Page 65 of Unforgettable

“Actually, I kind of do,” Grady added.

“Same here,” Hazel quipped.

The betrayal I felt at Hazel’s agreement I let show all over my face and in my bewildered expression. She shrugged and ate another fry.

“You talk a lot about the crazy shit Josh and Reed did but not so much about your part in it all.”

The fact that all it took was Hazel wanting to know more about me to get me to cave, I, again, blamed on the alcohol.

“Fine,” I conceded. “One of my professors took my backpack with all of my shit because she thought I was cheating and when she refused to give it back, I went and got it. Only to be caught by campus security.”

“Wait a second. You have to tell the whole story.”

I glared at Josh.

“That’s most of the story—those are the most important details. And besides, you can’t really call it getting arrested. Technically, I was only detained by campus security for two hours.”

“Pretty sure it was closer to four, and why don’t you tell the class why you were detained for so long, babe?” Josh’s knowing look and crooked grin were evidence enough that if I didn’t cop to it, he would spill it all for me. Probably in greater detail, too.

With a sigh, I said, “Because they caught me using her favorite bright-ass red lipstick to write on her wall, ‘Free the orgasm.’”

There was a look of pure, unadulterated horror on Grady’s face while both Hazel and Adam were doubled over in laughter. Josh’s knowing look hadn’t faltered, and all I wanted to do was wipe it from his face. The little shit stirrer he was.

Hazel nearly fell off of her barstool, cradling her stomach. I held on to her arm as she righted herself and wiped at the tears running down her face.

“Why that? Why’d you write that?” she croaked out.

“She heard me say something to a girl in my class about how she needed to buy a vibrator and then basically called me a whore. It happened right before she took my bag. She deserved it.”

Hazel erupted into a whole new laughing fit, and Josh’s crooked smile slowly inched across his face. His dimples were prominent because of the shadows that were cast across his face in the dim bar light.

I found myself returning his smile, and even biting my lower lip couldn’t keep it from spreading across my face. It was the same look he always gave me when I did something that maybe wasn’t as thoroughly thought through as it should have been but was warranted nonetheless.

It was a smile that said he saw me and my intentions and liked both.

With his forearms still braced on the bar, Josh leaned forward even farther, the smile never slipping from his face. One of his hands slid into mine that rested on the bar, fidgeting with the napkin under my water as he moved closer. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, and by the look that flashed across his eyes, I knew he was contemplating it.

My chest heaved with anticipation, and the thought that he was going to throw everything out the window about keeping us quiet and simply kiss me right in the middle of the bar was maddening. But at the same time, I didn’t move. His approach was slow and measured and gave me plenty of time to jerk away if I wanted to.

But I was sucked into his orbit and wanted to know where this would end up.

When he casually ran his tongue over his bottom lip, I knew I was right. I could feel the memory of his lips on mine. Plump and perfect and urgent for more every time. And then his soft tongue would brush against mine, stoking our twin flames of desire to an astronomically high level.

But that was not at all what happened. At the last second, and as I sucked in a deep breath to ready myself for the kiss, he turned his head to the side and kissed my cheek.

His hot breath covered my ear and fresh goose bumps pebbled my skin.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered as he squeezed my hand.

Abruptly, he pulled back, and the sounds of the bar and the chaos around us were apparent once again.

I knew I had to look as ridiculous as I felt. My breathing was labored, and there was an obvious flush to my skin. I could have blamed the latter on the alcohol, thankfully, and with a shaky hand, I pressed my water glass to my lips.

He didn’t even kiss me, yet I looked and felt like I’d been properly fucked by him whispering in my ear.

I glanced at Hazel next to me, who was nearly recovered from her laughing fit and watched her eyes eagerly search the crowd for her husband. He was easy to find, though. Luke was so large that people usually got out of his way before they could even be in his way.

“There’s my beautiful wife,” he boomed and threw his arms wide. Hazel didn’t hesitate to leap into them, and like the lovesick newlyweds they were, Luke spun her around in a bear hug. And when he gingerly set her back on the ground, he planted a long, lingering kiss on her mouth.

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