Page 58 of Unforgettable

Depending on what she was doing, I thought I might have to knock a few times, but it was only a matter of seconds before the door swung open.

Amanda was already dressed in colorful pants and a sweater, with her school lanyard around her neck. But my favorite part was her black-rimmed glasses that framed her wide blue eyes that were looking at me like I’d turned purple and grown five heads.

“Good morning,” I said as I squeezed past her, not waiting for an invitation to enter.

Quickly her shocked expression turned into one of frustration. One I knew very well.

“What the hell are you doing here? I have to leave in like ten minutes.” She pushed the door closed and threw her hands in the air as it slammed a little too hard for six in the morning.

“Is Adam here?” I asked, preparing for a very pissed-off twenty-one-year-old to come storming out of his room any minute.

“No, he’s… out.” Her hesitant explanation made me pause for a moment, but I continued.

“Well, I brought you coffee and lunch, which means you don’t actually have to leave for closer to thirty minutes.” Treating it as a peace offering, I held the still very warm coffee cup out to her.

Not dropping her death glare, she took it with both hands and smelled it before taking a sip. When her expression eased slightly—the tension between her eyebrows settling—I knew I’d won a few brownie points having nailed her order.

She took a long sip, and I left the salad next to her purse on the island.

“What are you doing here, Josh?”

For a second, I contemplated my response, but I sidestepped the sarcastic response I had on my tongue and decided to tell her the truth.

“I’m here to talk.”

The truth earned me an eye roll, and she immediately turned and headed back to her bedroom. I followed, of course, and ended up leaning against her bathroom counter as she applied the finishing touches to her makeup.

“Thank you for the coffee, but I really am trying to get ready for work.”

She swiped her glasses off her face and made a cute “oh” face when she applied more mascara.

“I understand, but I’m not planning on making you late. I even brought you coffee and lunch to make sure you weren’t late.”

“So you could talk to me?” There was a slight waver in her voice and when she replaced her mascara tube in the drawer next to her sink, there was a small tremble in her hand.

Fuck. The last thing I wanted to do was upset her.

“I just miss my best friend. We don’t have to talk about anything in particular, but I do want to talk to you.”

Her head was tilted down, mindlessly moving things back and forth in her small makeup drawer, and her only response to my confession was a glance up in my direction. She peered up at me through her now darker lashes and behind the lenses of her glasses.

“You really want to do this right now, Josh?” she said quietly.

“Not necessarily, but in the ten years we’ve known each other, I can’t remember the last time we went this long without at least texting and saying ‘hi.’”

She closed the drawer and paced into her closet, returning with a pair of tan boots. As she slipped them on, she said, “The last time was during our fight junior year about that stupid girl who thought I was into you.”

I chuckled at the memory and at how upset Amanda was that the girl would even think she’d do something like that. Interesting how things turned out.

“And look at us now,” I said, and immediately regretted it when I saw her face.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m just saying that we’ve slept together twice now and been out on a date. We obviously have feelings for each other, so maybe that chick wasn’t all wrong.”

Her scoff echoed in the bathroom. Once she’d finished zipping her boots and taken one final look in the mirror, she flicked off the light and left me standing in the dark bathroom.

So… she was mad, and it was not going well.

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