The Promise (Neighbor from Hell #10)(78)

“Does it matter?” he asked, wondering if he had time to run out and get another box only to curse when he saw the time.

He was running late.

“Does Jackson know yet?” Matt asked, finishing off the box of chocolates that had taken Reed a week to find.

“No,” he said, taking one last look before he turned around and-

“You really don’t think he’s going to find out?” Matt asked excitedly, trying to get off his bed only to get tangled in the mess that Reed had been meaning to talk to him about.

“I don’t care if he finds out,” Reed said, heading for the door.

“Wait!” Matt said, rushing to catch up with him. “Why not?”

“It’s none of your business,” he said, pausing in the hallway

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing,” Matt pointed out, following him.

“I’m taking Joey out to dinner,” he said, sighing heavily as he walked across the hallway and knocked on his bedroom door.

“Where are we taking her?” Matt asked, catching up with him.

“You’re not invited,” he said, glancing down at his watch.

“Of course, I am.”

“You’re really not.”

“Why wouldn’t I be invited? It’s not like you’re proposing or anything,” Matt explained, reminding him of the one thing that he’d hated about this situation.

“Reservations are for two,” Reed said, refusing to let the bastard tag along.

Not this time.

Every single time he’d tried to take her out for dinner, a movie, or even a fucking walk, his brother was there, but not tonight. Tonight, he’d made damn sure that the asshole wasn’t joining them.

“Really?” Matt asked, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he considered him. “Does Joey know this?”

“Why?” he asked as he knocked on her door.

“Because she’s not here.”

“Where is she?” he asked, already heading for the stairs.

“No clue,” Matt said as Reed grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

“Shit,” Reed said as he headed out the door and-

“I haven’t thanked you for watching over my sister, have I?” Jackson, who had made himself scarce since the camping trip, said, pushing away from the house where he’d apparently been waiting for him.

“Are we still playing this game?” Reed asked, shifting his attention to his best friend just as Jackson’s lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin and confirming his suspicions.

“I guess there’s no point anymore, is there?”

“How long have you known?” Reed asked, heading for his truck.

“That you were in love with my sister?” Jackson asked, chuckling as he joined him. “Probably before you did.”

“Why the pretense?” Reed asked as he unlocked his truck and climbed in.

“Because I love my sister,” Jackson said as he climbed in the passenger side and sat back with a heavy sigh.

“Meaning?” Reed asked, not bothering to start his truck as he waited for whatever was coming.

“Joey never cared enough about the little pricks that she’d dated in the past to hide them.”

“Our situation is a little more complicated,” Reed said, giving Jackson a pointed look that had his best friend chuckling.

“True,” Jackson conceded with a nod, “which is why I didn’t interfere because Joey doesn’t do complicated. She likes straight forward relationships without drama or a chance in hell of it going anywhere, but you don’t.”

“No, I don’t,” he agreed, wondering why he’d ever bothered trying to lie to himself.

Because he’d wanted her and would have agreed to anything to have her.

Absolutely fucking anything.

“Plus, Joey would never do anything to hurt you again. She’s not cruel.”

“No, she’s not,” Reed murmured in agreement because she was probably the kindest woman that he’d ever met.

“Which of course makes me wonder what kind of life you can offer my sister.”

“I’m planning on asking her to marry me,” he said because he’d realized that he couldn’t live without her.

“I figured that much out for myself, but what I haven’t figured out is what kind of life Joey is going to have here,” Jackson said, making him frown.

“Anything she wants.”

“There’s nothing for her there, Reed, and we both know it. Joey needs more than a part-time job substituting at a public school. She needs a hell of a lot more than this town can give her. I don’t want Joey to end up like your mother,” Jackson said quietly as Reed felt his words slam into him.

“My mother never regretted marrying my father,” he bit out.

“No, she didn’t, but she gave up everything to be with him and I don’t want that for Joey. Not after everything she’s been through,” Jackson said as Reed rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

“She’ll suffocate in a place like this, Reed.”

“I would never let that happen.”

“Really? And how exactly are you going to stop it from happening, Reed?” Jackson asked, leveling a hard look on him. “Joey will wither away in a place like this and we both know it.”