Page 5 of Promises We Meant to Keep (Love in Massachusetts #1)

five

With the fall festival lights and energy spinning around her, cold washed through Kamryn as she stared at her phone.

Greer: I’m so sorry I have to cancel tonight. The boys have the flu and there’s a huge event. I have to stay and take care of them.

Kamryn wanted to write back how angry she was. Instead, she rolled her shoulders and stared out at the town square where the fall festival had already kicked up. She’d managed to pry herself away from her desk after two weeks of working pretty much nonstop just for Greer to cancel on her tonight. And this had been their second attempt to get together.

Instead of writing what she wanted, she sent back a quick message about how she understood and they’d catch each other another time. She wasn’t supposed to be here alone. She needed Greer for her own protection, because she’d heard through the grapevine that Lauren was supposed to be here. The grapevine being Andra, who had managed to sneak a text to Kamryn to give her the heads up.

Greer was supposed to be there along with Andra, but they’d each been pulled away, leaving Kamryn alone. So very alone. Which was all she had been feeling the last two weeks. She couldn’t for the life of her get the teachers at the school to give her the time of day when it came to breaking down the boundaries of boss and employee. And Elia Sharpe had been making her life a living hell—well, probably not intentionally, but she hadn’t been making life easier.

Kamryn bought a drink and stood watching the band on the stage. It was never first-rate bands who performed during the festival nights, but this one wasn’t bad. She’d have to check out their website and see if they had more music than just this.

She’d needed an escape. That had been why she’d come and that was why she was going to stay. It had nothing to do with Lauren and her newest fling—the Replacement as Greer had named her. Kamryn finished her drink and slowed her breathing. She could do this. She could stay out here on her own and avoid her ex easily enough. Once Lauren showed up, Kamryn would leave.

“Kam?”

So much for that. The chill that ran through her wasn’t because of the cold this time.

“Lauren.” Kamryn forced the smile onto her lips. Why hadn’t she ever moved far away from home? Greer had, and she didn’t have to put up with this drama. It was high school all over again—well, in some ways. “I was just getting another drink.”

“We were too.” Lauren’s gaze was cool and locked on Kamryn’s. “Let me buy you one.”

Was this a good idea? Absolutely not. But the move had been expensive, Kamryn could use the drink, and Lauren was offering.

“Sure.”

The new piece of ass on Lauren’s arm, because she hadn’t budged from that position yet, scooted even closer as they walked toward the small vendor on the far side of the stage. Kamryn ordered a round of shots for everyone, surprised when they came in small paper cups the size of Styrofoam coffee cups. It meant there was about three times the amount of liquor in there.

They stepped to the side, and while Lauren and the Replacement sipped their shots, Kamryn tilted hers up and chugged it. She immediately went back to buy two more. It wasn’t a wise decision by any means, but it was going to get her through the night. The second shot she also chugged, but the third she held tightly in her hand.

“I’m not sure we’ve been properly introduced,” Kamryn said, the heat from the alcohol rushing through her body and warming her limbs. “I’m Kam.”

“Rosie. You’re not as pretty as I imagined.”

Kamryn jerked with a start. She moved her gaze from Rosie to Lauren, who at least had the audacity to look ashamed by that comment. Is this really who Lauren had chosen over her? Right then. Kamryn took a breath and sipped the shot in her hand. “We can’t all be divas.”

Rosie chuckled. “Lauren’s certainly one, don’t you think?”

“Sure,” Kamryn remarked offhandedly. It wasn’t Lauren that she was going to have an issue with tonight. It was the Replacement .

“So are you dating anyone new? Or still pining over this one?” Rosie ran her hand over Lauren’s arm possessively.

Had Kamryn just gone to the set of Mean Girls without realizing it? This woman was outrageously ridiculous, and the fact that Lauren was just standing there not doing or saying anything was equally insane. This wasn’t the Lauren that Kamryn had been in love with. This was someone she absolutely didn’t like.

