Promise Me (24 page)

I was trying not to think about the fact that she was affecting me, along with every other guy, as she tossed back her head and laughed at what Brady was saying, her long blond hair spilling down her back. I couldn’t imagine what was making her laugh like that. He wasn’t that funny.

Cullen huffed in frustration. “Why him? Why not me?”

“Because I told her to stay away from you,” I told him as I took a sip of my beer.

“You did what?” he asked, and it very much looked like he wanted to take a swing at me.

“I'm kidding,” I said quickly.

Although I’d been tempted to do exactly that earlier in the night. Of course I couldn’t justify my reasoning without looking like an overprotective asshole, so I’d kept my mouth shut and hoped Kate would steer clear of Cullen on her own.

But that had been before she’d started flirting with Brady and tossing her hair around and smiling at him like he was worth her time. He wasn’t. Truth be told, if I had a choice between him and Cullen, I’d have probably chosen Cullen. At least I knew he wasn’t a complete dick to women, whereas Brady was a total player. Then again, if Kate went home with Cullen, I’d know about it. There was also a good chance I’d
hear
it, which definitely wasn’t something I wanted.

“I’m going over to intervene. This is bullshit,” Cullen grumbled.

“No need,” I told him as he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

Kate had ended her conversation with Brady and was heading toward us. I watched her grab a few beers from the tub of ice near the bar before she looked at me and smiled. I returned her smile, loving those small moments when it felt like the two of us were the only people in the room – just like it had been when we were kids.

Then I watched as a few of my brothers tried to stop her on her way to us, but she only nodded her head in our direction and skirted their advances. After each time, they’d look over at Cullen and me, and then they’d back off. Finally Kate made it to where we were standing, and she handed each of us a beer.

“This is one hell of a party,” she said as she took a swig of her beer – her fourth if anyone was counting. I might have been the only one, but she seemed a little tipsy to me.

“Well, sure, when you’re the most sought after girl in the room, everyone wants a piece of you,” I teased her.

She rolled her eyes as she took another sip of her beer. “Oh please. That’s so not true.”

“It’s true,” Cullen grumbled, and then he turned to me. “You think she’d give some love to the guys that brought her here.”

“I already did that,” she told him, sounding completely innocent. “Micah and I made out for like fifteen minutes. I figured that would be enough love to pass around.”

I knew she was kidding, mostly because I’d had eyes on her all night, but it was fun to watch Cullen’s mouth fall open in disbelief. “You made out with Micah?”

Kate shrugged. “Just a little. He’s cute. And he’s not a bad kisser.”

“Micah? Really?”

I laughed to myself as Kate winked at me.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Cullen grumbled.

“Oh, relax!” Kate admonished him. “I didn’t make out with him.”

“You didn’t?”

Kate shook her head. “No way. Like I told Jack, I don’t date frat guys.”

“Like at all?” Cullen asked her, like it was the most insane thing she could have said. I had to agree with him.

“Never. Besides, I’m sort of seeing this guy at work.”

“You are?” Cullen and I asked in unison, because she hadn’t said a word to me about dating anyone.

“Yeah, well, we’ve only been out once, but we’ve got another date planned. And he’s sweet. I think there might be something there.”

Dammit
.

Er, no. That’s not what I meant.

What I meant was, good for her.

But I didn’t really mean that.

Shit.

“So there’s pretty much no hope for me?” Cullen asked Kate, and I waited in suspense for her to answer.

I shouldn’t have been that enthralled by who she was or wasn’t seeing, but I couldn’t help it.

“No, I’m sorry, Cullen,” Kate told him. “You’re sweet, and I like you as a friend, but I’m not interested in you in that way.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I guess I’ll go make the rounds then.”

“Have fun,” I called after him, trying to pretend like hearing Kate shut him down didn’t thrill me just a little.

“He seems upset,” she said as she watched him leave. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

“He’ll be fine. Who are you dating?” I asked her once Cullen was out of earshot. “Which guy at Ray’s? And when did you go out with him?”

She took a swig of her beer as she eyed me speculatively. “You seem mighty interested in my love life, Jack Kinsley,” she said playfully. “Why is that?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, not liking that she was teasing me. “Because you’re my friend. I care about you.”

She nodded. “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?” I asked, my guard suddenly up.

She shrugged. “You. You’re interesting.”

“And you’re drunk.”

I figured a conversational tangent wouldn’t hurt. I really didn’t need her honing in on the fact that I was more interested in her love life than I ever should have been.

She shrugged again. “So I am. And I’m glad to be drunk. It’s been a while since I’ve let myself have fun. I’m enjoying it very much.”

“And I’m enjoying watching you enjoy yourself.”

She smiled coyly. “Is that so?”

I nodded. “It is so. Now are you going to tell me which guy you’re seeing, or am I going to have to try and guess when I’m at Ray’s tomorrow afternoon?”

“Now there’s an idea. Making you guess would be interesting and kind of fun. Let’s do that.”

“No!” I said quickly. “Geez, just tell me.”

There was no way I could wait until the next afternoon. I’d die of suspense by then.

“Fine, it’s Justin.”

“Justin? The blond guy who bartends with you sometimes.”

She nodded. “That’s him.”

I groaned. “Kate, he’s a PIKE.”

“A what?”

“A Pi Kappa Alpha. He’s in a fraternity.”

I knew it was a low attempt at turning her off to him, knowing her contempt for frat guys as potential boyfriends, but Justin wasn’t someone I liked all that much. Aside from the fact that he flirted with Kate when they worked together, he also flirted with every other girl at the restaurant. I’d seen it too many times over the past year.

