The Promise

by S. L. Jayne

  I looked down at myself checking my outfit, I decided on my dark skinny jeans with a long top and my tight leather jacket; apparently I need a jacket because it may get chilly as we’ll be outside, that’s all I got told.

  “Do I look date worthy?” I ask Rylee as I walk into the living room.

  “You look gorgeous, girl. Not that you need to make him fall for you- wait, you do remember that he has already seen your stuff right?” She said as she started laughing.

  I burst out laughing. “My stuff? Seriously, Rylee, I can’t wait for you to get some action and hear them call it something else- if it wasn’t such a disturbing thought I’d say I would love to be a fly on the wall to see your reaction!”

  I tried to move quickly when Rylee threw the cushion towards me but it hit me which made her beam with pride.

  “Ha! I’m glad it hit you. I do know other words for it but I’m not saying them to you! Saying them around a guy is different, besides you never know my first time could be with a virgin and he may need to call it my stuff so he doesn’t get embarrassed,” she said as she almost choked laughing.

  “I don’t think Matt is a virgin, sweetie, but I’m sure he’d call it your stuff for you- in fact I think he’d call it anything you wanted him to if it meant he got to go there,” I said with a smirk.

  That earned me a sarcastic dirty look.

  “Oh, funny! I don’t think he is either and I also don’t think he wants to nail me, well if he does he is good at hiding it,” she shrugged.

  She is either in denial or is blind because everything about him when he is around her screams that he wants her, not just in the bedroom, literally wants all of her. I hear a car horn outside that must mean Ryan is here, I grab my purse from the table and say a quick bye to Rylee as I head out the door.

  “Hello, my girl,” Ryan said as he leaned over to give me a kiss once I had gotten into the car.

  “Hello to you too, my gorgeous man,” I said kissing him back.

  I turn my head to look at him while he drives us to wherever it is he is taking me, he is concentrating on the road and not paying attention to me looking at him, he is so damn gorgeous even with a blank expression on his face. I could stare at him all day and not get bored. I see his lip twitch and his dimple almost appear as one side of his mouth lifts in to a half smile.

  “Are you enjoying the view, beautiful?” He said as he turns his head giving me a full smile.

  I guess he knew I was staring at him!

  “Yeah I am, could you turn back around so I can continue to stare please?” I said laughing.

  He shook his head and pouted. “Why? Am I only pretty to look at from that angle?”

  I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “No, and I wouldn’t say you’re pretty- maybe gorgeous, sexy, hot, and even beautiful but not pretty!”

  He laughed. “I thought it was bad enough that Matt called me pretty boy the other day when he called and now you call me beautiful?” He shook his head still laughing.

  “Matt called you pretty boy? Do I even want to ask why or how that came up?”

  Since Matt told Ryan to stop feeling like he owed him for giving him my number and told him that he thought he was a decent guy, he also told Ryan he thought he deserved a shot at proving himself to me, they have bonded well and obviously gotten to that comfortable stage where they can tell each other how they feel. I struggle to keep my laughter in at the thought of Matt and Ryan and their blossoming bromance.

  “Are you laughing at me, Lawson?” He said with a playful scowl on his face.

  I bit my lip and shook my head.

  “Nu uh, not at all, Mr Sanders. If you and Matt have pet names for each other that’s totally cool… And manly,” I said as I started laughing hysterically.

  He shook his head and laughed out loud with me. I don’t think I dare ask him what he calls Matt but curiosity will get the better of me. I hadn’t even realised he had parked the car and we were at the beach, not the usual place Rylee and I come to though, this place looks different.

  “Okay two things, one, where are we, and two, what do you call Matt?” I asked as I unclipped my seatbelt and turned towards him.

  He gave me his full smile again and leaned over to plant a kiss on my forehead.

