Page 5 of Promised Secret (Promises, Promises #3)

Chapter Two

CLAY

We ended up at the local deli a couple of blocks away from the clinic for lunch today—Frederick’s pick. The entire walk there, my mind was jumbled with thoughts about Frederick.

Why was he coming to lunch with us? And why the hell was Dan hugging him for so long earlier?

It was no secret that Dan dated around. He had a different person on his arm each week, but the one thing they all had in common was that they never stuck around. That was probably the reason I endured sharing him, because I knew these people would be out of our lives eventually.

But if Dan started dating Frederick…

They worked at the same place and saw each other practically every day. I knew Dan wasn’t the type of person to mess around at the clinic, so if he started something up with one of his employees, it meant he really liked them.

Which meant…I was going to have to share Dan with someone else.

I didn’t like sharing.

I met Frederick the day he started working with Dan. He was a huge dude, so large that anyone at the local police department would want to recruit him.

Dan couldn’t stop gushing about him his entire first week on the job, saying how great Frederick was with kids, and how diligent Frederick was on the job, and did I know Frederick had two pet bunnies?

I immediately disliked the man. I knew it was childish of me, but it felt like the newcomer was taking my place as Dan’s partner in crime. Dan used to always say we were a team. I’d go out and kick asses, and he’d be there to treat my injuries.

But now, with them working side by side at the clinic, it was hard not to feel like I was being replaced.

After grabbing our food and watching Dan slide into the booth beside Frederick when he’d usually sit beside me, I disliked the man even more.

Why the hell was he eating lunch with us, anyway? This was our thing—me and Dan. It didn’t include anyone else, unless…oh god. If they really started dating, was this going to be the new routine? The three of us going to lunch every day?

Am I the third wheel?

I sat directly across from Dan but sent a glare Frederick’s way. The man ignored me and focused on devouring his food. His eyes curved in enjoyment with each of his bites, and even I had to admit that he was a good-looking dude. I wasn’t into men, but I could see why Dan might be attracted to him.

I glared at him even harder until metaphorical daggers were shooting his way.

Someone kicked my ankle. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but I knew he was trying to get my attention. I ignored him and continued my very serious task of glaring at the person who was taking my Dan away.

There was another, harder kick to my ankle, and this time, I paused my very important task to look at the culprit.

Dan was squinting his eyes and waggling his eyebrows, as if trying to communicate silently to me. Even without him saying it out loud, I knew he was telling me to stop glaring and play nice with his employee.

Dan defending him made me want to glare at the man even more.

Eventually, Dan stopped trying to make expressive faces at me and took a bite of his sub. Frederick continued eating his food, lost in his own world and paying no mind to either of us.

I started eating, too, but I continued to observe Frederick to figure out what the deal between the two of them was. I wished he wasn’t here so I could ask Dan directly.

Knowing me well, Dan probably knew what I was up to and just shook his head at me. He turned toward Frederick and asked, “Are you volunteering for the hugging booth at the summer fair next weekend? I saw Carol talking to you the other day when she came in to ask me to volunteer.”

Carol was the head of the PTA at the local elementary school. She’d swung by the police department last week as well to recruit people for their fundraiser. I’d politely declined since hugging wasn’t really my thing.

Frederick chewed his food slowly and only replied after swallowing. “The kids want me to, but I’m not a huge fan of crowds.”

“Oh, c’mon, you should do it. It’s for a good cause. The elementary school is trying to raise money for a new playground for the kids. I’m sure all the children will be lining up to get a hug from you. They love you,” Dan gushed, eyes sparkling up at Frederick.

I frowned and took another angry bite of my sub. I knew I was being overly possessive by not wanting Dan to be so starry-eyed over someone else, but I didn’t like sharing him.

The possessiveness had gotten worse recently. Before, I could watch him flirt with his next target without even blinking an eye, but now every time I saw him putting moves on someone, a hole of negative emotions settled in my heart. The worst of them was jealousy.

