The Promise

by Natalie Clarke

  I see Zach step out of the room in the corner of my eye. I look up at Ciaran who is gazing down at me fondly. “I’ll try.”

  Zach returns to his stool and drinks the last of his club soda.

  “So, what do you say I kick your ass at pool?” I ask, smirking.

  “I’d like to see you try,” Zach replies.

  “I bet I can take you.”

  “Oh, you do, do you?”

  “Yep. Come on.” I take his hand and slide off my stool, dragging him behind me over to the pool table in the corner of the room.

  “Best of three?” I ask.

  “You’re on.”

  Chapter 24

  Gwen

  “So, I need to tell you something,” I begin, Lucas skipping ahead of Hayley and I as we walk through the park, the hot humid air sticky on my skin.

  “Okay?”

  “My dad’s alive.”

  She stops, Sara’s pushchair coming to a halt in front of her, her eyes wide as she stares at me. “What?”

  I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around the fact that my dad is back after twenty years of believing him dead. You could say I’ve buried my head in the sand, choosing not to think about it, but I need to tell someone, keeping it to myself is gradually killing me, eating away at me piece by piece.

  “He’s alive,” I repeat.

  “How is that even possible, I thought he was dead?”

  I retell her the whole story as we walk, and she doesn’t interrupt me once, just lets me talk.

  “I can’t believe it,” she says.

  “Me neither. When he told me, I just freaked out and told him to leave. I mean, what was I supposed to do, welcome him back with open arms?”

  “How do you feel about him being back?”

  “I don’t know how I feel about it. I haven’t seen or heard from him since, and I don’t know what to do.”

  “Do you want to get to know him? I mean, he came back to make up for lost time right? At least give him a chance, see what he has to say and if you don’t want to see him again then fine, but if you don’t let him explain, you’ll never know, and you could miss out on knowing him.”

  I think about what she’s said for a moment. “I guess you’re right.”

  She wraps an arm around my shoulders and gives me a squeeze.

  “So, what’s been happening with you and Zach? Kyle told me something about you guys being friends.”

  The past few days, things have been going great between Zach and I, all of that awkwardness has disappeared, and we’ve fallen back into the friendship we used to have. Though it hasn’t always been friendship that I’ve felt for him.

  Ever since I met him there’s been something there, something in the back of my mind telling me that I don’t want us to be just friends, but Luke’s death was still fresh and raw when I met him, not to mention the fact I was pregnant, mentally preparing myself to be a single mom. Zach was clearly going through something at the time and the timing was just never right. I tried to bury my feelings, pretending it was the hormones talking and so I’d convinced myself that it was only friendship, that was until that night, when everything became real and changed between us.

  “It’s going well.”

  “Is it? I mean, after everything that’s happened, are you good with being just friends?”

  “I have to be. He’s made it clear that that’s all it’s going to be between us, and I don’t wanna lose him,” I say. “I’m meeting him tomorrow actually, we’re gonna go for something to eat.”

  She wiggles an eyebrow at me. “Food, huh? Are you sure it’s just friendship?”

  “Friends go for food too.”

  She shrugs. “Sure, whatever you say.”

  ∞∞∞

  Before Lucas and I return home, we take a detour to the grocery store to do some overdue food shopping.

  “What do you want for dinner tonight?” I ask as I push the shopping cart with Lucas sat in the seat staring back at me, his legs swinging as they dangle through the metal holes in the cart. “S’getti!”

  “Spaghetti, huh? Long spaghetti or swirls?”

  “Swirly whirly s’getti!” He claps his hands excitedly.

  I laugh. “Okay.”

  We head down the pasta aisle and put the ingredients into the shopping cart. I turn the corner and stop dead in my tracks when I spot who’s standing a few meters ahead.

  Josh.

  Fucking perfect.

  Before I get chance to turn the cart around and walk back the way we came, he spots me.

  “Gwen, just the person I wanted to see,” he says, walking towards me confidently as if he didn’t just hit me a week ago. “Hey kid, how you doing?” he asks Lucas, giving him a wink.

  Lucas hesitates but smiles at him shyly.

  “Don’t talk to him,” I snap at Josh. “What do you want?”

  “I just wanted to tell you, you don’t need to get your boyfriend to warn me off. You can tell him his threats don’t fucking scare me.”

  “Firstly, don’t swear in front of my son, and two, what the hell are you talking about?”

  “You’re little boyfriend paid me a visit the other day, and did this,” he motions to bruises on his face that are just about faded.

  “You got hit in the face? He hit you?” I fake shock.

  Zach going to see Josh is something I didn’t want to happen, but I always had this feeling that he'd go and find him anyway, well, if Kyle didn’t get in there first.

