The Bro Pact (Best Bros Forever #1)

1. Warren

CHAPTER ONE

WARREN

“ D id you go out with Paige tonight? Missed you at the party,” Kyle mumbles, taking another swig from his beer before staring vacantly into what’s left of the bonfire in his parents’ backyard.

Condensation trickles down the glass bottle as it dangles loosely between Kyle’s fingertips. My mouth suddenly feels like it’s stuffed with cotton, so I reach into the cooler at his feet and grab a beer from the bottom of the ice. I plop down in the lawn chair next to my best friend and pop the top on the edge of the plastic armrest, guzzling half the bottle before I can even get a word out. “Nah. She fucking cheated on me with Pete.” The rest of my beer is gone before I know it, so I set it next to Kyle’s collection on the rim of the fire pit and grab another. “Fucking Pete . Can you believe it?”

“No shit?” Kyle says on autopilot, his gaze lured in by the dancing flames in front of us. He seems a little off right now, but maybe he’s just really buzzing.

“We only fucked a few times,” I explain, “and sure, the sex was great, but I can’t forgive this shit.”

We never said we were exclusive, but I thought it was understood. I wasn’t fucking around, and I told her that. I expected the same courtesy. Turns out, she wasn’t the girl I thought she was, and I’m glad I figured it out sooner rather than later.

“I’m done with her, Ky,” I tell him earnestly. “Done with all females. I’m swearing them off for the foreseeable future. You’re lucky to be in a long-term relationship, man. I think I’m destined to be single for life.” I tip my beer back in an attempt to catch up with my buddy. I worked late at my dad’s auto shop, even though it’s Friday night and everyone else was partying.

“Marissa broke up with me.” Kyle’s voice is devoid of emotion, but there’s a sheen to his baby blues that makes my chest tighten.

Now that I take a closer look at him, I notice the sunken posture, dark circles under his eyes, as well as his messy blond hair that’s sticking up in every direction.

He’s usually so put together.

At six foot four, Kyle is the all-American sports star every suburban mom dreams of raising.

He’s also my best friend.

“ Fuck, Ky. Seriously? I’m so sorry.”

My issues with Paige are feeling pretty insignificant right now. Marissa and Kyle have been dating since the end of our senior year in high school—almost a year now. I was not expecting this, and judging by the haunted look on his face, neither was he.

“Yep.” He sounds defeated, and I hate it.

Kyle is genuine and kind. He’s the only person I’ve ever been able to trust wholeheartedly since I was a kid and my mom left.

I need to fix this.

“ Hey. You know what?” I say, a brilliant idea coming to me as we both sit here drinking our relationship problems away.

“Hmm?” Kyle continues to stare blankly at the fire, locked into some sort of trance and not really interested in conversation.

It’s almost too warm for a bonfire as spring turns to summer, but this is something we’ve always done, and there’s a certain level of comfort in that. It started as toasting marshmallows and slowly morphed into sneaking beers and sometimes girls.

“Let’s make a pact,” I suggest, hoping it’ll pull his attention from the crackling flames.

“A pact?” He finally looks at me, brows scrunching in the middle.

“Yeah. A pact,” I say as if it’s obvious. “No girls this summer. Three whole months. Just bros.”

“Like, just you and me?” he clarifies with a slightly vulnerable tone that tugs at my fucking heartstrings.

Kyle Fitzpatrick and I have been the best of friends since first grade. We’ve cried in front of each other, bled in front of each other, and sure as fuck had each other’s back through every moment of it. There’s no one else on this Earth whose feelings I care more about.

“Yup. You and me, Ky. We could even go on that West Coast road trip we’ve been talking about since tenth grade.”

Kyle’s already furrowed brows narrow even further. “I don’t know . . .”

“It’s perfect timing,” I insist. “The semester’s almost over, then we have the whole summer to ourselves. Think about it. No girls and no distractions. We can do whatever the fuck we want. And yeah, I gotta work at the shop, but I’m sure I can take a couple of weeks off first.”

I can see Kyle’s gears turning, likely planning things out in his head even through the alcohol fog. I know he’s taking summer classes at the end of June, but we’ll be back before then.

Another perfect idea comes to mind, so I decide to sweeten the pot. “I bet my old man would even let us borrow the RV he just brought in. It needs some work, but if I fix it up for him off the clock, he won’t be able to say no to the free labor. I’m sure of it.”

I’m not sure of it, but I have to cheer him up and take his mind off Marissa.

“ Really? ” he asks, sounding hopeful for the first time all night. “An RV trip,” Kyle muses, his lips just barely ticking up on one side. He straightens in his seat, and a shimmer of excitement rolls through his gaze. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Fuck yeah!” I shout, jumping up from the folding lawn chair I was sitting on, causing it to topple backward. I’m completely hyped up right now. Can’t help it.

“We have two weeks until the semester ends. You can sit down and chill, Ren,” Kyle chuckles before chugging the rest of his beer and grabbing another. His eyes are turning glassy, but I’m not his mama, so he can drink however much he fucking wants after his girlfriend just dumped him.

“Which doesn’t give me much time to diagnose any engine problems and source parts. But don’t worry, consider it handled.” I’m completely confident in my abilities as a mechanic.

“If you say so,” Kyle mumbles with a slur, once again staring into the bonfire. I think I’ve lost him.

Kyle has always been the one who has his shit together, knowing exactly what he wants out of life and keeping to the straight and narrow. I tend to stray, taking the path less traveled and zigzagging through life like I don’t have a care in the world. Or a plan.

I’ve never seen Kyle quite like this; his confidence rattled. I don’t like it at all. He finishes off another beer, so I grab two more, popping the tops before I hand him another frosty bottle.

Feeling the need to distract him yet again, I propose a semi-drunken toast.

Chewing on my tongue ring, I imagine how much fun this road trip will be—just the two of us, like old times, before we were even interested in the opposite sex. I hold my beer toward the moon, staring intently at my best friend and his sad blue eyes. “To a summer filled with fun, friendship, and most importantly, no chicks.”

Kyle pauses for a moment before his hesitant smile blooms, growing into something true and authentic. The skin around his eyes crinkles like it always does when he’s genuinely happy. “To best friends,” he says quietly, returning my sentiment with soft, fervent words. “To the one person who can always make me smile, and always has my back.”

For some reason, my heart kicks at his toast, but I ignore my thumping pulse as we tip our bottles back, drinking to what’s sure to be a summer to remember.