  “One, my girl, we are at Ocean Beach at just the right time, and two, I call him Bear because he is protective and fierce when he needs to be- when that dude talks about Rylee he is like a freaking bear cub all soft and sweet and shit. He’s all kinds of into her, I have to hand it to him for not going in all guns blazing and staking a claim on her already,” he laughed.

  I laughed and nodded my head, agreeing with the name he had given Matt and also with his statement about him holding back with Ry. I also don’t see why we drove so far out to go to a beach when we have one just down the road from my apartment, and what the time has to do with anything, but I’m not going to complain because I’d go anywhere as long as it was with him.

  Ryan climbed out of the car and made his way around to open the door for me, he has entered true gent mode.

  He opened the door and grabbed my hand to help me out.

  “Are you ready for our date, my girl?” He asked with a wink.

  I couldn’t hold back the smile that spread across my face, no matter how many times he calls me his girl I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of hearing it.

  “I am so ready, my gorgeous man, but I have to ask, what did the timing have to do with it? The beach is open all night,” I asked as he took my hand and started walking towards the beach.

  The breeze is nice, it’s a beautiful evening and the sea looks calm and tranquil. I don’t know if we are going onto the beach or not because it looks like Ryan is taking us in a different direction.

  “This way, beautiful. It will all make sense soon,” he said as we turned away from the entrance to the sand and towards the concrete walkway for the pier.

  I have always wanted to come to this pier since Rylee and I Googled the sights around the area, it’s the longest concrete pier on the west coast and in all the pictures I had seen it looked amazing.

  I followed Ryan in silence to the start of the walkway where he stopped to wrap his arm around my shoulder and pull me into him as we started a slow walk down the deserted pier, it’s such a beautiful night I’d have thought people would be out enjoying the scenery but not a single soul is out.

  “I never thought I’d get you, I thought for sure you’d make my life hell and never give me a chance to be the man you deserve, baby,” Ryan said as he looked out towards the water.

  I turned my head and looked up at him.

  “I would have always given you the chance, Ryan. No matter how much my head screamed not to, my heart always whispered that it wanted to and my heart won- it always does,” I said as I stopped to reach up and kiss his lips lightly.

  “I would have followed you anywhere to make you my girl and I’ll thank your heart every day for wanting to give me a chance.” He whispered as he brought his hands up to cup my face and kissed my forehead.

  We carried on walking and I noticed Ryan running his hand through his hair a couple times, he does that when he is nervous. Does he think he’s going to lose me? That I’m going to change my mind about us? I know there are a few sides to him that not everyone sees but I didn’t think insecurity would be one of them, he has always been confident and never doubted what he could get once he set his heart on it.

  “Are you nervous about something? Please don’t think you’re going to lose me, Ryan,” I said turning to face him.

  He moved his arm from my shoulder and grabbed my hand pulling me to the side of the pier. After removing his jacket and laying it on the ground Ryan sits down with his legs slightly apart and taps the space between them.

  “Sit down, beautiful, we have the best view of the sunset from here.”

  So that’s what the timing was all about, he wanted to make sure we got here in time to watch the sunset. I sit down with my legs s
tretched out in front of me crossed over at my ankles and lean my head back on his chest as he wraps his arms around my waist. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes just staring out into the distance, Ryan was right we do have the best view from here and watching the sky change color is amazing.

  “Thank you for bringing me here. I’ve never seen the sunset before, not like this. It’s so pretty,” I said as I sighed with contentment.

  He tightened his arms around me and dipped his head into the curve of my neck.

  “It is pretty, but it’s nothing in comparison to you, you are the only sight I want to look at for the rest of my life,” he said as he lifts his head and runs his hand through his hair again.

  I felt the smile grow on my face as my cheeks warmed, too, I have no idea why that made me blush slightly. He says the sweetest things to me, he always knows how to make me smile with his words, not just directly to me but even on text and the notes I got with my flowers and pretzels. That reminds me, I need to ask him about the meaning behind those.

  “Thank you, babe, you’re the sweetest. Are you going to tell me the meaning behind the pretzels now?” I asked as I moved turning around to face him.