  “Yes, he hit me!”

  “Well, now you know how it feels.” I shove him out of my way and continue down the aisle without looking back. I kind of expected Josh to follow, he’s not the guy to let things lie and he always has to have the last word, but to my surprise he doesn’t follow.

  I glance down at Lucas and ruffle his hair. “Let’s go home, baby.”

  Chapter 25

  Zach

  It feels good to be back in the board room, seeing everyone again after being away for so long. I know Kyle isn’t particularly fond of board meetings, but I happen to like them. Me, Kyle and eight others sit around a large oval table in the centre of the room.

  “Richard, we’re going to miss you. You’ve been a huge part of this company for many years, back when you worked with my father. You’re a great man and it’s been a pleasure to work alongside you,” Kyle says.

  Richard Hudson is one of the guys who helped start up the company along with Kyle’s father, Nathaniel back in the early nineties. He’s retiring, and this is his last day at work.

  “Thank you, Kyle. Thank you to all of you,” he says, looking at everyone around the table. “This job has been my life for so many wonderful years, I wish I could stay here forever, but at some point it has to end.”

  “What are your plans for your retirement years?” Samuel Peters asks.

  “I want to spend more time with my family and with the new love in my life.”

  Cheers and catcalls fill the room. “Come on, Hudson. Who is this new lady in your life?”

  “A gentleman never tells. She’ll be at my retirement party in a few weeks, you can meet her then.”

  My phone buzzes in my pocket, Gwen’s name lighting up the screen. I excuse myself from the room and close the door behind me as I enter the corridor before answering the call.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi Zach!” a little voice answers.

  “Lucas?”

  “Yep,” Lucas says.

  I can’t help but smile. “What are you doing on your mommy’s phone? Does she know you’re calling me?”

  “I plays games on mommy’s phone!”

  “Lucas? What are you doing?” I hear Gwen ask in the background, her voice distant and muffled. I take that as a no. “What have I told you about calling people on my phone?” There’s a rustling noise. “Zach?”

  “Hey.”

  “I’m so sorry. I've told him not to call people unless it’s an emergency. Though I’m kind of relieved it’s you he
called and not 911.”

  “He’s done that before?” I ask.

  “Yep. I think if they receive another call from my number, emergency or not, they’ll arrest me, or at least fine me.”

  I laugh. “He’s a clever kid, almost too clever for a three year old.”

  “You can say that again.” She laughs. “I... um, saw Josh yesterday.”

  “What? Where? Did he hurt you?”

  “No, no. I was grocery shopping, and he was at the store. He said that you went to see him, and that you hit him.”

  “I did. Gwen, I couldn’t let what he did to you lie.”

  “I know.”

  “Are you mad?” I ask.

  “No I’m not mad. In fact I’m impressed. Thank you, I guess... for sticking up for me.”

  “Of course. I'll always be there if you need me, you know that.”

  “Thanks. So, um… we still going out for food tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Okay, great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Bye, Gwen.”

  “See you.” She hangs up.

  Well that went different to how I expected. I was hoping she wouldn’t find out that I paid pencil-dick a visit, but she took it better than I thought. I thought she's flip and get angry at me, but she didn’t. To be honest, even if she did hate me for it, I’d do the same thing a million times over.

  I'd do anything to make sure she was safe especially from the likes of him.

  Anything for her.

  Chapter 26

  Gwen

  “Zach?” I call out as I walk through his apartment.

  No answer.

  Maybe he’s in the shower. An image pops into my head of him in the shower, his taut body soaking wet, all lathered up with soap...

  Shit, stop thinking things like that.

  Friends. Just friends.

  I force my brain to focus. Maybe he’s on the phone and didn’t hear me calling his name. We’d agreed to meet for lunch, and I insisted on meeting him here instead of him going all the way to Queens to just come all the way back.

  I should be mad at him for going to see Josh behind my back, but somehow I’m grateful. I know in his way he was protecting me, looking out for me. The thought that I have him on my side makes me feel safe.

  I head through the living area, shrugging off my jacket and draping it over one of the dining chairs. I come to a stop when I hear a noise coming from the bedroom, it sounded like… like a moan.

  My stomach drops. Does he have a woman over here? Did he forget that I was coming?

  He moans again, a deep breathy moan that vibrates through my body, straight down between my legs. I get closer, slowing my pace as I near the door, which has been left slightly open. My heart begins to hammer against my ribs. I can hear his jagged, heavy breaths filtering through the small gap as I come to a stop outside the door.

  “Gwen,” he moans.

  I freeze.

  Fuck. Does he know I’m here? Did he hear me come in? No, he couldn’t have, and even if he did, he wouldn’t say my name like he just did, he wouldn’t have moaned my name like he was...

