Every Broken Promise (Kane Brothers Trilogy #1)

Chapter 1

ONE

If there was one thing I learned with age, it was that life was not all that it was cracked out to be. You needed school to get a better job. Guess what? Thanks to said degree, I was up to my ears in debt.

Whatever, though—I would not let that bring me down. It’s not like we died with our savings in our coffins. Morbid, I know, but it made me feel better on those days when I felt like a broke bitch.

The prissy rich people and I would all disintegrate the same way.

It really was the little things in life that kept you going.

As soon as high school ended, I packed my bags and said goodbye to my small town.

Before becoming persona non grata, I planned to go to community college. I loved my parents and knew I would be homesick, but I didn’t think I was ready to spread my wings.

When you grow up in a small town, you either want to leave it and try to pave your way in the big, scary world, or you stay comfortable in what you already know.

I was in the second category. I had everything I ever wanted right in town. I didn’t have big aspirations.

Since I was little, I knew I wanted to become a journalist. I was that weird kid who would watch the news, not really for the announcements but more for how they broadcasted. Watching how they reported everything in a few minutes so eloquently and without missing a beat was fascinating to me.

The art of it all intrigued me.

My plan for after high school had been simple: go to community college for two years. I never planned on being the next Anderson Cooper; I would have been content working for my local newspaper. So the plan was community college with my best friend—my ex-best friend now, if we’re being technical.

Not that said ex-best friend needed to go to college with me. His family owned their own business, and since he wasn’t too keen on higher education, he was only going because he was tired of hearing me nag about it. My plan allowed me to stay wrapped in a bubble of familiarity.

Unfortunately, life had other plans, and my safety cocoon came crashing down on me.

When you were your graduating class’s enemy numero uno , there’s no point in sticking around. So, that’s what I did. I packed my bags, said bon voyage to my parents, and made my way to an out-of-state university.

The place I was too scared to be homesick over was the place I needed to outrun.

There would be no friends to miss me since they all turned their backs on me. Let me just say that avoiding people when you lived in a small town wasn’t easy, but damn, if I didn’t make that a work of art. In the four years I had been at school, you might as well have called me Houdini.

Luck had been at my side.

Sadly, you couldn’t have too much of a good thing.

It’s like with sex. Sometimes, you had guys who were great at it and made you believe that you were one orgasm away from heaven, when others had no idea what they were doing, that even if you drew them a map with an X marking the spot, they would still be too blind to see it.

The balance of life demands that we must go through trials and tribulations.

So here I was now—it was time to pay the piper.

I was too calm for someone whose car had been stranded fifteen miles from town—way too calm. I looked down at my phone—twenty minutes had passed since my car had broken down on me, and I couldn’t force myself to dial a number I knew all too well.

Maybe he’s not even there.

Life is all about balance. My car breaking down was already negative, so the positive had to be that someone else would pick up my call and come, right?

Fuck it.

The number of Kanes’ Auto had long been erased from my phone, along with all the other Kane family members’ numbers. But when you grew up dialing the shop for rides because you and the youngest of the Kane brothers ended up needing a ride every other weekend, you tended to memorize it.

It rang once.

Twice.

By the third time, I almost gave up.

“Kanes’ Auto.”

I didn’t realize how nervous I had been to make the call. My hand shook as I listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” they spoke again, this time grumpier than before, and I shook my head because that deep, growly voice was not the one I was avoiding.

Maybe life was not being a bitch to me just yet.

“EZ,” I said with relief as I spoke to the eldest of the Kane brothers. “My car broke down.”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.

“Who’s this?” he barked.

If it were anyone else, I would have been offended, but Ezekiel Kane was not the friendliest of guys. Even back in high school, he began to distance himself from our friendship.

Whatever.

“Never mind that,” I said. “I need a tow back into town.”

Now, this was more EZ’s speed. He didn’t like to talk more than necessary, and if he didn’t tell his dickhead brother I was back, it would be a bonus.

I pulled the visor mirror so I could fix my hair. After six hours in my car, it wasn’t doing me any favors.Once that was done, I looked at myself. If you were to put the girl who lived here with the one returning, it would seem like two different people.

