The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Fishing.”

  “I see,” he said, clearing his throat as he put the crickets back, reached over and took control of the carriage and turned it around.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, following after him.

  “Bait,” was all he said as he headed toward the back of the store where Matt had disappeared earlier.

  Speaking of Matt…

  “Where’s your brother?” she asked, looking around for the man that told her that he’d be right back.

  “He said something about getting an ice pack and waiting in the car,” Reed said, heading for the small fridge marked, “Bait.”

  “Is he okay?” Joey asked, worrying her bottom lip and wondering if they should do this another time.

  “He’s fine. Something just hit him in the back of the head and he decided that it would be in his best interest to wait in the car,” Reed said, selected several small containers from the small fridge.

  “So, you were telling me about these panic attacks,” he said, making her sigh because she’d been hoping that he’d just let it go.

  “Whenever the world becomes too much to handle, I step into the shower, close my eyes and slowly let everything go,” she said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal even as she became focused on a solar operated lantern that promised to leave her phone fully charged in two hours so that she wouldn’t have to see his reaction.

  “Does it work?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

  “Sometimes, but it’s not as bad as it used to be,” she admitted on a sigh.

  “When was it bad?” he asked, holding her close.

  “When I was little. My grandmother suggested bubble baths to help me relax until I broke out my microscope and showed her how unsanitary baths really were,” she said, feeling his lips twitch against her skin.

  “It’s better now?” he asked, sounding worried.

  “Yes,” she said, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t tell him that he was the reason why.

  Chapter 35

  “Does anyone want another hotdog?” the little bastard said as he shoved another one of the discounted hot dogs that they’d bought from the gas station that had taken them over an hour to find, in his mouth while Reed sat there, rubbing his hands down his face as he tried to remember if he’d promised not to maim the little bastard or kill him.

  Because right now he was tempted to do both.

  More than tempted.

  “I’m going to kill your brother,” Jackson announced from the other side of their campfire with a slow nod and a glare at the little bastard stuffing another questionable hotdog in his mouth.

  “I’m really not seeing the problem,” Matt said as he grabbed another one of the hot dogs that was seven weeks past its expiration date and shoved it onto a stick.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Jackson repeated while Reed pointedly looked around the fucked up campsite that the little bastard reserved for them, pausing on the porta potties lining one side of their site and the ditch filled with empty Budweiser cans lining the other, and the pile of old camping gear that their father had forgotten to throw away dumped in the middle of the campsite kept brightly lit by the floodlights surrounding them.

  “What? It’s really not that bad,” Matt said as he followed his gaze.

  “Not that bad?” Reed asked, gesturing around them. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “You don’t hear Joey complaining,” the little bastard said, gesturing lazily in the direction where she’d taken off four hours ago after she’d taken one look at their campsite and decided to go camping by herself so that they’d have a chance to catch up.

  As much as he’d missed his best friend, he didn’t want to be with Jackson.

  He wanted to be with her.

  “I’m definitely going to kill him,” Jackson decided with a firm nod as Reed leveled a glare on the little bastard.

  “That’s because she was smart enough to reserve a site near the fucking lake!” Reed snapped, wondering if his mother had dropped the little bastard on his head and forgot to tell him.

  “This was twenty bucks cheaper,” Matt pointed out with a shrug.

  “Definitely going to kill him.”

  “And what about this?” Reed demanded, pointing toward the small army tent that was barely big enough for two people never mind three full-grown men.

  “What about it?” Matt asked, finishing off the last hot dog.

  “You said that you were going to take care of everything,” Reed bit out even as he couldn’t help but glance toward the path that would take him down to the lake.

  “I did,” Matt said, gesturing toward the pile of useless shit.

  “And the food?” he couldn’t help but wonder.

  “Was a small oversight,” Matt said with a sad shake of his head. “But it’ll be fine.”

  “How exactly is it going to be fine? It’s an hour hike to get back to the car and the closest store is an hour away,” he pointed out as he pulled out his phone and-

  Nothing.

  Vowing to spank her ass if she didn’t let him know that she was okay, he sent her a quick text and-

  “What are you doing?” Matt suddenly asked.

  “None of your damn business,” he said, glaring down at his phone as he waited for the text that damn well better be coming soon.

  “No phones allowed,” Matt said with a heavy sigh and a disapproving shake of his head.

  “I will break every bone in your body,” Reed pointed out when the little bastard reached over to pluck the phone out of his hands.

  “Fair enough,” Matt murmured, quickly pulling his hand back.

  “Who are you texting?” Jackson asked, sounding curious, most likely because that “no phone” rule had been Reed’s.

  “His girlfriend,” Matt said as he helped himself to the hot dog that Reed had abandoned after he’d realized that foul scent wasn’t coming from the porta potties.

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said absently as he waited for some sign that Joey was okay. They never should have let her go off on her own, he thought, slowly exhaling as he glanced at the time and-

  “Really? Then what is she doing at the house every night besides screaming your name?” Matt asked, blinking innocently as he finished Reed’s hot dog and decided to help himself to the one Jackson tossed in the fire.

