Forgotten Promises (The Promises Series Book 2) (18 page)

“That’s gross, assholes! So, you guys do realize I’m the only single one now since this dick,” he points to Jackson who scowls in return, “decided to shack up with the rack on legs inside.”

“Dude that’s my fucking girlfriend—don’t call her that!”

“Seriously, YOU were calling her that a few days ago!”

I laugh and look over at Jackson. “How did that come about? Since when do you do girlfriends?”

“Says Mr. Bang Them and Bail himself! Things change; you of all people should get that. I like her, she’s cool.”

I nod knowingly and TJ groans.

“What the hell is up with everyone? Damn, next you’ll be braiding each other’s hair and talking about your periods syncing and shit.” Jackson and I laugh as he stares at us disappointedly. “I’m going back inside. Casey talks better smack than you two powder puffs.” With that, he steals Jackson’s beer and disappears into the house hollering for someone to turn the chick music off.

Jackson leans forward and blows out a breath. “So I need to give you a heads up; there are some rumors circulating around school. I’m not sure if you and Blair are planning on being there Monday morning, but I thought you should know.”

“Okay, what rumors?” I ask feeling suddenly on edge.

He cringes a little before answering through gritted teeth. “That you were hooking up with Della before you and Blair set off on your trip. You didn’t, did you?”

I stare at him with a panicked look on my face.

“Shit. You did, didn’t you?”

“What? No! At least, I don’t think I did. Fuck, I don’t know…I have amnesia for god's sake! I wouldn’t do that to her. I love her, I…I…” My leg thrusts out as I kick the lounge chair TJ just vacated in a fit of frustration, and watch as it digs into the lawn and tumbles onto its side.

“It sounds like something I would have done before Blair. What if I did?”

“What if you did what?” she asks, appearing on the patio.

Fuck.

“Um, I’ll be inside,” Jackson says, giving me a wide-eyed stare that tells me I’m screwed as he passes.

I run my hands over my head and grip the back of my neck. She stays unmoving, like she knows I’m about to say something she doesn’t like. I pull her into my lap and kiss her temple quickly. “Don’t be mad okay?”

“That’s the worst opener to a conversation you could ever say, Ethan!”

I take a deep breath and tell her about the rumors in one long exhale.

“Did you do it?”

“Truthfully? I don’t know; I don’t remember. But I swear to you, Princess, the way I feel about you…I don’t think I could have. I love you, Blair, honestly. I can—” my flustered rambling is cut off as she places two fingers over my mouth, silencing me.

“Della’s jealous. She pretty much hates me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s started these stories up herself to break us up. If you say you think you didn’t do it, then I believe you.”

My jaw goes slack, and I look at her in awe. “As easy as that?” I say in a disbelieving tone and watch the frown grip her lips.

“Yeah, I trust you Ethan. One hundred percent.”

I kiss the frown right off her beautiful face until her lips are swollen and my chest burns from the lack of oxygen. I’m about to delve in for more when her cell starts to beep.

“It’s probably my mom messaging me,” she says retrieving the phone from her back pocket. The screen says, ‘Moira’ and I glower, remembering it's not the first time I’ve noticed my mom texting her. Blair’s eyes dart to mine and then to her cell, and I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Why’s my mom been texting you?”

She stays quiet a beat too long and my anxiety grows.

"I’ll explain when everyone has gone home, okay?” The way she answers doesn’t overly inspire my confidence that it’s nothing to worry about. I slide her off my lap and walk straight into the house, announcing that everyone needs to go because I’m wiped out. Blair looks like she’s about to throw up as I close the door after Casey and Brie take a ridiculously long time to say goodbye.

I lean my back against the door, take a deep breath and steel myself for the blow that I’m certain she’s about to deliver.

“Okay, Blair. What’s going on?”

CASEY AND BRIE ambush me as the guys pile into Ethan’s front hall. With the exception of how I am with him, I’m most definitely not what you would deem a touchy girly girl. Their assault on me takes me by surprise. They hug me like Em would have, and although I feel awkward I’m also a little taken back at how good it feels to have girlfriends. I miss Em every day; knowing that these two have my back is like a balm soothing the void losing her has caused.

They start talking at a million miles an hour over one another, and my head spins as it whips from side to side. I have no clue who to answer or which one to give my attention to. The decision is made for me when I watch Dannii walk in, hand in hand with Drew. I have barely spoken with her since the day I heard her in the bathrooms at school.

“Blair, so good to see you,” she says in her sugary-sweet drawl as she passes by. I’d believe she was being genuine if I didn’t know any different. I smile a toothy fake grin that matches her own and lead the way through to the kitchen.

The evening is pretty much spent answering questions about how Ethan and I are doing post-accident. I can’t help but take note of the way Dannii sits glaring at me. I need to confront her at some point but tonight is definitely not the night. I have a feeling I’ll need my mental strength to be on point, and at the moment I’m totally drained.