Which, honestly, helped put some things into perspective.

“I have a girlfriend.” The words were out of Kamryn’s mouth before she could stop them. The worst part was that if it had just been her and Lauren, she probably wouldn’t have lied. But there was something about the Replacement that irked her so much she felt compelled into lying. “We just started dating, so it’s all very new.”

“Is she here tonight?” Rosie’s eyes lit up like she’d just been given a new toy.

“Oh, um, she was supposed to meet me, but—” Kamryn stopped talking. What was she doing anyway? She shuddered and took the shot in her hand, crumpling the cup up and throwing it into the nearest trash can, which happened to be right next to her. She laughed loudly and shook her head. “I’m getting another one. You all want one?”

So much for letting Lauren buy the booze. As soon as they nodded, Kamryn went to order one more shot for each of them. When she returned there were two more people standing with Lauren and Rosie. She should have taken the opportunity to leave while she had the chance. They were talking briskly, clearly they knew each other, and Kamryn was left out of the circle, yet again.

That was how it had always been with Lauren. Kamryn had always felt like she was one step outside of being included. Rushing back into that feeling didn’t help her situation. Neither did the fact that her head was spinning from the shots she’d already taken.

“Guys, this is Kam, Lauren’s ex.”

“Thanks, Rosie.” Kamryn tried to hide the ire in her tone, but she wasn’t sure she managed it. She shook their hands quickly after handing over the shots and then held hers. Did she really want to take it? She was already drunk, and she was going to have to call for a ride back to the school before she tried not to let the students who were in the dormitory in on the fact that she was drunk. She really should have thought this through better.

“Kam was just telling us about her new girlfriend. She’s here, right?” Rosie sneered again, her nose wrinkling and her upper lip rising. “Or does she even exist?”

“She exists,” Kamryn said, doubling down on her lie. She was going to die when the truth came out, and she’d never live it down in her circle of friends. Luckily Greer and Andra would probably laugh about it later when it wasn’t so fresh and stressful.

“Then where is she?”

Kamryn laughed, shaking her head. She was never one who was very good at lying. It had been her downfall throughout her entire life. Lauren, however, was very good at lying and keeping secrets. Kamryn looked up, her gaze meeting none other than Elia Sharpe’s cool blue eyes. Elia didn’t look very happy. Her cheeks were hollowed, her lips pursed, and she was walking very purposely in their direction.

There had been rumors all those years ago about Elia Sharpe being a lesbian, but they’d never been confirmed. Coming back to the school, Kamryn had known they’d been true. She was wiser now, and more aware of things going on around her. At least, she liked to think that sometimes.

Elia was four steps away.

Surely Elia would save her this time. She’d saved Kamryn many times over the years, and that moment of kindness when she’d offered an orientation kept coming back to Kamryn’s mind as that being the true Elia Sharpe.

Tipping her head back, Kamryn swallowed the last shot in two gulps before tossing the cup in the trash. She walked directly up to Elia, clasping a hand on her arm to stop her forward motion and leaned into her ear. Her heart hammered so loudly she swore the entire town could hear it.

Elia would save her.

That was the only thought than ran through her crazy, alcohol-riddled mind. Kamryn paused when she sucked in a breath, getting a deep scent of Elia’s subtle shampoo, the coconut that wafted off her and straight into Kamryn’s belly. This wouldn’t mean anything. Elia hated her. And Kamryn was beyond trying to get Elia to like her. She didn’t need it. She was only going to be at Windermere for this first semester and then she would have to head on to find a new job somewhere.

“Please just go with it,” Kamryn whispered, her lips brushing the soft skin of Elia’s earlobe.

It was everything she hoped for in five simple words. Backing away slowly, before she could lose her gumption and face the lie that she’d told—or rather face Rosie and the lie at the same time—Kamryn moved in again.