  Holy shit, is he...?

  I slowly push open the door to find Zach sat on the edge of the bed, naked. His legs spread wide, head tipped back, his eyes closed, heavy pants escaping his parted lips while he fists his cock in his hand while he leans back slightly, propped upright with his other hand.

  I inhale sharply at the sight. He’s magnificent. The sight of his naked body transports me back to that one night a year ago, my body remembering exactly what it felt like to have him on top of me, remembering the feel of every dip and ridge of his muscled body.

  “Gwen,” he moaned.

  “Zach, more!” I cried, his thrusts becoming harder as he chased his own release.

  My fingers clawed at his back, at his chiselled body as he fucked me with a hard, steady rhythm. I looked up to see a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead as deep grunts escaped his lips.

  I trailed my fingertips over the valleys of his toned abs, feeling how they tensed and contracted with every hard thrust of his hips.

  “Fuck, Red... you feel so fucking good, so tight.”

  Zach groans, pulling me from my memory. My body is now on fire. I squeeze my thighs together to dull the ache, but it only makes it worse. It’s like pouring lighter fluid on a naked flame. I’m throbbing. I can feel the wetness pooling in my panties.

  The door lets out a squeak beside me and Zach’s body stills, his eyes fly open and his head snaps forward, his wide eyes meeting mine. His mouth begins to open as if he’s about to say something, but no words come out. He just sits there, his fist still wrapped around his hard cock, his eyes boring into mine.

  I can’t tell whether it’s shock or arousal that he’s feeling from the expression on his face, maybe it’s both, but he just sits there. He’s probably waiting for me to get angry, or to just back out the door and pretend I never saw a thing, but that’s the last thing I’d do. Instead, I shut the door softly before making my way over to Zach, all the while, my eyes never leave his for a single moment.

  Fuck just friends.

  I drop to my knees between his spread legs and take him into my mouth. I begin to suck, earning me a moan from him.

  I slide my hands up his thighs while I pull back enough to swirl my tongue around the head of his cock, sucking on it, tasting the saltiness of his pre-cum on my tongue. He’s long and thick, the skin of his shaft as soft as velvet with a thick vein running up his entire length, which I trace with my tongue.

  “Fuck,” he groans as he fists my hair that is knotted messily at the back of my head, gripping it roughly, but not so much that it hurts. I’ve always known since that night a year ago that Zach likes to take control, but there’s something so erotic about a blowjob, how you can bring even the most dominant of men to his knees with just your mouth.

  I slide my tongue along the underside of his length before taking him into my mouth and sucking on him as hard as I can, his hips buck off the bed, pushing him further into my mouth. Tears well in my eyes as I fight off the urge to gag as I glide my mouth up and down his thick shaft.

  “Touch yourself, Red. Make yourself come, baby,” he pants.

  I whimper at his command as I slide my hand into the waistband of my jeans, slipping my fingers inside my panties where I find myself soaked. I’m so close already that I’m shaking as my fingers find my clit, I slip them further and push two fingers into my entrance. I match the pace of my fingers to the speed I suck on him. I begin to speed up, my fingers plunging rougher and deeper inside me as Zach begins to take control, pushing my head down onto his cock to take more of him into my mouth.

  His breathing becoming heavier and uneven and he begins to shake as my head bobs up and down, the tip of his cock hitting the back of my throat every time. He’s close. I begin to suck harder, my fingers moving faster and faster as I grind the heel of my hand into my clit. I’m so close.

  “Gwen, I’m gonna come. Fuck.”

  It takes a few more seconds before he comes in my mouth with a roar, warm salty liquid spilling into my mouth and down my throat, just as my own orgasm takes hold. I moan around his cock, my eyes pinching shut as my whole body begins to tremble. I swallow his release and suck him clean before pulling back.

  I pull my fingers from my panties and look up to find warm, golden honey eyes staring down at me, the intense heat in his eyes warming my skin, sending heat straight to my cheeks. He leans down to take my hand, bringing my wet fingers into his mouth and sucking them, tasting my own release.

  “That’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” he heaves out. He pulls me up onto my feet and cradles my face in his hand, his nose just brushing mine, I lean into his touch just as his lips graze mine, barely touching. “Christ, Red. The harder I try to resist you, I feel myself being drawn closer. It’s getting harder and harder to fight it.”

  “Then stop fighting it. I did,” I co
nfess.

  His face hardens and his mask slips back into place, and he pulls away from me. “I can’t.”

  “What?”

  “I said I can’t, alright? I just can’t. You weren’t supposed to see that. That shouldn’t have happened.” He reaches for a pair of jeans lying across the bed and begins pulling them on.