Page 12 of Unforgettable

I wasn’t going to be another one of the many when it meant it would jeopardize friendships. Even if the sex was mind blowing with both of them. My time with both men had been one-time slipups. That’s all they could be.

“Josh—” I began, but he silenced me by pressing his lips to mine. His method was efficient, and my argument was quickly lost behind the feeling of his smooth lips and his silky tongue.

“Just don’t tell me no before we can actually talk about it. We can discuss it when we aren’t at my brother’s wedding. Can you at least give me that?”

That was the issue with these men—when they were close, it was only them I felt. They overwhelmed all my senses and rid me of my sense. They were eager and excited and seemed like they wanted me so much; whether it was sex or more than that, I wasn’t sure. But it made it so hard to tell either of them no.

Josh took my silence for confirmation and a smile pulled at one corner of his mouth, displaying one of his twin dimples that I often found myself struggling to keep my eyes off of.

With one final kiss and no arguments from me, he took my hand and led me out of the room. I had ample time during our walk back to the reception to tell him no and to give my reasons, but when he said we’d discuss it soon, I found that I couldn’t speak up. I only nodded in agreement, fully confused over the turn the past two days had taken.

When we stepped into the reception, the party was still in full swing. Josh’s hand lingered on the small of my back for a moment before he was pulled into a conversation by Devon and Luke.

I beelined to the bar and ordered another gin martini. From across the room—and while I was trying to ignore the satisfying ache between my legs—Hazel spotted me and waved as her dad grabbed her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. A slower country song filled the space and I watched Luke lead Hazel’s mom out onto the floor, finding an open space next to his bride and father-in-law. Everyone else coupled up, too, and I tried to dull the ache in my chest with the fresh drink that appeared in front of me.

Midsip, the glass was tragically pulled from my mouth before I could finish it off. The person behind me set the half-empty glass back on the bar as another warm hand landed on my hip. It only took half a second for the person’s scent and presence to wrap around me.

“Reed,” I pleaded, eager to finish the rest of my drink.

“Dance with me,” he whispered into my ear from behind me, ushering me out onto the dance floor and into the crowd of other guests. In the middle of the floor, he spun me around to face him, keeping a hand on my lower back—barely above my ass—as the other wrapped around my right hand.

With practiced ease, his feet began to guide us around the floor in a slow two-step. His eyes were on me, boring into the side of my face, but my eyes were on anything besides him—I couldn’t look at him. I knew I’d see something there that would likely make me feel bad about having just been with Josh, and I didn’t need that. I shouldn’t have felt bad since Reed and I weren’t anything besides friends. We were friends who’d had sex, yes, but that wasn’t anything to cause a scene over.

“Dirty girl,” Reed whispered into my ear, tightening his grip around my waist and pushing me closer to him without missing a step.

His words and warm breath over my exposed skin made my own breath catch in my throat.

“I don’t know—”

“I can smell him on you,” he said in a low voice that I could barely make out over the music. And with his words, he swept away the denial that was ready on my tongue.

My eyes widened, and I took a deep breath—trying to smell what he did—but was unsuccessful. The only thing I smelled was Reed’s intoxicating scent. I knew there was likely other evidence, including the messed-up makeup around my mouth and my overall disheveled appearance, but it was Josh’s smell that Reed pointed out.

“Was it good? Was it everything you remember it being?” he asked on our second lap around the floor.

The joking in his voice caught me by surprise, and without knowing what I was doing, I looked up at him. There was a hint of jealousy in his eyes along with the hunger I’d witnessed the day before, but the playful smirk on his lips matched his tone. He was getting a kick out of ambushing me but still couldn’t hide his desire. Two could play that game.

“It was better than good, Reed. I can’t believe you didn’t hear me screaming his name from here.”

His face didn’t falter, but when he leaned in, acting like he was going to kiss me, my steps stuttered. I didn’t think it was possible, but he pulled me closer. My entire body—chest, hips, legs—pressed up against him, and as we swayed, I could feel his hard length against my lower stomach. I wish I hadn’t felt it, but the desire that pulsed between my legs wouldn’t be stopped. Whether my brain knew it was a bad idea didn’t matter when my body so desperately wanted him again.

My skin flushed thinking about the way we fit together and how much I wanted to feel it all again… and again.

Reed’s lips hovered just above my own. They were so close I could almost taste the whiskey on his breath as we shared the same air. I was immediately thankful for the crowd around us and hoped that no one saw us so intimately close.

With our eyes locked and the song coming to an end, Reed said, in a voice full of promise, “This is going to be fun.”

FIVE

Josh

“And then Sadieran through the mud and splashed it all over us. And then Aunt Delilah made us take showers, but you were almost there, so I got to use Uncle Luke’s new big shower, which was really cool because they have this sprayer that comes off the wall. But I couldn’t reach it, so I climbed on the seat in their shower, and then I fell, but I’m okay. And then…”

Zach hadn’t stopped talking since we left Luke and Hazel’s house twenty minutes earlier. The three of them, including Miles and Amber, got up to more trouble in a short amount of time than I knew was possible. When an exhausted Delilah walked out of the house following Zach carrying a bagful of his muddy clothes, I knew it had to have been bad. Zach also was wearing some of Miles’s clothes that were slightly too big for him.

He had recounted the entire night and morning to me as I drove across the city to his mom and my ex-girlfriend Samantha’s house. His constant chatter was something I had gotten used to and loved, but my hangover was making it harder than usual to listen.

I also thought that my son’s incessant talking was cosmic karma for the fact that, as a child, I also didn’t shut the hell up. Although my dad was always passed out drunk when I was speaking—as was his default—so he never had to listen to me. It was my mom and Luke who got the brunt of my nonstop talking.

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