I decide to leave the kitchen when Casey and Brie begin to discuss how completely perfect Jackson’s body is in an impressively remarkable amount of graphic detail. I blush and feel like I’ve just seen naked pictures of him. It's so wrong; I shake the mental images from my head and bolt for the backyard when they expect a rundown as to how Ethan’s form compares.

I step out onto the patio and find the guys sitting on the loungers. Jackson is leaning forward gritting his teeth while Ethan looks like he’s about to have a panic attack. I catch the tail end of their conversation and make my presence known as I join in.

I wasn’t expecting to be hit with rumors about him and Della. I watch the worry etch itself firmly onto his features while he stammers that he can’t confirm for certain that they're not true. Pre-accident, this would have been an issue. I’d have undoubtedly been crushed, but as I’m looking at him now, I realize that I know the stories aren’t true. We spent every day together before we took our trip, and I don’t for a second believe that he could act the way he does around me while cheating on me with her. Maybe I’m delusional, and this will come back and bite me in the ass, but then again, maybe it won't. If nearly losing Ethan taught me anything, it’s that life is too short to worry about the past, and to be grateful that we are lucky enough to have a present.

We're in the middle of a pretty intense make-out session when I stupidly pull my beeping phone from my pocket. Moira’s name is flashing like a neon sign and Ethan’s already noticed. I want to make an excuse and spare him the pain I’m about to cause, because I know he’s going to ask why she’s texting me and I’m done with the secrets.

“You lied to me!” It’s a statement, not a question, and I wrap my arms tightly around my waist as armor. My heart begins its slow descent into my stomach in response to the look he’s pinning on me.

“I didn’t lie, Ethan. I just didn’t tell you everything. There’s a difference, baby.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“I swear, I—”

“Shut up, please just shut up for one second. I need to process this.”

His links his hands behind his head and paces back and forth while I stand wallowing in my own guilt. I want to cry so badly that it hurts, and I let my head fall backward and blink rapidly, hoping to stop the tears.

“I asked you outside the hospital that day. I fucking asked you, and you promised I could trust you! Have you forgotten that promise?”

“You
can
trust me! I’m telling you now. All I did was agree to give your mom a heads up on how you are, and if you’d remembered anything. I’m telling you this now because I felt uncomfortable with it.”

“No, you’re telling me this now because I called you out and asked!”

“Ethan, I swear that’s not the case. You can check my phone if you don’t believe me. I told your mom that I was going to tell you, and she’s been blowing up my messages ever since. You just asked before I had a chance to explain things to you.”

I knew this was going to happen; I’m an idiot for agreeing to Moira’s requests in the first place.

“I’m going to ask this one time Blair, so please don’t lie to me. What is it that my mom is worried I’m going to find out about?”

This is it, the moment I’ve been dreading since Ethan woke up in that hospital bed and didn’t know who I was. How am I supposed to tell him that Moira isn’t his mom?

“Okay, Ethan, the doctors and your mom really won’t be happy if I tell you this. They warned me about causing you too much stress.”

“Too much stress? IS THAT A JOKE!” he screams in my face, and I step back stunned. My breath stutters, and I’m trembling. I know he’d never hurt me, but I’d be lying if I said that he didn’t just scare the crap out of me. He looks instantly sorry, no doubt because of my reaction.

He throws himself down onto the sofa looking utterly defeated. His head falls into his hands, and I can tell he’s trying to control his breathing. I watch silently from where I’m standing by the fireplace. I have a million emotions running through me, and I don’t know what to do. I want to comfort him, but at the same time I’m pissed at his explosive actions. He has every right to be frustrated, but the way he yelled at me is not okay. I slowly make my way across the room and take a seat next to him. He turns his head but stays in the same position and the hurt in his eyes engulfs me.

“I’m sorry,” he mouths. I’m not even sure if he makes any sound, the blood rushing through my ears is the only noise I can focus on.

“Please don’t make me tell you this. If you wait, it’s probably going to come back to you, baby.” It was a request, but my voice shakes, and it comes out as more of a plea.

He shakes his head and rubs his hands down his face before sitting up and facing me straight on. “Please, Princess.”

I’d justified my actions by telling myself that I wasn’t actually doing anything wrong, and if Ethan asked me directly about his mom, I would tell him. The justification was an easy pill to swallow, because I didn’t whole-heartedly think I’d have to do it. As naive as it seems now, I thought he’d remember this on his own and I’d be off the hook, or at the very least, Moira would do it. Maybe if I prompt him, his memory will kick in and do my dirty work for me.

“Do you remember anything about
us
before the accident?”

“Yeah, small things. Nothing makes a whole lot of sense though,” he replies.

“Okay, so do you remember meeting me at the cinema, and we took a drive down to the beach because you wanted to talk to me?”

The concentration on his face is admirable; I can tell he’s racking his brain trying to summon the memory. Sadly, I can also tell when he comes up short. I sigh and reluctantly carry on.