loved Fireweed or that I had dreams too. It was always him, all the time, which was why when he announced that he’d accepted another position off the island, I didn’t follow. I’d had enough. It was actually relief that filled me right up, not sadness. So, when he held a dinner party to announce to his group of friends, with a few of mine thrown in, that he was leaving for a promotion, everyone turned to see my reaction. And it was pure shock. Because he hadn’t told me yet. I learned with everyone else, and yet, I couldn’t wait to help him pack.
Winter started up again. “Anyway, I think you absolutely need to quit dating such goody-two-shoes types. You just always ignore the guy with an edge or someone who has—”
“Tattoos?” I giggled. “Should we just switch dating types? You go for the clean-cut, goody-two-shoes, and I’ll go for the bad boy rebel.”
“You said it. I didn’t.” She chuckled. “No, I just think you should go for someone who isn’t so straitlaced. Maybe you’d have more fun than you realize. Maybe date a guy who wouldn’t mind jumping out of a plane with you or hang gliding off some mountain.”
I let out a thoughtful sigh as I thought back to why I had written that pledge.
My mom’s sister had just been dumped by her boyfriend of ten years, whom she’d had three children with. My aunt and her children had to live with us off and on over the years because she could barely make ends meet. She’d given him everything emotionally, and he’d left her broken to go play in a band that never took off, but it gave him plenty of reasons to sleep around and stay out drinking.
Seeing the devastation that man caused my aunt and cousins left a scar, and it happened to be at the same time I’d run into McKenzie, a last-name-only kind of guy. He was seventeen and somehow managed to have more tats than I’d ever seen, probably using his fake id at the time to talk his way into the tattoo studio for an appointment. He lived only a few houses down the street, and his band always practiced in his garage. One day, the garage door was wide open, and he blew me a kiss. From that moment on, I avoided him like the plague.
Why?
Because he blew every girl a kiss.
And I didn’t want to wind up like my aunt.
I glanced at Winter, who was observing me, and I nodded slowly. “I think you guys are onto something here.”
“And haven’t you ever wondered who kept leaving you that white rose week after week your entire junior year?” Arie asked me.
I laughed nervously, wishing my friend had a better case of amnesia, but I’d always wondered who left those roses for me.
Every Monday morning, one would be on our doorstep. At first, I thought my brothers were messing with me, and then I fantasized that it was a secret message from Morgan McKenzie. I shook that last thought out of my head.
Ridiculous.
Arie’s eyes were wide with anticipation as she looked at Samantha. “What about you? Who did you write off?”
“I’m probably the most doomed here.” Samantha folded up her piece of paper, and Winter almost ripped it out of her hands, but Samantha was too quick.
“You’re seriously not going to tell us?” I asked, completely shocked that my friend would play such a dirty trick.
“I got cold feet.” She frowned. “I fully intended on revealing my vows.”
“That’s not fair.” Winter shook her head. “In fact, it reminds me of something a sixteen-year-old would do.”
“Actually, wasn’t this pact idea Samantha’s in the first place?” I asked.
“It was.” Arie nodded.
“All I’m saying is we’re about to turn thirty.” Winter drew a breath. “And I think it’s high time we find our Mr. Wrong and give it a shot, and I say we have until our thirtieth to do it. We need to commit to this challenge or else.”
“That gives me a week.” I slammed my hands on the seat of the booth. “That’s totally not fair, and who said I even wanted to agree to this?”
Winter smiled an all-knowing look. “You don’t want Samantha and me to be the only two trying out this theory when all three of us committed to the original pact.” Her right brow arched. “You’ve got to do this challenge with us.”
“We were teenagers,” I protested.
“I bet you’ll find the love of your life in the next thirty days,” Winter shot back. “How about that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not buying into this, and I don’t want to play. I’ll think about what you’re saying, and maybe I’ll dabble with a bad boy, but by my birthday? No.”
“We’ll see.” Winter was readying for battle.
Samantha giggled.
“You are so not off the hook.” I shot Samantha a warning gaze.
“Okay, I will fully admit that this is completely rotten of me, but how about I share my pact after you guys experiment?” She tapped her finger nervously and clutched her purse. “I got cold feet hearing you two argue, and it will all make sense once I read what I wrote, but I just…can’t. What we need to do is vow to experiment with the men who are wrong with us before we turn thirty.”
“Nice try.” I shook my head. “But you’re reading it. I turn thirty next week, and I don’t even have time to fit in a date with a bad boy.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Winter asked me. “You constantly babble about wanting to jump out of an airplane, but you don’t want the adventure of love? Not on my watch. We’re all in this challenge together.” She pointed at Samantha. “And you better read it.”
“Ditto that sentiment.” Arie stared in disbelief. “You can’t pull me along for the ride this far and not tell me what your vows were.”
“Yeah,” Winter agreed, brows furrowed. “This isn’t how we planned it.”
“Fine. But I won’t answer any questions. Not now, anyway. Deal?”
Winter and I traded glances, and I shrugged. “Fine.”
But I wondered why in the world we’d have any questions. These were pretty blanket statements coming from a sixteen-year-old’s perspective.
She dug the paper out of her purse and unfolded it. She drew a slow breath and stared at the page.
“I hereby swear that I will never date my best friend’s brother.” Her breath caught. “I vow to never sleep with him again.”
“Again?” Arie nearly choked on her drink as she slammed the glass down on the table while Winter’s eyes remained wide and locked on mine.
We all had brothers.