Promise of Forever Read Online Free Page B

she wasn’t interested in me like that and the last thing I wanted was to ruin our friendship and lose her because I had made things uncomfortable between us.
    “When did I ever tell you that you were irresistible?” She giggled like I’d just told a joke. “Good one, Jax. I think you must have confused me for another girl that you’re actually interested in.” There was an edge to her voice that I didn’t understand.
    I smiled. “You’ve never admitted it out loud, but I know that’s what you’re thinking,” I continued playfully.
    “If you say so.”
    I was sure that she was rolling her eyes at that very moment, or thinking about rolling her eyes if she was too tired to actually do so.
    “Jax?” I heard her yawn.
    “Yeah, Clo?” I found myself yawning back.
    “Promise me—” She yawned again and her words came out slower. “Promise me we’ll always be good friends like this.”
    “I promise, Clo.”
    “Good,” she murmured. “I’d miss you too much if we weren’t.”
    “Me too.” My words came out like a whisper.
    I could hear her breathing getting deeper. “Should we hang up the phone?” I finally asked.
    “No...” she murmured. “Let’s stay like this a little longer...I don’t want you to go yet...”
    “Okay.” I smiled and whispered, “Me either.”
    As I lay there on my bed, feeling the inviting pull of sleep and hearing her soft, deep breathing in my ear, the rest of the world started to drift away around me and all I could feel was her presence. It felt as if the hundreds of miles between us had disappeared and she was there lying next to me in my bed. I closed my eyes and imagined her next to me. She was smiling at me and she looked so beautiful—her soft, pink lips, those rosy cheeks, and her light brown eyes that always had a way of lighting up any room.
    “You’re falling asleep,” I said in a low voice. It came out as a statement but I’d meant it as a question.
    “No…” I heard her yawn again. “No…. just one more…” She paused and let out a soft sigh. “…minute...and I’ll get up...not time yet...” Then she mumbled something that was completely incoherent and slurred.
    “You’re cute even when you’re not making sense,” I whispered into the phone.
    She responded with a deep exhale of breath.
    As much as I didn’t want to end our call and lose the feeling of her presence, the heaviness of my own lids began to overtake my willpower to stay awake.
    “Good night, Clo,” I whispered into the phone. “Sweet dreams.” Sweet dreams of me, I hope, I added to myself. Then I clicked off.
    As I drifted off to sleep, I imagined her sleeping peacefully in my arms as I inhaled the sweet smell of her hair. If there comes a day when she’s really falling asleep in my arms, I know I wouldn’t be able to let her go. That was the last thought I had before I fell asleep.
     
    “Honey?” came a soft voice. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see Aunt Betty looking down at me.
    I looked over to my left and saw Chloe lying motionless on the hospital bed and reality quickly set in. That had been a dream—a flashback to a moment in time that’d happened almost ten years ago, to a moment in time when Chloe wasn’t lying unconscious in a hospital room.
    “Sorry, Aunt Betty, I must have drifted off.”
    “Nothing to apologize for, Jackson. You’ve been here since she was brought here yesterday. Maybe you should go home and take a nice relaxing shower and get some sleep. I haven’t seen you leave her side for longer than a few minutes.”
    I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Nah, it’s okay. I took a quick shower here already this morning when Uncle Tom brought over some change of clothes for me and I got a few hours of sleep last night on the bench by the window. I know if I go home and try to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to. I’d rather be here for her.”
    “Okay, dear. Do whatever makes you feel at ease with things.”
    “Yeah,