Page 123 of The Cost of Forgetting You

Their gazes all find me in turn, until despite the noise filling the space, my head goes quiet.

“Okay.” I find myself glancing at Destin, searching his face for any sign that Alicia has given him the rundown. I don’t want to rehash my father’s condition. Not here. Not on a happy night.

Destin’s gaze is kind. Undemanding. It reminds me of Roberta and the way she always seems to know without ever having to ask. The corner of his mouth lifts. “I’m glad you’re getting out. Living your life. I did an elective rotation in geriatrics and saw time and time again that the caregivers were neglecting themselves because they thought it was selfish to do otherwise. But it’s not. The best thing you can do for your family member is take care of yourself.” He blinks, then glances at Truett. Back at me. “Sorry, you asked for none of that. Please ignore me.”

“No, it’s okay. Really.” I’m grateful for the loud music. Hopeful that it hides that my voice is breaking. I take a long pull from my margarita and lick the salt from my lips. “I think I needed to hear that.”

Alicia strokes a hand down Destin’s bicep and smiles when he turns to look at her. “Destin doesn’t usually out-talk me, but if there’s one thing he’ll lose his voice over, it’s his patients.”

Her husband ducks his head, bowing to the compliment.

“How’d you decide to be a doctor?” Tru asks.

Destin runs a finger over his scar absent-mindedly. “I was attacked by a dog as a kid. The doctor who did the reconstructive surgery on my face made a really scary situation a lot less intense.” His hand drops to the table, and Alicia lays hers over it. “I guess I liked the idea of being able to do that for someone, too.”

“So will you go for plastic surgery then?” I ask.

He nods, and Alicia chuckles. “Yeah, once he’s practicing, I’m gonna make him give me implants.”

Destin chokes on a sip of beer. His cheeks flush red. “Jesus, babe.”

I raise a brow. “Can we get a two-for-one deal on that? Or is it four-for-two.”

Alicia throws her head back, laughing. When she finally sucks in a lungful of air and blows it out with a high note, she offers me her glass, and I clink mine to hers. We both finish off our margaritas and slam down our glasses.

The arm Truett had been resting on the back of the booth falls to my shoulder and tugs me into him. His lips find my ear, and his tongue slips out to tease the shell of it. “Don’t you dare, Temptress. Your tits are perfect the way they are.”

His comment courses through my veins. Hot and pulsing. It settles between my thighs, leaving me squirming beneath the table.

“We’ll go get another round,” Alicia offers, a coy smile playing on her lips as she glances from me to Truett.

“Thank you,” I say. It comes out breathier than I’d like, which only makes her smile harder.

As soon as they’re out of earshot, I smack Truett on the thigh.

“Ouch!” He removes his arm from my shoulders so he can rub the sore spot. “What was that for?”

“You can’t say stuff like that to me in public!”

An impish grin sweeps over his face. “Or what?”

I glance past him to verify our friends are still well out of earshot. When my gaze lands on Alicia, she makes an obscene hand gesture that Destin pretends not to notice. I giggle and bring my gaze back to Truett. “Or you’ll have me all turned on in public with no way of getting off.”

His eyes catch flame. I feel his hand move to my thigh, heated against my bare skin. It snakes higher, higher, until his fingertips are kissing the hem of my jean skirt. “Are you saying you’re turned on right now?”

I don’t honor that with a response.

One brow shoots up. His hand dips beneath my skirt now, and my clit throbs at the proximity. “You know I could easily tell…”

I should stop him. Smart, responsible me would do just that. But I’m not her tonight. I’m the me who knows what Truett looks like on top of me, inside me. I’m the me with a margarita already lightening her limbs, softening her vision. I part my legs ever so slightly, an invitation that Truett senses the moment it’s given.

The tips of his fingers brush my pussy through the thin fabric of my panties. I nearly arch off the booth but force myself to remain still. Any second, Alicia and Destin will return, and we’ll be caught red-handed. I should stop this before it goes too far.

But there’s a part of me that wants just a little bit more.

He tugs my underwear to the side and slips a finger through my wet center. “So wet for me already. It’s almost like you enjoy me talking about how much I love your tits. So perky, with pretty pink nipples that I love to play with almost as much as your pussy.”

I gasp. He leans into me, nestling his face in the crook of my neck where he bites me lightly, then sucks. His finger slips inside me then, curling to stroke the place that drives me crazy.

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