  “You’re seeing someone?” Jackson asked, sending him a curious glance only to cringe when Matt devoured the rancid hot dog in one bite.

  “Every night,” Matt said, nodding solemnly as he washed the rancid hot dog down with the iced tea that the store clerk had advised them against buying.

  “I see,” Jackson murmured, sounding thoughtful as they watched a heavyset middle-aged man stumble toward the porta potties with his hands plastered against his stomach and an, “Oh, god,” only to follow that up with an, “Oh, god, no,” when he spotted the “Out of order” sign.

  *-*-*-*

  “Okay, this was a bad idea,” Joey mumbled softly, trying not to panic as she hugged the flashlight tightly against her chest as she made a mental list of all the things that she deeply regretted.

  When she heard another twig snap somewhere close by, she couldn’t help but put coming here alone at the top of her list of regrets. The sounds of something rustling through the leaves had her quickly switching that with coming here at all.

  Not that she had that many regrets because she didn’t.

  Okay, so that might not be entirely true, she thought, deciding that perhaps now might be the best time for her to crawl into her sleeping bag and squeeze her eyes shut when the sounds of another twig breaking made its way inside the tent that she was starting to question its ability to protect her in the case of a bear attack. The next time she went camping it was going to be from the safety of a hotel room with round the clock room service, she decided as she curled up in the fetal position and thought about all those things that she did
n’t regret.

  Maybe it wasn’t too late, she told herself as the first glimmer of hope came that she wasn’t about to be devoured by a rabid carnivorous squirrel when the rustling suddenly stopped. Closing her eyes, she dropped her head back with a sigh of relief that quickly turned into a whimper when she heard something brush against her tent.

  She was never going camping again, she decided as she squeezed her eyes shut only to forget how to breathe when she felt something slide over her leg and-

  “Shhh, don’t scream,” Reed whispered, chuckling as he pulled her sleeping bag open so that she could crawl onto his lap and wrap her arms around him.

  “Did I scare you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

  “No,” she said quickly, even as she couldn’t help but look over to make sure that he’d closed the tent behind him so that they wouldn’t have to worry about those aforementioned rabid squirrels getting in.

  “Then I guess you just missed me, huh?” he asked as she shined the flashlight around her tent, making sure that they were alone when she remembered something important.

  “Where’s Jackson?” she asked, quickly getting off his lap and putting some much-needed space between them.

  “Most likely killing Matt,” Reed said, not really sounding all that worried.

  “What are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but ask since he was supposed to be spending some time with her brother.

  “I took one for the team,” he said with a sad shake of his head.

  “Took one for the team?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on the big jerk that she’d missed.

  Sighing, he nodded. “Someone had to.”

  “And why exactly did you have to take one for the team?” she asked, deciding that she would take advantage of his presence and venture out of the tent so that she could grab a few items that she’d been forced to abandon when she’d heard that first twig break.

  “Because the tent was too small for all three of us,” he said, reaching around her to grab the large pack that she was trying to drag inside.

  “So, you drew the short straw?” she asked, closing the tent and sat back so that she could search through her bag for the essentials.

  “You could say that,” Reed murmured as he laid down and closed his eyes.

  “Where’s Jackson and Matt?” she asked as she grabbed her kindle and-

  “I’m going to kill your brother,” Jackson announced as she found herself being picked up and moved over only to find herself picked up again and placed on Reed’s other side when Matt crawled into the tent and dropped down next to Reed with a grumbled, “Ungrateful bastards.”

  “Just remember to make it look like an accident,” Reed said, sighing heavily as the flashlight was turned off and she found herself sitting in the pitch-black tent, wondering what she was supposed to do now only to smile when Reed wrapped his arm around her and pulled her down next to him.

  Chapter 36

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine here by myself,” Joey said, and if she hadn’t said that while she was trying to break free from his hold so that she could dive back into her sleeping bag, he probably would have considered listening to her.

  “You’re going!” Reed said, tightening his hold around her and moved to pull her out of the tent only to have the little demon start wiggling again.

  “Never!” she snapped, trying to push her way out of his hold. “I’m never leaving!”

  “Joey,” he said, only to sigh when she gave up trying to wiggle her way to freedom and tried to grab hold of the flimsy tent.

  “No! I’m never-wait! Please, don’t do this!” Joey gasped when he easily managed to break her hold and throw her over his shoulder.

  “You’re going,” he bit out, shifting her over his shoulder as he shot a glare at the little bastard responsible.

  “What? How was I supposed to know that she was afraid of snakes? It’s not like I planned on dropping it on her,” Matt said, shaking his head sadly with a sigh.

  “I will end you, you little-Reed!” she bit out coldly only to scream his name when he made the mistake of trying to put her down on her feet.

