Page 174 of Unforgettable

Maybe I was making it up, but I thought I saw a little bit of interest in both of their eyes as each quickly observed the other. I’d gone crazy, but all I could imagine was the two of them—the strawberry-blonde bartender and our redheaded friend—and how fucking cute their babies would be.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Hazel cut her eyes to me, raise her eyebrows and her attention bounce between the two of them. Maybe I hadn’t made up the chemistry between them.

“Just a beer.” He specified which one, and she spun to retrieve it.

I opened my mouth to ask what he thought of her but was yet again cut off by a boisterously booming voice.

“Dev, you trying to steal our women?” It was Josh that time. He, Reed, and Luke were all three rounding the bar, smiling at the three of us.

“I would definitely be an upgrade,” he joked and they all greeted each other with handshakes and manly hugs. Reed squeezed into the barstool next to me, his hand reflexively gripping my thigh, while Josh saddled up behind me, a hand settling on the back of my neck.

“Everything good to go?”

“We’re all set,” Reed confirmed with confidence. It was the first time in two months I’d seen the two of them even close to relaxed.

Josh wrapped his arms around my shoulders and leaned down to speak low so only Reed and I could hear him. “I think this is going to work.”

Reed smiled. “It’s absolutely going to work.”

If Josh hadn’t leaned forward and kissed him, then I absolutely would have.

“Ugh, get a room, you three,” Luke said with mock disgust from the other side of Hazel.

We all three simultaneously gave him the finger.

“You’re one to talk. I’d bet my third of the bar that you couldn’t stop touching Hazel for more than five minutes.”

Luke looked like he was contemplating the bet. But when he looked at his wife, he smiled, clasped his hands against her cheeks, and kissed the shit out of her. We all broke out into laughter.

“Exactly.” Reed chuckled. In front of us appeared two whiskeys for my men and another beer for Luke down at the end.

“Shit, guys, sorry I’m late.” Without looking, I knew the exasperated voice belonged to James.

“Were you working on a fucking Saturday?” Luke questioned.

Devon chuckled beside me. “Why are you acting surprised? Let me guess.” I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Devon point to James’s suit sans tie and disheveled blond hair. “You fell asleep in your office again.”

James scrubbed a hand over his stubble which was also evidence of his office stay. He was almost always clean-shaven unless he hadn’t had access to a razor.

“Anybody need anything else?” the bartender asked. And I was finally annoyed enough with myself for not remembering her name that I leaned forward and grabbed her attention.

“I’m so sorry. I feel awful. But could you remind me of your name?”

She smiled and opened her mouth to respond, but it was James behind me who said, “I-Ivy?”

At the sound of her name, the bartender—Ivy’s—face dropped slightly. Devon stepped aside to allow James through. The moment he stepped forward to the bar, Ivy stepped back and her face became unrecognizable. Her bright-green eyes nearly darkened and any sign of a smile had completely vanished.

“What—what are you—” James stuttered over his words—something else I’d never heard him do.

And then it all clicked.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “This isyourIvy from back home.”

Neither of them looked at me, but I could feel everyone else’s understanding around me.

“Not his Ivy,” Ivy said in a low voice. “Not anymore.”

My face flushed with my mistake and the obvious tension I’d intensified with an inadvertent slip of the tongue.

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