  I saw the grin on his face as he looked down, is he blushing too? His eyes come up to meet mine and I know he notices the obvious ‘well?’ look on my face.

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh at me, Lawson. I mean it, you laugh and I’ll have to punish you,” He said as he wiggled his eyebrows and kept the smirk on his face, the color on his cheeks was still visible though.

  I snickered at his threat even though I have no idea what sort of punishment he has in mind, I’m pretty sure, although not one hundred percent sure that he isn’t into that sort of punishment so I think refusing me pleasure is off the list.

  “I promise I won’t laugh at what you have to say, handsome,” I smiled sweetly.

  I hope it isn’t something that is guaranteed to make me laugh, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold it in.

  Ryan takes in a deep breath and lets it out before talking.

  “Remember our first night together when you said you didn’t know why you were so different and I didn’t answer you? Well, me not answering you wasn’t because you weren’t different it was because I couldn’t explain why you were,” He stopped to take in another deep breath before continuing, never taking his eyes off mine.

  “I wanted to tell you so badly that you were not like any other girl but I knew you would think I was pulling a line on you and I’d have blown it, but it’s true, baby, you’re not like any other girl. I noticed things about you from the minute I laid eyes on you in third grade-”

  I cut him off.

  “Okay, so you sent me pretzels to tell me I’m different?” I asked with a confused look on my face.

  He shook his head and pressed his index fingers gently against my lips to silence me.

  “The pretzels? No, I gave you those because at every party we went to, even as kids you would be found hugging the bowl,” he said with a huge smile.

  I can’t believe he picked up on that!

  I felt my cheeks get warmer and a smile spread across my face. Why would he think I’d laugh at that? I’m even more curious now about the flowers.

  “You’re crazy, babe. I can’t believe you remembered that! I can’t wait to hear about the flowers,” I said with a slight shake of my head.

  A small smile appeared on his lips and his dimple was threatening to show.

  “Okay, this is the part where you can’t laugh,” he said as he raised an eyebrow testing my reaction.

  I lick my lips and bite down on my bottom lip to stop any laughter erupting and nod my head.

  “Remember back in fourth grade when I had to go home early because I had gotten a bump to the head at recess? Well, that was because Josh had kicked the ball to me while we were playing soccer and I was too busy looking at you sticking daisies in your hair to notice the ball coming towards me, until it whacked me on the head and I was out cold for a few minutes. I always looked out for you sitting on the field,” he said as he leaned forward and pulled me in to kiss him.

  “I remember that! Adam gave Josh such a hard time afterwards, telling him he almost killed you. Josh felt awful and had cried to the teacher, and of course Adam wouldn’t let him live that down either,” I laughed at the memory.

  Leaning into his kiss him I wrapped my arms around his neck bringing him closer. My heart is ready to swell out of my chest, I can’t believe he remembered those small things about me. He started smiling while kissing me then pulled back to talk.

  “I have something for you. I know I should wait 6 months or even a year, but I can’t. Please don’t freak out until I explain,” he said as he shifted position to reach into his pocket pulling out a small black box.

  My heart slammed against my chest. Is he going to propose? We’re way too young for that and I haven’t even told him I love him yet!

  My breath catches as he brings his eyes up to mine and opens the box turning it toward me, showing me the most stunning ring I have ever seen. My mouth drops open and my eyes begin to water, the diamonds are glittering as Ryan’s hand slightly shakes as he holds the box. He’s waiting for me to say something.

  “It’s stunning, Ryan, absolutely beautiful. I don’t know what to say,” I say as I hold back tears.

  Ryan brings his other hand up to cup my cheek and gently grazes his thumb under my eye, I think he did it to wipe away any tears that may have dropped.

