Page 59 of Forget Me Not

“Well, I mean, she was used to sailor ass, before she sold the boat.”

“Ew,” Katelyn gags, shaking her head and kicking off her shoes. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve conceded to the fact that some day, she won’t be here. Some mornings, she will wake up and remember how much she loves me. Some days, she won’t. It’s like constantly being stuck inside a punching bag, not knowing when someone is going to strike.”

I know that feeling all too well.

“Like walking on eggshells.”

“Exactly,” she agrees, but then she winces. “Sorry.”

“Please don’t,” I grumble, kicking my sneakers to the doorway. “I want to be there for you.”

She smiles, her green eyes flashing. “Well, thank you. It’s nice to talk to someone about it. I feel like I’m stuck in purgatory sometimes.”

“Well, if you ever need a break, I would be more than happy to come sit with her for awhile.”

She waves me off. “She’s good on her own for a few hours. Besides, what would I need a break for?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I shrug. “Maybe a date,” and then slyly, I add, “Maybe a date with Crusty.”

I’ve never seen someone get so red, so fast.

“It’s okay,” I chuckle. “I know he has a crush on you. I know you have a crush on him. I’m not interested. You two are. Why shouldn’t you go for him?”

“Well . . . for starters . . .”

“His name is Craig. Not Crusty.”

“I know, but can you imagine moaning Crusty?”

“Katelyn, I can’t even imagine getting to first base with Crusty. He turns me all the way off.”

She laughs, face brightening further. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I don’t even know how it’s going to go. He asked me out, but I haven’t given him an answer because I’ve been trying to come up with a way to mention it to you.”

“Please. Be happy. Run, frolic through the weeds naked together. I will support you, one hundred percent.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know,” I chuckle, plopping down beside the paint containers to start mixing them. “Maybe you and Tara can have a double wedding.”

“Please. And steal the show from those two?”

“Yeah,” I sigh. Tara and Manto are what I like to call divine intervention souls. Both weren’t looking for something, but they found each other. Now, it’s like they can’t breathe without one another. “God, they’re perfect. Makes me sick.”

“I know . . . By the way,” Katelyn starts while I pour out the paint into two containers for us to start the trim work. “I saw Reid today.”

My face instantly heats up to match the old red rug in the center of the room.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He was on his way to the boat dock.”

After our little afternoon ice cream not-date, we separated, him going back to the inn to look at the air conditioner, while I met Katelyn at the hardware store.

His words replay in my head—in fact, they’ve been replaying since he said them and I can’t get over the sense of need I feel that I’m not accustomed to.

I want to fuck you, Nova. Hard.

How can something so crude, make my stomach twist with butterflies? As if he’d told me I was the most beautiful woman in the world?

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