Page 20 of Unforgettable

I could tell by the look on Josh’s face that neither of us understood why she was so upset until it clicked.

“Adam,” I said. Her little punk of a brother had always been an issue. He was ten years younger than her, and a pain in the ass.

“Yes, Adam.” She cut her eyes at me with an unamused look.

“How is Adam doing?” Josh asked, retrieving our food from one of the bartenders at the door.

Amanda eagerly accepted her food, toed off her boots and crossed her legs underneath her. Her attitude morphed right before our eyes. After the first bite of her burger, she said, “He’s working on his audition for theBreakfast Clubreboot.”

“So, nothing’s changed on that front,” Josh mused.

“Where’s he going to live? He doesn’t have a job right now, right?”

Amanda shook her head and glanced back and forth between us before shoving several fries in her mouth. I waited for a moment for her to finish chewing and answer my questions, but she continued eating like she was hoping to avoid answering the questions at all.

When she reached for more fries, I blocked her tray with my hand.

“Withholding food from a starving woman is one surefire way to get your fingers chewed off,” she quipped.

“Answer my questions, and I’ll move my hand. No finger chewing needed.”

She glared at me but sighed in defeat. “No, he does not have a job. But that’s only item number two on the list of things to do after moving him into my apartment.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Josh bristled.

“Babe, you can’t let him do this again,” I said.

Since I had known Amanda, her parents had always defaulted to her when they were tired of trying to handle Adam. They’d paid more attention to him than they had her, but that still didn’t mean much. The guy couldn’t keep a job, had no desire to go to school, or any ambition to do jack shit. But Amanda, being the big sister and person she was, would always be there for him.

When he dropped out of community college two weeks in, she helped him tell their parents. When he lost his job at James’s office—the one Amanda pulled strings for him to get—she was up there pleading with Adam’s manager to give him another shot.

It also bothered both me and Josh that Adam was so nonchalant about his treatment toward his sister—she had sacrificed a lot in the past twenty-one years to help him, and he acted like he gave zero fucks.

“What am I supposed to do? They areleavingin three days. I don’t have a lot of time to figure something else out. He has no money, no job and no place to go. I can’t just let him live on the fucking street, and that’s where he’ll end up if I don’t intervene. Plus, my parents all but said, ‘We figured you would take him.’ What do you expect me to do?”

Her argument made sense, but that did little to change my mind when Adam was constantly involving her in his antics and stirring up trouble in her own life. Although I didn’t have any siblings of my own—a fact that, at one point in my life, bothered me immensely—I understood her need to take care of her little brother. To keep him safe and guide him through the shit life could throw at a person, but after years and years of the same song and dance, it had come to the point where enough was enough. He was abusing his sister’s kindness and generosity by constantly deferring to her.

“Does he have a friend he can stay with? Or don’t you have an aunt that lives nearby?” Josh suggested.

“Gee, I wish I had thought of that,” she said sarcastically. “I’d rather him live with me than one of his so-called friends. And my aunt is almost two hours away. Plus, she would be an even worse influence than his friends.” She dropped her empty tray on the ground and let her head fall into her hands.

In her obviously stressed state, I couldn’t help it anymore. I set my tray next to hers and ran my hand down her back. She shivered at the touch and peeked at me between her fingers but didn’t comment on my attempt to comfort her. I let my fingers trace the length of her spine a few times before I squeezed at the base of her neck and shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension. She ever so slightly leaned into my touch. The movement was barely a movement at all, as her shoulders tipped in my direction, but I felt like I wanted to celebrate all the same.

“So, he’s moving in with you?” I said, and she nodded. “Do you need help moving him in? How much shit can one guy who lives with his parents actually have?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen his room in a few months at least, but yeah. If y’all could help, that would be really great. Otherwise, I’ll ask James and Devon.”

“No, we got it,” Josh answered for the both of us.

“Okay, I’ll text you both tomorrow morning and let you know the plan.” She sighed, scrubbed her hands through her hair, and gave me a sad smile. Then she leaned forward, and before I could comprehend what she was doing, she kissed my cheek.

It wasn’t totally out of the ordinary—she’d kissed my cheek before because Amanda was an affectionate person, even with her friends. But it was the first time she’d done it—or even voluntarily touched me—since we’d been together and since I had let myself actually feel whatever it was I was feeling for her. So the kiss made me eager for more.

Then she stood, as if I wasn’t completely disarmed by one quick kiss, and did the same to Josh. She brushed her lips against his cheek, and I witnessed him have the exact same reaction I did. We were both well and truly fucked.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you guys. I’m going to go get the guest room ready for Adam, so I’ll talk to y’all tomorrow, okay?”

“We’ll walk you out,” I said as Josh also said, “We’ll come with you.”

---