“I’m not—”

Kamryn kissed her. She moved in, pressing their mouths together and cutting off the objection or the confusion that she knew Elia was about to have. She kept her grip on Elia’s wrist strong, but she moved her other hand up and threaded her fingers into Elia’s hair, tangling the strands and holding onto her even tighter.

When Kamryn expected Elia to pull away, she didn’t. She parted her lips, opening for more. Kamryn closed her eyes, tilting backward and pulling Elia with her and deeper into the kiss. There was no way a straight woman would kiss another woman like this—there was something queer going on here, and Kamryn had confirmed it. Although that hadn’t been her intention.

All she’d wanted was for Elia to save her.

To save her from the embarrassment of standing in front of the ex she swore she was still in love with, but also the ex’s new girlfriend, who was just a snotty brat with a mean streak ten miles wide. Kamryn shivered, stepping closer to Elia and deeper into her embrace as Elia’s hands came up and surrounded her, held her there.

Their tongues touched and tangled. It was tentative at first, but then Elia let out a gentle and sweet moan that Kamryn was never going to forget. No music from the band or chatter from the crowd would ever cover that up.

Elia gasped and pulled away, still holding onto Kamryn.

Save me…

But Kamryn was pretty damn sure that she didn’t say that out loud.

“So you’re her new girlfriend.” Rosie’s voice grated on Kamryn’s nerves, and Kamryn tensed. There were people surrounding them. Lauren was here. She’d just witnessed—fuck, what had Kamryn done? She was such an idiot.

Elia turned away from Kamryn, the confusion she’d had on her face masked in an instant. Although her look hardened shortly after. Kamryn followed Elia’s gaze to where it landed on Lauren. Shit.

“Dr. Sharpe,” Lauren said, pursing her lips and shaking her head. “I didn’t expect this.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here either,” Elia answered, those cool tones filling her voice again.

Kamryn wanted to crawl into a hole and never emerge now. She wanted to crawl away, hide, pretend nothing of tonight had happened.

“What’s it been? Twenty years?”

“Almost—in the spring. I was planning on going to the reunion.” Lauren sounded amused now.

“You two know each other?” Rosie asked.

“Dr. Sharpe taught English at Windermere, where Kam and I met.”

And where they’d first fallen in love. Definitely not the last time they’d fallen in love. Though so much had changed over that time, and they weren’t the same people they’d been when they were teenagers.

“Oh…intriguing,” Rosie said, clapping her hands together. She faced Kamryn purposely, a light in her eyes that scared Kamryn to her very core. “Are you someone who usually has mommy issues?”

“I think we should go…home.” Elia seemed to stutter over the last word.

Was she trying to fold herself into the lie? Was she actually trying to protect and save Kamryn from any further degradation? Kamryn tightened her grasp on Elia’s hand, needing it not only to keep her feet steady but to know if what she’d hoped for was actually happening.

“So soon?” Rosie interjected. “But I’d love to get to know Kam’s new girlfriend.”

Elia knew that Kamryn and Lauren had dated all those years ago. Didn’t she? Or had she been clueless about it? Kamryn couldn’t remember, and with twenty years in between, did it really matter?

“There’s really not that much to get to know,” Elia said.

Kamryn looked at her, the side profile of her face in the dim light not revealing too much. Elia tightened her grasp around Kamryn’s back, which was a warm reminder of the way Lauren used to do that.

“Well, how did you two meet?” Rosie asked.

“High school, obviously.” Lauren rolled her eyes and chugged the shot that Kamryn had bought her just before all of this went down.

“Well, yes,” Kamryn jumped in. She needed to take the lead on this in order to protect Elia from anything damaging that might face her. “But we didn’t meet again until a few weeks ago. All of this is very new. I promise.”

“We want the story.” Rosie sounded excited now.

Kamryn parted her lips in surprise and then looked up into Elia’s eyes, waiting for confirmation that this was something they should do. She needed to know what Elia wanted—if Elia would save her one more time.