  “Would you feel better if I carried you?” Reed asked the small woman that had wrapped herself around him.

  “Yes, yes I would,” she mumbled against his neck even as she tightened her legs around his waist on the off-chance that he decided to try to put her down again.

  “Fine,” he said, making sure to sound putout as he wrapped one arm around her so that he could lean over and grab her bag, knowing that she would want it.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled, rewarding him with a kiss against his neck that the little bastard helping himself to another granola bar wouldn’t be able to see.

  “You’re welcome,” Reed said, tempted to kiss her, but the large man waiting by the lake watching their every move, had him throwing her bag over his shoulder and doing his best to ignore just how good she felt in his arms. Hoping that Jackson hadn’t noticed that kiss, he carefully carried her down the small slope and joined Jackson on the dock.

  “What happened?” Jackson asked, moving to take her out of his arms only to drop his arms away with a sigh when she shook her head.

  “Your sister is afraid of snakes,” Matt said with a shrug as he walked past them and hopped down into the large rowboat that Jackson had managed to rent for them this morning.

  “I hate him,” she mumbled with a little sniffle.

  “I know you do,” Reed said, giving her a comforting squeeze before he moved to put her down only to sigh when she shook her head and tightened her hold around him.

  “You love me,” Matt said, grabbing one of the fishing poles that Jackson had managed to find and sat down on the small bench near the front of the boat.

  “I really hate him,” Joey assured him as she raised her head long enough to look down at the small boat and shook her head. “Not going to happen.”

  “You said that you wanted to go camping,” Reed reminded her as he tossed her bag to Jackson.

  “And it’s a memory that I will cherish forever, but now I’m ready to go home,” she said, nodding solemnly.

  “But you’ve never been fishing,” he pointed out.

  “And I’m okay with that at the moment,” she said, worrying her bottom lip as she glanced down at the boat and shook her head. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “It’s safe, Joey. I rowed it over here without any problems,” Jackson assured her once again reaching for her only to drop his hands away with a sigh and followed that up with, “It’s safe.”

  “There’s rust,” she pointed out.

  “Just a little bit,” Reed said as he watched as she took in every dent, scratch, and rusted bolt.

  “I really don’t think that I can do this,” she whispered.

  “What if I promised that nothing bad was going to happen?” he asked, somehow resisting the urge to lean in and kiss that worried frown away.

  “I’d like that in writing,” she said, swallowing nervously.

  “What will it take to get you on that boat?” he asked because he didn’t want her leaving here with one more regret.

  “An act of God,” she said, shaking her head.

  Leaning in closer, he whispered, “What if I promised to tell you that backstory?”

  “About my pretties?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she thought it over.

  “And I’ll let the little furry bastard sleep with us,” he said, tempted to turn his head and kiss her throat. It was only the reminder that she didn’t want her brother knowing about them that kept him from doing it, but he was tempted…really fucking tempted.

  “He does anyway,” she said, making his lips twitch.

  “Well, I guess if you don’t want to go fishing then we could go for a hike and you could finally have that talk with your brother,” he said, noting the way that she suddenly went still.

  Then, with a, “Very well,” Joey gestured for him to p
roceed.

  “Everything okay?” Jackson asked, reaching down to hold the boat still as Reed stepped in and sat down on the back bench with Joey on his lap.

  “Everything’s fine,” Joey said with a reassuring smile even as she frantically climbed off his lap so that she could sit down on the bottom of the boat between his legs, grab a life vest, yank it on, grab her bag, pull out a brown paper bag, and finally settle back with her Kindle in her lap.

  Chuckling, Jackson untied the boat and stepped in, sitting next to Matt, who Reed realized was glaring down at Joey. Frowning, he followed that glare to find Joey absently taking a bite out of what appeared to be a roast beef sandwich.

  “You said there was no more food,” Matt said accusingly.

  “I lied,” she said, looking up from her Kindle and narrowed her eyes on the little bastard as she made a show of taking another bite. “Mmmm, that’s really good.”

  Eyes narrowing, Matt pointed to a spot next to her and said the one thing that was going to get him killed, “Snake.”

  Chapter 37

  “Can I have my clothes back?”

  There was the sound of someone clearing his throat from the other side of the tent they’d shoved her inside of and, “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” her brother said, making her shoulders slump in defeat.

  “Would it help if I said I was sorry?” Joey asked as she pulled another blanket around her.

  “Probably not since we’d both know that you’d be lying,” Jackson said, chuckling.

  “What if I promised not to do it again?” she asked, sending the closed tent door a hopeful look.

  “That’s what you said the last time.”

  “I was justifiably pissed,” she pointed out even as she reluctantly accepted the fact that she wouldn’t be leaving this tent for a while. With that in mind, she laid down on her side and watched her brother’s silhouette as he tossed another log onto the fire with a sigh before he sat down next to her tent.

  “And no one blames you, but did you really need to make him eat mud?” he asked, making her wince because that might have been overkill.

  “Is he okay?”