I guess that’s why no one cared that my best friend was a guy.

When I lived here, I looked like a tomboy.

My circle of friends was small, and the girls didn’t like me much, not because they were jealous of me—none of them would think I could pull a guy like him .

When your best friend was one of the hottest guys in town, it came at a price.

Being one of the guys was never a compliment.

Lucky for me, one of the girls I had roomed with in college was getting her cosmetology license, and I was all too happy to be her guinea pig.

My light brown hair was brighter and had more dimension.

My hazel eyes now popped thanks to the black mascara rimming my eyes.

I found more confidence in myself in leaving my small corner of the world.

Crazy how a supportive group of girls could lift you up.

I had only experienced them cutting me down.

When I saw the tow truck pass, I immediately sat up straighter. I waited for them to park behind me and then got off. I went around to the passenger side and leaned against my car.

“It’s about damn time, EZ!” I yelled as he opened the door and got out.

Except the person who got out the truck wasn’t Ezekiel Kane. He moved toward me without looking up from his phone.

Please let it be Adam.

Unlike EZ, he was mouthy and would go running to his little brother in a heartbeat, but it would beat having him here.

I don’t know who I was praying for, but with the unease in my stomach and the way my nerves seemed to go haywire, I knew it wasn’t Adam either.

Fuck.

I immediately stood straighter as if I were ready for battle.

Tyler Kane was walking toward me. It had been four years and three months, give or take, since I last saw him.

Like me, he didn’t look like the boy I remembered.

He got taller in the years since we had last seen each other.

Although he wasn’t as muscular as his older brother, I could see he had filled out.

The long-sleeve crewneck fit him to perfection.

His dark hair lacked the spikiness he preferred in high school, and now it was more of a tussled mess.

He still had his gauges in, but they looked smaller than how he used to rock them.

It was totally unfair that he looked even better than I remembered.

He put the phone away and slowly made his way up my body.

I fought the urge to shift under his gaze.

I wore leggings, a cropped cream top, and an oversized cardigan.

He raised a brow when he got to my midriff, and I felt my cheeks get hotter.

He had been staring at my hip piercings.

I instantly crossed my arms, blocking his view.

I saw his lip twitch, and then he made his way up my cleavage and, lastly, toward my face.

For all the changes that I made, it took him about five seconds to recognize me.

“Astrid.”He breathed my name like it sounded foreign on his lips.I wondered if the betrayal had hurt him an ounce of what it had hurt me.

Tyler Kane used to be my best friend, that’s until he broke the number one rule and he didn’t have my back. That was not the only thing Tyler broke, but if I kept count of every broken promise, we’d be here for a long time, and I just wanted to get home.

“You’re back?” he asked.

My eyes refused to meet his. Instead, I looked through my phone while I spoke.

“I need my car towed to eighteen fifty-sev?—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he muttered.

“I’ll call EZ and pay online.”

“Astrid,” he growled.

“Thanks for your help, Mr. Kane. Please hurry,” I told him, putting my phone in my cardigan pocket. I turned around, intending to make a run for it.

I never ran.

I was a firm believer that there was no need to run when you had legs capable of walking—walking was safe and practical—but I wondered if this warranted as the perfect opportunity to start.

Damn fucking small town.

I barely got three steps in when I was being pulled back. Tyler’s hand went to my shoulder, spinning me so I could face him.

“What the fuck?” I hissed.

“Yeah, what the fuck, Astrid? It’s been four years,” he spat right back as if he had a right to get mad at me.

“If you don’t let go of me, I’m calling the cops,” I threatened.

It took four seconds, and then I felt his grip loosen from my arm.

“Astrid, look at me.” His voice was soft—almost pleading. “ Beautiful .”

My throat constricted, and I felt rage begin to course through me. He did not go there.

Asshole.

Everyone searches for the meaning of their name, and back then, mine felt like such a joke. Divinely beautiful was the meaning of mine—I found this out back when I always felt like an ugly duckling.

For the first time in four years and three months, give or take, my eyes locked on Tyler Kane’s.