“He is?” she questioned.

“Yeah, he is. And Logan did a group project with him last year, and he missed half of their meetings because of frat stuff. He was pretty unreliable.”

Another very low attempt. I was shameless.

“Really, Jack?”

“Really, what?

“Is that the best you can do?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked her, feigning innocence.

“You’re going to find fault in every guy I might go out with, aren’t you?”

“No,” I said quickly, even though I was lying my ass off.

Kate gave me a look like, ‘Come on, I don’t believe that shit for a second’.

“I’m not,” I insisted. “I just think it’s unfair of you to make a blanket statement about not dating frat guys, turn my friend down in the process, and then you go and date a PIKE. They’re such douchebags. And I know how important school is to you. It’s not to Justin.”

“You don’t even know him!” Kate admonished.

“I don’t have to know him. I know he’s not good enough for you.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes, I am,” I told her, suddenly aware of the fact that we were practically yelling at each other and people nearby were starting to stare.

“You’re such a hypocrite!”

“A hypocrite?! How do you figure?”

“Jack, you barely know me, and you think you can dictate who’s right for me to date?”

“Yeah, I do! But I don’t see how that makes me a hypocrite.”

Kate narrowed her eyes at me. “For someone who’s dating a total bitch, I think it’s a little ballsy of you to try to tell me who I can and can’t go out with. I haven’t said one word about your girlfriend, even though I have no idea what you see in her.”

I didn’t want to think about how many people had just heard her say that and how many of them could report back to Alyssa. I knew my brothers wouldn’t say a word, but that didn’t mean some random girl wouldn’t feel a sense of female pride and tell her everything Kate had said – which was pretty much the last thing I needed. Lys was already jealous of Kate. I didn’t need any fuel added to the fire.

“That’s because you don’t know her like I do,” I told Kate adamantly, making sure anyone in earshot heard me defend my girlfriend.

“You’re right. I don’t,” Kate agreed. “Which is why I’ve never said anything, even though in the few times I’ve interacted with her, she’s been completely rude to me!”

“Yeah, I know she has! And I’m sorry for that!”

Kate faltered. “Okay, good. Thank you for apologizing on her behalf!”

“Why are we still yelling?” I asked her.

“I don’t know!” she yelled back, but then she smiled and lowered her voice. “Are we making a scene?”

I nodded. “A total scene.”

“Dammit. That’s embarrassing.”

“Not so much. Most everyone’s hammered. They’ll never remember this tomorrow,” I told her, hoping that would be the case.

“Well, that’s good to know. I hate making scenes.”

“Me too,” I agreed. “Maybe we should get some fresh air.”

Kate nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”

The house was packed, including the back porch and the front lawn, so we ended up taking our beers and sitting on the tailgate of Micah’s Silverado. We were a hundred feet from the party, so it was quieter, but we could still see everything going on outside the house.

Kate inhaled deeply and looked up at the sky, letting her breath out slowly. I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me or not, but I figured I’d better rectify things if she was.

“I’m sorry for getting territorial about Justin,” I told her. “It was uncalled for.”

She snorted adorably. “I’ll say. Why do you care who I date anyway?”

“Because I care about you,” I told her. “I’m not sure I can explain it, but I feel like I have this deep-rooted connection to you. It’s like a protective vibe or something that makes me want to hurt anyone who could potentially harm you in any way.”

“And you think Justin is going to harm me?” she asked, finally looking over at me.

“He’s a college guy. Yes, I think he’s going to harm you in some way.”

“I’m a big girl, Jack. I can take care of myself.”

I shook my head. “To me you’ll always be the girl next door who I feel like I have to protect. Maybe it’s a guy thing, but it’s just how I feel.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I appreciate the sentiment. But I’ll also remind you that I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I’m not a weak little girl.”

I looked over at her. “No, you’re not. You never were.”

“I couldn’t afford to be. I had to be strong for my mom and Sara. Someone had to do it.”

I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I know. You were strong for me too. When I was crumbling, you were there – each and every time. You’d say the kindest things, you’d make me laugh, or you’d just make sure I knew that I wasn’t alone. I’m not sure I ever thanked you for that, but just know that I was so grateful to have you as my best friend.”

She smiled at me. “Right back at you, Jack. You might not realize it, but you saved me just as much. I needed someone to be silly with and to let go with, and you were that person for me.”

“It’s funny. For a long time, I didn’t remember laughing very much when I was a kid, but I guess I sort of blocked out all the fun we used to have. No matter what shit was going on in our lives, we found a way to escape it – at least for a little while. I’ve been remembering what that was like over the past few weeks.”

“Me too. So do you think this is what it would have been like for us in high school – if you would have stuck around?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hanging out and shooting the shit, getting drunk on cheap beer, you getting all up in my business about who I’m dating?”

“Probably,” I told her, even though in my mind I was thinking something very different about the last thing she’d said.

I knew if I had stayed in Indiana, I would have pursued something with Kate. I would have wanted to date her. I never would have been able to sit back and watch while she dated random guys. Hell, I felt territorial enough about her as it was. I could only imagine how I would have acted had I been single.

“It sort of makes me sad that I missed out on that,” she mused.

“On what?” I asked, wondering if she could somehow read my mind.

“On being best friends with you, going through high school together, hanging out at parties, watching you try to beat some guy’s ass because he was hitting on me – you know, normal stuff.” She winked at me. “High school would have been so much better with you there.”