicia Keys at the top of her lungs. “Who is
that
?”