The Promises We Keep (Made for Love Book 1) (110 page)

“
Let her go.
”
My eyes flicker back to Sonny at the sound of his voice
—
which is suddenly starting to sound more familiar.

“
Don
’
t be jealous, man, you had your go,
”
he taunts as he moves his arm from around my shoulders and snakes it around my waist. He smells disgusting and his touch makes my skin crawl. I try and push him away, but his hold is too tight. When Sonny drops his cup, spilling beer all over the floor, and helps the brunette off of his lap so that he might stand, his challenger holds me tighter and I realize he doesn
’
t want me
—
he
’
s
using
me.

“
Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her.
”
His slur is gone and the look on his face is fierce. My heart is beating wildly inside of my chest, partly because I
’
m extremely uncomfortable and partly because I
’
m nervous about what Sonny might do next.

I stomp on my aggressor
’
s toe, but he only laughs before he squeezes me tighter.
“
She
’
s feisty!
”

“
Harris, stop messing around. Let her go,
”
says Jack, who has decided to join in on this confrontation.
“
If you
’
ve got issues with O
’
Conner on the field, take it out at practice
—
not on his girl.
”

“
Oh, but she
’
s not his girl anymore, isn
’
t that right?
”

“
No! It
’
s not!
”
I shout as I try and wiggle my way out of his grasp.
“
We
’
re not
breaking up!
Now let me
—”

“
Get your
fucking
hands off of my girlfriend,
”
Sonny growls. Before
Harris
has a chance to respond, Sonny
’
s fist connects with his jaw. He stumbles backwards, taking me with him; but he
’
s just as startled as I am, so his grip loosens. I push him off of me before he rights himself and then charges for Sonny.

“
Don
’
t
—
!
”
It
’
s not even necessary for me to finish my sentence because, before he can close the distance between himself and his intended target, Hammy
’
s got him around the waist.

“
Get him out of here, Ave. Now.
”

I reach for Sonny
’
s hand and head for the door without a single backwards glance. By the time we reach Hammy
’
s SUV, he
’
s right behind us. I insist that Sonny sit in the front seat and he obeys with little argument. The entire drive home, no one says a thing. It
’
s an uncomfortable silence, but I have no intention of breaking it. I can hardly believe how this day is ending
—
or, rather, how this day is
beginning
.

I
’
m not really sure what to do once we get back to the apartment complex, but when we get out of the car and Grayson reaches for me to steady himself, I decide I can at least get him into his bed. Unfortunately, we only make it as far as the couch before he complains that the room is spinning and he needs to lay down. He stretches his long frame across the couch and closes his eyes while I take off his shoes. Beckham goes to fetch him some ibuprofen while I go and fill up a glass of water. We manage to get him to down a couple pills and drink the full glass. I
’
m just getting ready to head home when he reaches out his hand and wraps it around my leg.

“
Don
’
t leave me. Shorty, please don
’
t leave me.
”
I sweep my hair behind my ears and exchange a look with Beckham. He offers me no more than a shrug and a smirk before he makes his way to his room and closes himself inside.
Thanks, Hammy.
“
Don
’
t leave me,
”
Sonny begs, propping himself up on his elbows so that he can look up at me.

“
Okay.
”
He guides me down onto the spot where he was previously resting his head and uses me as a pillow, wrapping one arm around my waist and another across my legs, like he usually does.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
he whimpers, tightening his grip around me.

“
For what?
”
I ask, my exhaustion making it too difficult for me to decipher what he
’
s trying to say.

“
For everything.
”

My fingers find their way into his wavy mane and I relax for the first time in days. It
’
s not even his apology that calms me, but the soft texture of his hair and the weight of his head in my lap
—
the warmth of his breath against the skin of my bare legs. I know that everything is not okay and that one drunken apology isn
’
t enough to fix the damage we
’
ve managed to create over the last week, but I can feel that my heart is already on the mend
—
in this
one
moment, it
’
s already starting to heal. He
’
s my person. No matter what, he will always be my person. Right now, that
’
s enough.

“
Alright,
”
I finally speak.
“
Let
’
s just talk about it in the morning, okay?
”

“
You won
’
t leave me?
”

“
I won
’
t leave you, love. I promise.
”

I think I
’
m going to throw up. I lift my head and open my eyes and it takes me a minute to figure out where I am. Slowly, I remember that I
’
m at home, on the couch, with Avery. I don
’
t have time to relish in the fact that my girl is here because if I don
’
t get my ass up, I
’
m going to vomit all over her. I manage to make it to the bathroom just in time and proceed to empty my stomach of all of its contents. I feel better, but I don
’
t feel good.

I decide to brush my teeth, needing to rid my mouth of the alcohol residue from earlier, and everything else that just came up. Once isn
’
t enough, so I do it two more times and then head to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The cool drink is refreshing, but I still feel like I reek of beer, so I decide to take a shower. Before I do, I check on Avery. She
’
s sound asleep, propped against the arm of the couch. I scoop her into my arms and lay her in my bed before I return to the bathroom.

I turn the water up as hot as I can stand it and position myself right underneath the spout. I know that I
’
m going to have to deal with a lot of consequences today, but I choose not to dwell on them in this moment. The time will come sooner than I want it to, anyway. When the water starts to get cold, I scrub away most of the decisions I made last night
—
all but the one that will never go away. When I step out and dry myself off, I feel almost like a new man, but with old scars.

I tug on a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt and then head back to my room. Avery has shifted onto her side and her back is to me. I close us in and then climb in the bed with her. I lay on my side, too, so that we
’
re facing each other, and I watch her sleep.

She came and got me
, I think to myself as I reach out and sweep her hair behind her ear and brush it over her shoulder.
She told Harris that we weren
’
t breaking up and she brought me home. I was so sure that she wouldn
’
t want me after this week
—
but maybe I was wrong. Having her here, laying with me, maybe that
’
s reason enough for me to latch onto hope. Even if it
’
s not, I can
’
t help but pray that we can fix what I
’
ve broken. Lord
—
I don
’
t want to be without her. If she still wants me when she wakes up, I swear I
’
ll do whatever it takes to earn back her trust.

I
’
m not sure what time it is, but I can tell that the sun is starting to come up. I imagine Beck will be up soon in order to get ready for church. I think about waking Ave, but I start falling asleep before I can bring myself to disturb her. I
’
m half sleeping when I feel her fingers trace along my hairline down the side of my face. I keep my eyes closed but drape my arm around her waist and pull her against me. She comes willingly and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“
You smell like you again,
”
she says softly.

“
I got up and showered,
”
I explain.

“
And brought me to your bed?
”

My eyes snap open when I
’
m suddenly reminded of the last time she and I were in this bed. I didn
’
t stop to consider how she might feel uncomfortable here. With
me
. God
—
I
’
m such an ass!
“
I
’
m sorry,
”
I stammer as I begin to sit up.
“
I didn
’
t think
—”

“
Sonny, it
’
s okay. Lay down. I
’
m fine.
”