Page 16 of Promised Secret (Promises, Promises #3)

Chapter Thirteen

CLAY

The hugging booth ended with me still being able to show my face around town.

Thank fuck.

Dan’s body had prevented anyone from seeing the big situation I’d had in my pants, and my erection had quickly deflated when my mom and Victor stopped by the tent not too long after.

Mom looked mildly concerned about the entire thing, but she didn’t say much about it. Meanwhile, Victor happily contributed twenty whole minutes to our clock before merrily leaving the tent hand in hand with my mom.

I didn’t hate hugging Dan, loved it, in fact. Doing it in front of our entire town, though? Yeah, that I could’ve done without.

Standing still for hours on end was also a lot harder than I expected. At some point, I lost feeling in my legs, and Dan and I had to hobble in place to bring the circulation back. Our little show somehow brought in even more donors, which added even more time to our clock.

I never thought it was possible, but after a couple of hours of my skin being practically pasted against Dan’s, I could confidently say I was getting tired of hugging him.

Carol and the crowd had taken pity on us when our shift was scheduled to end and let us go free.

“You boys did fabulously! We far surpassed today’s donation goal! You have to make sure to sign up for another volunteer slot later!” Carol all but demanded, dollar signs still flashing in her eyes.

Fuck that!

I was never volunteering for the hugging booth again!

I could tell even Dan was done with this whole ordeal by the weak smile and half-assed answer he gave her as we quickly made our escape.

“My arms and legs are noodles,” he said, slumping over an empty table in the makeshift food court the fair set up.

I slid into the seat beside him, pleased when he didn’t try to shift into the seat across from me like he’d been doing the past couple weeks. Though he probably didn’t have the energy to move right now, even if he’d wanted to.

“We’re never doing that again,” I stated.

Dan let out a defeated sound of agreement. He turned to one cheek to face me. “You didn’t have to sign up today in the first place, so why did you?” he asked.

“I couldn’t let you do this alone,” I replied.

“I wouldn’t have been alone. Frederick would’ve been with me.”

Right.

How could I have forgotten about Frederick?

And thank fuck I came today, because if I hadn’t, then Frederick would have been the one hugging Dan all this time. Then he’d be the one pressed up against him, smelling Dan’s intoxicating scent and feeling his miraculous hands.

Just the thought of it made me rage with jealousy. It made me want to punch something, or lock Dan away so no one else could get to him.

I didn’t want anyone else hugging Dan, much less for hours on end.

Except…I couldn’t explain where these BIG emotions came from.

I was saved from answering by our order number being called.

I shot out of my seat to grab our food. My stride was a lot slower than usual to give me extra time to settle my thoughts.

I picked up the tray with our food and took my time grabbing sauce and utensils. I knew pulling the napkins out of their holder sheet by sheet could only buy me so much time, and then I’d have to return to Dan and explain myself.

And god…what if he asked about the boner?

What was I supposed to say to that? That his scent turned me on? That ever since he made me come, I couldn’t stop thinking about his hands?

“Clay? Clay, you okay?”

A dainty hand waved in front of my face, merging with the rough one that I’d been dreaming about. The disconnect popped the bubble of memory as I focused on my mom’s concerned expression.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked, pushing her hand out of my face.

“Victor and I were just grabbing some food. We saw you and your brother were here as well,” Mom said, and gestured to where Victor was sitting with my brother.

I’d never had an issue when they referred to him as that in the past, but this time, I had to push down the urge to correct her. Dan was my stepbrother, but more importantly, he was my best friend.

He was just mine.

Mom hooked her arms through mine, her smile turning wicked.

“Guess who else is here?” she asked, but she didn’t even give me a second to answer before she was pulling me with her. “It just so happens the daughter of my friend’s neighbor is also having dinner. You should eat with her.”

“Mom, wait. Dan’s waiting for me to bring back our food—”

“Don’t you worry about that. We’ll make sure he’s fed, so just enjoy your time with Jessica!” Mom said, still pulling me along.

“Mom, I told you I didn’t want—”

“Jessica! Look who I have here!” Mom called before I could stop her.

A woman sitting a few tables down from where Dan sat turned our way and stood, and I knew it was too late to slip away. I couldn’t have escaped even if I wanted to, anyway. Not with the death grip Mom currently had on my arm as she continued to pull me along.

I tried to glare at my mom, but it only bounced off her. She was all smiles as she greeted the woman named Jessica.

“Well, I’ll let you kids get to it! Have a good dinner!”

“Mom—”

I tried calling her. My hand reached out to stop her, but it only caught the dust that tracked up from her quick escape.

She quickly flitted to Victor’s side and plopped into the seat beside him.

Dan was slowly munching on some fries our parents must have ordered, though he made it obvious he was watching me. His brow twitched when our eyes met. One side of his lips turned down into a half-frown.

He was clearly angry, or at the very least, annoyed.

I unconsciously took a step toward him, wanting to make whatever pissed him off go away. I wanted to make everything okay for him.

“Clay? Is everything alright?” Jessica asked from behind me.

Fuck. I’d forgotten about her.

I twisted back to the woman and tried to force a smile. I was royally pissed at Mom for pulling this crap, but my manners prevented me from taking my anger out on the person in front of me. She probably thought I’d agreed to this blind date like she had.

“Listen, there’s been a misunderstanding,” I told her. The sooner I cleared this up, the quicker I could get back to Dan. Our food was quickly cooling on the tray, and nobody wanted a soggy corn dog.

She tilted her head in a way that reminded me of Karla. Her blonde hair fell down her shoulders, reaching all the way to her hips. She had hair like Rapunzel, and while some guys might find that hot, I couldn’t stop imagining the tangled mess in bed.

Short hair was so much more convenient, plus Dan’s hair felt so nice between my fingers. His hair had grown out recently. It wasn’t super long, but long enough for me to get a good grip.

I bet he’d look sexy with him flat on the bed, his black strands fanning his face, and me on top of him…

And whoa!

Where had those thoughts come from?

I wasn’t too manly to admit I loved Dan, but not like that… Never like that.

I loved him in the way best friends loved each other. In the way you loved the person who knew you best. The person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with…

Why did it suddenly sound like the vows Mom took with Victor when they got married?

Surely some wires got crossed or something, because I wasn’t even into men like that. Besides the whole jerk-off session with Dan the other day, I’d never been physically attracted to men. Fine, there was the one other time I got an erection kissing him…

Maybe this was the new version of the Dan effect.

The adult version.

When we were kids, he had a way of getting everyone’s attention, and now as adults, he was what? Getting me hard?

None of this made any fucking sense, but then Mom’s vows to Victor came into mind: when I look at him, I see my future.

And my god, could I resonate with that.

My ten-year-old self knew there was something special about Dan the first time I met him. He looked at me and didn’t see a victim. He saw me as someone who could be a protector, when I’d been anything but.

I wanted to be the hero he saw in me, even if I was still the terrified little boy inside.

My thoughts were swirling faster than I could keep up with. My relationship with Dan was now under scrutiny.

Jessica put her hand on my arm. “Misunderstanding? You’re Clay Segall, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t think straight with this distraction here, but there was one thing I was certain about. I looked at Dan, and I saw my future, because I couldn’t see anyone other than him next to me.

Dan stood, eyes piercing me where Jessica was touching me. Emotions flashed in his eyes. Pain and something else, but he turned around too quickly for me to discern what it was.

And there goes my future, quickly striding away from me.