Page 156 of Unforgettable

“So this has been going on for… months?” James asked, also smiling at the three of us. We each nodded, likely all too stunned to form words.

“Well, I’m happy for you guys. Are y’all happy?” Devon continued eating like he wasn’t concerned with any part of the news we’d just dropped.

“So happy,” Amanda answered for all of us.

“Girl, I havesomany questions for you. I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me for two entire months.” Hazel’s genuine shock was surprising, and then I glanced at Luke, whose gaze was skipping between the three of us like we’d all grown several heads.

“Wait, you didn’t tell Hazel?” I asked Amanda, and she vehemently shook her head.

“Then how did you know something was up?” I asked Luke pointedly. My curiosity had gotten the best of me.

Luke chuckled and shook his head while Hazel sighed loudly and hung her head. “After catching y’all at the rehearsal dinner, I kind of figured something may be up, or you’d tell us eventually. But y’all also have this awful thing about getting caught on camera, did you know that?” Luke explained.

His laugh grew louder as his wife explained. “Remember the whole incident with the doggy camera?” She waited for our confirmation and then she continued. “When you walked up to the door earlier, it triggered the camera connected to the doorbell to start recording, and well…”

“Oh, shit,” Josh said and then joined his brother in an uncontrollable laughing fit.

“So, Luke and I watched you.” She pointed at Josh. “Grab Amanda’s ass and say something about thinking about both of their asses all day?” She said it like a question, but she’d heard every word we’d said on her front porch.

“Fucking cameras,” I muttered and leaned back, scrubbing my hands through my hair. The lingering tension was intense in my shoulders and down my back.

“You know we don’t care, right?” Luke said. And I looked around the table. No one had stormed off or yelled. There was no cussing or attempts to flip the table.

“Yeah, we know that,” Josh said.

“Good, we only care about your happiness. And it’s pretty fucking cool, too.” James grinned and leaned back in his chair, reaching down to scratch Sadie, who’d taken up a cool spot by his chair. “I do have a question, though. If you don’t mind, and you can tell me if I’m being an asshole,” he rushed out.

“Go ahead. I’m sure I know where you’re going with this,” I said.

“I didn’t think either of you”—he motioned to me and Josh—“were interested in men.”

Hazel began to chastise him, and for a second, he actually looked terrified he’d said something wrong. “It’s okay, I promise,” I confirmed before Hazel could get up, find a rolled-up newspaper, and smack him with it.

“I don’t think either of us thought we were,” Josh explained.

“Definitely not,” I added.

Then Josh cleared his throat. “But I think I might be bi.”

My head snapped up to him, and I tried not to seem too surprised. It hit me then that we hadn’t really talked about it.

Past our own attraction to each other, we hadn’t discussed if it changed the way either of us identified. I’d thought about it myself, but I hadn’t voiced it.

“Makes sense.” Amanda shrugged, and I reached out for her, linking our fingers together.

“But I don’t necessarily plan on being with any other men or even women… ever.”

Hazel sucked in a breath across the table, and I swore I could see tears forming in her eyes. Luke leaned over and scooted her chair closer to his and tucked her underneath his arm, planting a soft kiss on her temple.

Since I’d seen them together for the first time, I didn’t feel a pang of longing for a relationship like theirs. I had it—I’d found what Luke had gone on and on about while drunk at his bachelor party.

He said it was like when you’ve been holding your breath for so long you forget what fresh air feels like. And when you finally breathe again, you’d do anything to make sure you continue doing so. Your lungs no longer felt like they were on fire or like you were about to pass out from lack of oxygen.

When he’d said it, we’d all taken it for what it was—drunken bullshit from a guy in love.

It wasn’t until I found them—or better yet, opened myself up to them—that I realized it was so much more than that.

“Not sure I can confidently say I’m bi, but I do really like this guy,” I said with a smile, feeling impossibly lighter. My hand wrapped around the back of his neck, and Josh returned my smile with his genuine, uninhibited one that I prayed I’d see every day for the rest of my life. “And his dick.”

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