He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 02

He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 02

The next morning, my fever had only come down to 100.4°F when Ethan knocked on my door.

He set a cup of warm milk on the table and spoke as if nothing had happened.

“Get dressed. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

I supposed that was his version of making peace.

In the past, all he had to do was soften toward me a little, and I’d find every excuse in the world for him.

But just as I picked up my jacket, Chloe came running out of the room next door.

She wore white cycling gear and held a helmet against her chest.

“Ethan, the rental bikes are here.”

“But I had trouble breathing last night. Ryan said it wouldn’t be safe for me to ride alone.”

Ethan didn’t hesitated.

“I’ll go with you.”

Only after saying it did he seem to remember I was still standing there.

“Claire, the hospital isn’t far. Just get a ride there yourself.”

I looked at him. “You just said you’d take me.”

“Plans changed.”

His voice was impatient.

“Chloe isn’t used to long-distance rides. What if something happens halfway around the lake?”

Chloe immediately lowered her eyes.

“Forget it. I won’t go. Claire’s health is more important.”

She said she wouldn’t go, but she didn’t take off the cycling clothes. If anything, she hugged the helmet tighter.

Ryan leaned against the doorway and urged them on.

“We’re paying by the hour. Keep standing around and we’ll be wasting money on all three bikes.”

Ethan took Chloe’s helmet and fastened the strap beneath her chin.

“Let’s go.”

Before he left, he glanced back at me.

“Text me when you’re done at the hospital. I’ll pick you up after the ride.”

I closed the door.

“Don’t bother.”

The hallway went quiet for a few seconds.

Then the three of them walked away, laughing together.

I went to the hospital alone.

The doctor looked over my test results, his expression turning grim.

“Acute bronchitis. And you went out by the lake with a high fever? You really don’t take your health seriously, do you?”

I spent two hours hooked up to an IV.

My phone stayed completely silent.

No calls. No messages asking how I was.

Meanwhile, Chloe posted on Instagram.

In the photo, Ethan was carrying Chloe piggyback after she’d apparently gotten tired from the ride. Ryan stood beside them holding a bottle of water, grinning like he knew exactly what the picture implied.

Her caption read:

[Someone says I’m a pain, but he sure doesn’t act like it.]

Ethan had liked the post.

So did I.

Less than thirty seconds later, it disappeared.

A message from Chloe arrived almost immediately.

Chloe: [Claire, don’t get the wrong idea. I twisted my ankle. That’s why Ethan was carrying me.]

When I got back to the hotel, I went to the front desk to ask about checking out early.

The clerk pulled up our reservation, then seemed to remember something. She reached into a cabinet and pulled out a large manila envelope.

“Mr. Carter stayed with us about six months ago and had a photo shoot done here. No one ever came back to pick up the prints.””

“You’re his girlfriend, right? You can take them with you.”

My fingers froze on the envelope.

There were more than twenty photos inside.

Snow blanketed the winter landscape around Lake Tahoe.

Chloe wore a coat and a birthday hat as she leaned into Ethan’s arms.

Ethan looked down as he adjusted her scarf, his other arm wrapped naturally around her waist.

Ryan stood beside them with a bottle of champagne raised in one hand.

His forehead was completely unmarked, and his arms and legs looked perfectly fine.

There wasn’t a single sign that he’d ever been injured.

A date was printed in the bottom-right corner of each photo.

December 24.

Six months ago.

The day my father had surgery.

Ethan had promised to stay with me that day. Instead, in the middle of the night, he’d suddenly told me Ryan had crashed while driving drunk and that he had to go deal with it.

Ryan had even sent me a photo of blood running down his forehead.

I’d believed them.

I sat alone outside the operating room until morning.

When my father was finally wheeled out, my legs were so weak I could barely stand. I had to brace myself against the wall while I called Ethan.

He didn’t answer.

Half an hour later, he sent a message saying the hospital he was at was too loud and he hadn’t heard his phone.

Now I had no idea where Ryan had gotten that photo.

Ryan had never been in an accident.

Ethan hadn’t been sitting in any hospital.

Even Chloe’s message about her grandmother being sick and she was at the hospital with her had been a lie.

The three of them had been hundreds of miles away, celebrating Chloe’s birthday at Lake Tahoe.

Meanwhile, I’d sat outside an operating room, telling myself over and over how lucky I was to have people I could trust.

I slid the photos back into the envelope.

On the back of the final picture, the photographer had written a note by hand.

[Wishing Mr. Carter and his girlfriend a lifetime of love and many more sunsets together.]

So even a stranger had assumed they were a couple six months ago.

I was the only person who hadn’t known.

That evening, the three of them came back from their bike ride.

Chloe was on Ethan’s back again. Her white sneakers were spotless, with nothing to suggest she’d taken a fall or hurt herself.

Ryan announced that he was starving the second he walked in.

I looked at him and asked suddenly, “Ryan, didn’t that accident six months ago leave a scar on your forehead?”

His smile froze for a fraction of a second.

His hand went instinctively to his forehead.

“It healed a long time ago.”

He frowned. “Why are you asking about that now?”

“No reason.”

My voice stayed calm.

“It just crossed my mind.”

Ryan avoided my eyes and bent down to take off his shoes.

“It wasn’t that serious anyway. It just looked bad at the time.”

Ethan walked over and cut in.

“That was months ago. Why are you bringing it up now?”

Chloe linked her arm through mine.

“Claire, are you thinking about the day your dad had surgery again?”

“Ethan still feels terrible that he couldn’t be there for you.”

She sounded so sincere. Even the concern in her eyes was perfectly measured.

I looked at the girl I’d known for ten years and smiled.

“You’re right.”

“It’s all in the past.”

Back in my room, I buried the envelope at the bottom of my suitcase.

The sunset wasn’t the only thing they’d lied to me about.

They’d already closed ranks six months ago.

And I was the outsider they had all agreed to keep in the dark.