Page 32 of Unforgettable

Josh: THIS IS THE BEST DAY!!

Reed: Thank you for giving me a chance. I already have the perfect date planned.

Josh: So do I!

Reed: You won’t regret this.

Thank goodness no one was around to see the stupid smile on my face. I poured myself another cup of coffee and tried to soothe the gnawing worry in my gut with the steaming hot liquid.

Me: I get total veto power and whatever I say goes. No matter what.

Josh: Yes, ma’am.

Reed: No problem.

Me: Ok, then that’s all I have to say.

Reed: Our date is tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7.

Josh: WHOA. Wait a damn minute. You had to wait until I was in the bathroom to throw that out there. Why do you get the first date?

Reed: Because I was the first to respond.

And then I watched for the next ten minutes while they bickered back and forth in the group chat about who should get the first date. One of my worries with dating both of them and them being such good friends was the alpha, jealous bullshit. But their bickering was all in good fun.

Reed: One second, babe. We’re going to handle this the way men should.

Me: Duel to the death?

Josh: Pretty much.

Two minutes later.

Josh: He won. Stupid Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Reed: Tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7.

ELEVEN

Amanda

Green or black?Green or black. I’d been standing in front of the mirror, flipping back and forth between the two—throwing one off to put the other on, contemplating it for a few seconds to only do it all again. The green top was a little fancier and formfitting, but the black was my go-to on a first date. Because that’s what it was, right?

I’d hung out with both of the guys numerous times, and I’d even slept with them both twice. Yet, we’d never been on a date. I wasn’t necessarily traditional, but it was a little more backward even for me.

And I knew the night was going to go one of three ways. One, it would be an absolute nightmare, and we’d both know for sure that there would be nothing but friendship between the two of us. Two, it would be a decent-enough, good date but wouldn’t lend itself to making any hard decisions, or three, it would be one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.

Of the three, I think the third option was the most terrifying and worrisome. The impact of a good date would be more widespread and the repercussions more severe. And make my life a whole hell of a lot more complicated.

So, I went with the black. Not for any good reason other than I was getting sweaty switching between the two tops over and over again. And sweaty before a date was not the look I was going for.

If it had been any other date with any other guy, I would have texted Hazel for advice on the fit. But I couldn’t because that would elicit questions about the guy I was going out with and what we were doing and where we were going, and I only knew the answer to one of those questions and wasn’t nearly ready to confess to my best friend that two of our other best friends shanghaied me into dating them.

She was also on her honeymoon, so there was no way I was bothering her. I’d lucked out that she hadn’t mentioned catching me with Reed at the rehearsal dinner yet.

Then there was an ache in my chest. It was an ache that had been there for so many months that it was second nature now. Blakely was still MIA, and not knowing where my oldest friend was was painful.

Ever since she was caught up in Valerie’s plan against Hazel and Luke, she’d been missing. She’d never made it to her parents’ house in Arkansas and only called them every once in a while, never telling them exactly where she was.

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