The Promises We Keep (Made for Love Book 1) (32 page)

“
Not to me, there isn
’
t,
”
I declare, shaking my head to emphasize my point.

Suddenly I
’
m being swept off my feet, literally and figuratively, and Sonny cradles me in his arms as we reach the stairs that will lead to my front door. I squeak out my surprise and am silenced when he pecks my lips.
“
Stay this incredible always, will you?
”

I grip him tighter, pulling myself closer to him.
“
I
’
ll try if you will.
”

“
Deal,
”
he replies as he begins carrying me up the steps.
“
Now you have to make me another promise,
”
he says as he sets me down at in front of my door.

“
What promise is that?
”

“
I have to see you tomorrow.
”

“
Yes,
”
I spit the word out almost before he can finish his sentence.
“
And the day after that. And the day after that.
”

“
And the day after that,
”
he continues as he takes both of my hands and laces his fingers with mine.
“
And the day after that.
”

“
And the day after that,
”
I manage to say before he reaches down and silences me once more with a kiss. I part my lips for him, wanting desperately for this moment to last forever. I know I need to say goodnight, but my heart is doing a fine job of assuring my body that we can stay out here with Grayson for a while longer. His tongue is also quite convincing. I
’
m about to let go of his hands, so that I can reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, when I hear a door open. When Sonny pulls away from me, I realize
whose
door has just been opened
—
mine
.

And the person who opened it?

Addie.
Of course
it
’
s Addie. We
had
to get caught by the
one
person I was worried the most about telling.

I step away from Sonny, as if any distance between us would erase what my sister just saw us doing. I bite my bottom lip as I try and figure out what she
’
s thinking. She
’
s just standing there, in the door way, in a tank top and pajama pants, gaping at us. Before I can think of what to say, she
’
s screaming. I
’
m talking
full on, ear piercing, scream
. The next thing I know, she
’
s hurling herself at me. She wraps me in a tight embrace as she starts giggling. Giggling.

Giggling?

I look over her shoulder at Sonny who looks both frightened and amused at the same time. I have no idea what
’
s happening so I just stand still as Addie continues to
lose her mind.
She must realize I
’
m confused when I don
’
t return her embrace, so she pulls away from me and throws herself at Sonny. He laughs as he wraps his arms around my sister, who is now practically bouncing. It isn
’
t until she pulls away from him that I see the
huge
grin that lights up her entire face.

“
What is happening out here?
”
asks Sarah as she appears in the doorway.

“
We
—”

“
No! She has to see it,
”
Addie practically shouts.
“
In fact
—
does anyone else know? They mustn
’
t, or I would know, too.
”
Did she just say mustn't?
Clearly she's started her summer reading list.
I dismiss the thought as she spins to face Sarah and grabs her hand.
“
You
’
re
not
going to believe this. Come on. All of you!
”
I barely have time to think before she
’
s dragging Sarah between us and down the stairs. Sonny and I exchange confused looks but don
’
t move.
“
Get your butts down here!
”
Addie calls up to us. Sonny shrugs, closing our front door before following them.

I take two steps and groan pathetically. My feet
do not
want to play with the stairs right now. Sonny hears my protest and chuckles before he wraps one arm around my waist and pulls me off of my feet and into his side. I rest my hands on top of his broad shoulder as my stomach tingles pleasantly. I've been in his arms tonight more times than I can count. I love it. I swear, he makes me feel like I weigh no more than his backpack. As soon as we've made our descent, I'm placed back on my feet.

Addie goes to knock on Sonny
’
s door and then turns to face him.
“
What am I doing? You live here
—
open up,
”
she demands, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. He does as he
’
s told and we all find Beckham and Jackson sitting on the couch, immersed in a video game that gets paused when they spot the crowd at the door.

“
Hey, guys,
”
says Jack, suspiciously.

“
What
’
s going on?
”
asks Hammy.

“
I have to show you something!
”
says Addie with a hop. I
’
m still completely lost as to what
’
s going on. My sister, who has been crying for the past four days, is suddenly
—
and literally
—
bouncing off the walls.
“
Sarah, come in here. Grayson, you stay out there.
”
She pushes him back outside with me and pulls Sarah inside.
“
Now, I
’
m going to close this door. You two just keep doing what you were doing a second ago,
”
she says with a wink before closing us outside.

A wink.
Addie just winked at me
.

I shake my head in an attempt to scatter my thoughts so I can begin to piece together everything that just happened.
“
I
’
m confused
—
she wants us to kiss?
”
is all I can manage to come up with.

Sonny grins at me before he speaks.
“
Yeah, I think so.
”

I
’
m temporarily distracted by his barely-there-dimples but I force myself to concentrate on the situation at hand.
“
She
’
s lost it.
”

Before Sonny can respond, Addie opens the door. I cough out a laugh at the sight of her, Sarah, Hammy, and Jack all standing on the other side looking out at us. Sonny laughs even harder, clearly tickled by this whole thing.

“
Guys, come on,
”
Addie whines. Her grin, however, is still intact.

All at once, it clicks.

She
’
s excited about us. Really excited about us. Right now, she's showing us off like a proud mama.

“
Let
’
s try this again, shall we?
”
she chirps before shutting the door once more.

“
Avery,
”
Sonny murmurs, reaching for my hands.
“
I told you she would be happy for us.
”

Hearing him say it seems to make it that much more real and I'm so relieved that a laugh bubbles its way out of me.
“
You were right. Did you see her face?
”

“
I did,
”
he says, stepping closer to me.
“
The question now is, should we do as she asks?
”

“
Are you kidding?
”
I scoff.
“
I haven
’
t seen my sister with a real smile in almost a week. Get over here, Hottie!
”
He doesn
’
t need to be told twice. As he begins to kiss me, I forget that we
’
re about to have an audience. Even if I hadn
’
t, the instant his lips graze mine, I don
’
t think I could
’
ve cared less. When Sonny reaches up to circle his hands around the back of my neck, supporting my head as he deepens the kiss, I know he's just as lost in me as I am in him. I grab hold of his wrists as I push myself up on my tiptoes, wishing to be closer to him than my height or my heels can manage. I don't hear it when the door opens, so we don
’
t stop until the screaming and the tackling starts
—
Hammy and Jack practically pummel Sonny, effectively putting an end to our moment.

“
So it
was
a date,
”
I hear Jack say.

“
It
’
s about
time
,
”
says Hammy.

“
Well, praise the Lord!
”
cries Sarah as she grabs my hand and starts pulling me away from the ruckus.
“
We need details. And oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. You talk, I
’
ll bake.
”

“
Girls night!
”
squeals Addie.
“
Bye, boys.
”

I look over my shoulder as both Sarah and Addie pull me up the stairs. Grayson, who has managed to wrestle his way free from the dog pile, catches my eye and flashes me a grin. A part of me wants to go back to him so we can finish our goodbye, but a bigger part of me knows that I'm headed exactly where I belong. I'm finally going to get to tell Addie and Sarah what I've been aching to tell them. The joy that's practically bursting out of every one of Addie's pores tells me that she needs this impromptu girls night just as much as I do. So I simply smile back at my boyfriend, knowing we'll have tomorrow. For now, our secret is out.

And this is what it feels like to be incandescently happy.