But I couldn’t stop myself from feeling this way. Pushing down the emotions only made me prickly, which had me starting petty arguments with Dan.

I was well aware Dan didn’t like being alone and wanted a partner in life, but I didn’t understand why that partner couldn’t be me.

We weren’t in love with each other, but surely, we did love each other. We might not be related by blood, but that didn’t mean we weren’t family.

Was it so wrong to want to live your life with your stepbrother? We cared for one another, had each other’s backs, and nobody knew us better than us.

It had me wondering if I just wasn’t enough…

Frederick took another bite of his food and nodded. “It is for a good cause.”

“Exactly! And Carol said the hugging booth won’t be in a very crowded area, so wouldn’t it be fun to do it together?”

“Why not? It’ll only be for a couple of hours, anyway,” Frederick finally concluded.

My hands formed into fists in front of me.

“I’m volunteering, too,” I found myself saying. It was like my mouth had moved before I could think it through, but now that the words were out, I couldn’t take it back.

Dan turned to me with a suspicious gaze. “You are?”

I forced myself to nod. I couldn’t backtrack now that I’d already committed to the lie. It just meant I had to find Carol later and tell her I wanted to join their fundraising efforts after all.

“Are you feeling okay?” Dan asked, reaching over the table to place a palm over my forehead. “It doesn’t feel like a fever, but maybe we should get you checked up at the clinic.”

I lightly slapped his hand away. “I’m fine,” I said roughly.

He didn’t look too convinced, but he let the matter drop…that was until Frederick left for the bathroom.

“What’s going on? Why are you volunteering when we both know you hate hugs?” Dan asked as soon as the interloper was out of sight.

“I don’t hate hugs. Mom hugs me. You hug me,” I grumbled and took an angry sip of my soda.

He’d sounded so excited about volunteering with Frederick, but his mood had completely shifted when it came to me. He didn’t use to be like this, so my question was, what changed?

Dan didn’t reply right away, but he continued to stare me down, as if he was trying to look directly into my brain to find the answers.

“And what about you?” I used the pause in silence to ask.

“Me? I love hugs, so volunteering my services isn’t a big deal,” he said, flashing the smile he used when he was trying to charm someone.

It only made me frown.

“I’m not talking about the hugging booth. I’m talking about today—right now. What’s going on? Why did you invite your nurse to our lunch when it’s always only been us, and why the hell are you sitting beside him instead of me?”

Dan looked shocked by the barrage of questions.

Hell, I was surprised, too. I hadn’t planned on ambushing him like this. I was going to ask him later tonight when we got home, and it was just the two of us.

Dan never hid anything from me, so I knew I’d get an answer from him. But now that plan had gone down the drain, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d done something wrong.

Dan looked panicked, like he’d wanted to escape—escape from me—and that was something I never thought would happen.

It shattered something inside of me. I hated being the one making him look like that when I’d made a promise to my kid self that I’d always be the protector, and Dan would be one of the people I protected.

“Dan, I’m sorry—”

I started to apologize, but Frederick returned to the booth before I could finish telling Dan that I didn’t mean to intimidate him.

With Frederick back, the panic that Dan showed was instantly replaced with a bright smile, and I started to feel like the third wheel again.

By the end of lunch, Dan was laughing and chatting happily with Frederick, all the while pretending like the little snafu between us hadn’t happened.

Something was definitely wrong, but I didn’t have time to question Dan since I now needed to pop by Carol’s to sign myself up for the hugging booth before heading back to work.

But that didn’t mean I was giving up on getting answers. I hated the rare times Dan and I had really fought over the years, but those experiences had taught me that the best way to end our fights was to talk them out.

I’d planned to do just that tonight, but Dan never returned. At lunch, it felt like he was creating distance between us, but I thought I was overthinking it.

Now, as I sat alone in our home, having failed at getting a hold of him over the phone and staring at my unanswered texts to him, I knew he was avoiding me.

And what the hell was I supposed to do about that?