Page 149 of Unforgettable

Adam led Will into my room—the one room in the entire place that hadn’t been ransacked to pieces—to discuss the details.

They were in the room for half an hour at least before Will stepped out to tell us to call the police.

From there, the chaos truly ensued. The police arrived, took record of the damage, and interviewed us all. There wasn’t much Reed, Josh, or I could tell them, but they questioned us, nonetheless. They asked me to take inventory of my belongings to identify if anything had been stolen.

Surprisingly, it didn’t appear that anything had been taken. Most of my belongings were destroyed, as was the very makeup of the apartment—windows, walls, and doors. The only two things that hadn’t been touched were my room and the TV stand in the living room.

After hours of sitting in my apartment, Will drove Adam to the police station as they were followed by a cruiser. As much as I wanted to go with them and lend support to my idiotic little brother, Will advised against it. Under his recommendation, we stayed behind, made calls, and picked up what we could in the apartment.

When we left after spending another several hours cleaning and logging all my belongings while getting almost nowhere, exhaustion felt like an understatement.

“Do I want to drink, shower, or sleep first? All three sound too good.” Josh placed my bags near the one I’d tossed haphazardly on the floor and plopped down at the other end of the couch near my feet. I’d kicked my sandals off the moment I entered the door, so Josh idly picked up one of my bare feet and began massaging the arch. I scooted farther down, making it easier for him to find each tender spot.

Reed, never one to be left out, shut and locked the door, then made his way over to the couch as well. He shimmied underneath my head, and I dutifully lay back down on his thigh. Immediately his strong, calloused fingers were in my hair. They were gentle against my scalp, massaging at the root before finger-combing through to the ends. It was a tangled mess, but that didn’t stop him.

Between the two of them—Josh expertly rubbed my aching feet while Reed soothed my pounding head—sleep was going to be the only thing I could manage on my list of things to do.

But there were other more urgent things on my mind, and although I was peacefully blissed out, I couldn’t stop the incessant thoughts.

From the moment we woke up, they’d both been there. They’d made excuses to our friends to get us out of the house quickly, stood by my side while I confronted my brother, called and paid for attorneys, and helped with all the cleanup afterward. Neither of them complained about cutting their vacations short by five days or even muttered the words “I told you so.” Words I wouldn’t have been a bigger person to keep to myself.

My friends were always the most important people in my life. They’d dropped everything a number of times to help me with whatever I needed. But it was something different that time. Our relationship changed, but their support hadn’t.

“I really appreciate both of your help today, and I’m sorry—”

“Eh, not happening, Cielo,” Reed cut me off midsentence, and his hand stilled in my hair.

“Yeah, baby girl, you can’t continue apologizing for your brother’s mistakes,” Josh added, his own hands sliding higher over my ankle, across my calf, until his fingers rested on my knee where he squeezed softly.

My breath was dragged through my lungs. “I’m not trying to apologize for his mistakes, I understand that his mistakes are his own and have nothing to do with me. But what I was trying to apologize for was dragging the two of you into it.”

Josh chuckled. “Same difference.”

Then there was a sharper tug against the root of my hair, and Reed slowly forced my gaze to him. My head craned back. I stared into his amber-colored eyes that had taken on a softer quality since we’d walked in the door. The hardness he’d worn on his face most of the day—for everyone else’s benefit—had slipped away, leaving my Reed.

“We knew going into this that your brother often found himself mixed up in more shit than he could handle. It wasn’t a surprise to us that something like this finally happened.”

“But it isn’t your job to take care of him. He’s my responsibility. And being with me shouldn’t come with the caveat that you also have to deal with my punk of a little brother. I just wanted you both to know that I truly appreciate all your help today and what will probably continue for a while. But if at any moment you don’t want that additional responsibility…”

All of the words I wanted to say felt like fire rolling in my lungs, in my stomach. The pain of letting them out likely wouldn’t have been as severe as the pain of keeping them in. But my words trailed off anyway. I felt like a coward.

They were both quiet for a moment, caught in silent retrospection and probably wondering how, in fact, they did get caught with the psycho girl and her psycho brother.

Josh broke the silence first. He reached for my hand, intertwining my slightly shaking fingers with his, and pulled me up from Reed’s lap. There weren’t tears in his eyes, but they were glistening with emotion. The blues and greens twisted together.

His thumb stroked the back of my hand in simple, small circles, but my entire body was aware of the fondness and care in that little touch. The awareness glided over my skin and bathed me in comfort. Reed’s hand found the back of my neck and squeezed.

“Amanda, I don’t think you realize that there is literally nothing in this world we wouldn’t do for you. Dealing with your brother isn’t a big deal when we getyou.”

My breath caught in my throat, lodged against a ball of emotion that refused to break free.

Then Reed leaned forward and brushed my hair around my other shoulder, exposing my ear and neck. My skin was covered in goose bumps as he breathed against me.

“Amanda,” he said my name like a prayer, and it sounded so good coming from his lips. “Cielo, you already let us worship every part of your body,” he said in a low voice but one loud enough for Josh to also hear.

“And let us inside your beautifully chaotic head,” Josh continued for him as his free hand, the one not holding mine, lifted and pressed firmly against my chest. Between my breasts, it was impossible he couldn’t feel my heart attempting to escape.

“So.” Reed’s hand gripped my thigh—holding me down like he was worried I’d flee, and when he continued speaking, I understood why. “It’s okay to let us take care of you. To love you.”

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