  “Don’t over think it or freak out, baby. I’m not proposing… Yet, I’m promising. I have had this ring since the day you walked away taking my heart with you. I promised myself that day that I would find you and I would make you my girl, I’ve done that and now I’m promising you that I am committed to you, and only you. You’re my girl and one day I will be making you my wife,” he said as he slowly let out a breath and smiled his full on gorgeous smile.

  My heart slowed down some, not fully but enough for me to not think it’s going to burst. I have butterflies in my stomach and tears are now falling from my eyes. I love this man with everything I have- I’ve loved him for sixteen years and I think he needs to hear the words.

  “I love you, Ryan, I have loved you since forever and there is no one else in this world I’d want to spend my life with. I promise I will keep loving you and I will be your wife one day, until then I will always be your girl. I love you so much.” I said with a smile so big it hurts my cheeks.

  Ryan takes my hand in his and slides the ring onto my finger.

  “I will never hear those words enough from you, beautiful,” he looked back up to meet me eyes and winked, “now for me to explain this ring. Firstly, I chose this platinum band with the infinity symbol representing my promise to love you forever. Secondly, the three floating diamonds in the middle represent our past present and future, and finally I had eight small diamonds placed on either side to represent one for each of the sixteen years I have loved you,” he said as he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me again, which I’m grateful for as I’m speechless.

  This time it was a deep passionate kiss. I thread my fingers into his hair and kiss him back, pushing my body further into his tight hold. This is the best night of my life, breath taking view, wrapped in the arms of the man that has loved me for as long as I have loved him, and a promise ring on my finger that he will continue to love me and I will do the same until our last breath. This man here had been my first and he will be my last. That I can be sure of.

  Two Years Ago

  The party was in full swing and people were everywhere, there wasn’t a room downstairs that wasn’t crammed with bodies standing, sitting or dancing. I haven’t been upstairs but I guessed the bedrooms were occupied too, they always were. I’d never used any of them. Callum had suggested it once, back when we first started dating but I wasn’t ready then, and I didn’t want to lose my virginity at a party to a guy I hadn’t even reached second base
with. Hanna and Dean were standing across from me in the kitchen. She walked over and passed me another drink, I wasn’t feeling drunk but I had lost count on the drinks I had been given. We had seen and had conversations with handfuls of people we knew. When Emma stood talking to Hanna, I heard her say she was hoping to score with Ryan tonight just as he passed through the kitchen to the living room.

  He called over his shoulder, “Not gonna happen, Em. I’m waiting for someone.”

  We all heard him and Emma’s face turned crimson. What an ass! He could have let her down quietly. I was used to this side of him at parties, the ‘man whore’ side. Other times I saw his nice side, I think that’s the side he reserves for people he sees as friends, not fucks. I gave her a sympathetic smile as I walked away to go to the bathroom. I had only reached the bottom of the stairs when I heard Ryan call out “Ava! Wait up.”

  I turned around to face him. “Hey, Ryan. What’s up?” He ran his fingers through his hair.

  How does he make that look hot?!

  “Nothing’s up, I’ve been waiting for you. I heard about you and Callum and wanted to see if you were okay.”

  I nodded. “Yeah I’m fine, Ryan. It’s not the first time he’s broke it off, he knows I’m moving to Cali with Rylee after graduation,” I shrugged, “so why prolong the inevitable.”

  He nodded and shifted on his feet. He looks nervous, but I know Ryan doesn’t do nervous.

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I think he’s stupid for calling it off. I’d have kept hold of you for as long as possible and probably even moved to California with you so I didn’t have to let you go.” One side of his mouth raised in the corner giving me a small smile.

  What? Since when does Ryan think that way about me?

  He must have seen the confusion on my face because he spoke before I could ask him what his game is. “I mean you’re a great girl, Ava. Any guy would be lucky as hell to have you,” he winked and walked away.

  If I had had more to drink I would have thought I had just hallucinated that whole conversation, but I haven’t and I didn’t. I shook my head clearing all thoughts of Ryan Sanders. I had pushed my feelings for him far away years ago, I wouldn’t let them resurface now.