Page 22 of The Promises We Were Never Meant To Keep

I roll my eyes, flipping past a warty looking wizard and landing on… “Oh!” I pull out the costume and jump with excitement. Three sets of male eyes drop to me. “We can be Romeo and Juliette.”

“I like it,” Andy says, her eyes on the costume.

Holt frowns. “You want to be the world’s most tragic couple?”

“I want to be the world’s most iconic couple.” I huff. “Perspective, Holt.”

“We can’t be Romeo and Juliette, peaches. We’d be setting ourselves up for devastation.”

Micha claps Holt on the shoulder. “Yeah, I’m with Holt.”

My eyes slide to Tate. “What about you?”

A muscle in his jaw jumps. “You’d look beautiful in it, Faye, but for once, I’ve got to side with Holt.”

I sigh, my disappointment crushing. Holt looks irritated with Tate, but he moves in close to me. Taking the costume, he places it back on the hook before his hands find my hips, and he drags me into him. “We’re going to find that epic couples costume you want, baby. I promise.”

Another one of Holt’s promises. My heart lifts just a little, because he hasn’t broken a single one yet. “Okay.”

Like he just can’t resist, he slides the tip of his nose along the bridge of mine. I shiver under the heat of his deep rumble. “Okay.”

9

RATHER BE WITH YOU

OCTOBER 28, 2006 – 15 YEARS OLD

“Shoulda went with Romeo and Juliette, dude. Who are you even supposed to be?” Micha asks, clutching his gut with one hand through his laughter. The other holds a blue can that looks like it might be a beer.

Beside him, Andy rolls her eyes heavenward as though to plead for reprieve. “He’s Westley, and she’s Buttercup.”

“Buttercup?” Micha frowns. “Who the hell is Buttercup?”

“Yo!” Kevin shouts from inside the large house with a mountain backdrop. Kevin, apparently, is wealthy. “Princess Bride. Fuck, yeah. Love that movie, man.”

“It would be Kevin,” Andy mutters. I snort to contain a laugh and blush when Holt’s amused eyes slide to me.

Holt bumps his fist to Kevin’s. “At least you’re cultured.” He throws a thumb at Micha. “This idiot doesn’t even know what The Princess Bride is.”

Kevin swings his arms wide, and his head rolls back enough to make him look cocky and sweet. “To be fair, I have a sister.”

“Yeah.” Elijah joins the group. “And Mr. Mack showed it in—what? Grade six?”

“I think the fool had Mono then,” Holt says. “Wasn’t he gone for a week or something?”

Andy bobs her head. “Yeah, I remember that. Idiot stole a kiss from Natalie, and she was sick the week before, right?”

“It was a dare.” Micha turns to walk away. “You all suck.”

“You walked into it,” Holt calls after him, shoulders bouncing with teasing laughter.

Micha waves a hand. “I need new friends.”

“Good luck with that!” Andy yells, but there’s humor in her eyes as she turns them on me. “He’ll be back.” Her eyes slide down my costume. “See you found that epic costume after all.”

“Yeah.” I beam. “Holt asked Mrs. Wilder to make them. I guess she used to make all their costumes when they were little. She was excited to do it this year, and she did great.” I do a spin, letting the red gown billow. “I’m going to keep this dress forever.”

“Game’s on upstairs,” Kevin tells Holt as Andy loops her arm through mine, tugging me away from Holt with a kind of strength that pays homage to her costume. She’s a sexy Wonder Woman, and she’s killing it.