Page 89 of Unforgettable

Amanda—and, as a result, Reed—hadn’t been far from my thoughts. It was simultaneously a nightmare and a blessing. At one moment, I was thinking about her on her knees, her blue eyes staring up at me as she sucked me like she was made to do it. And then the next, I was trying to calculate the probability that, against all odds, she’d pick me in the end.

It was fucking exhausting.

“There’s this woman,” I started and watched the smiles grow across both of their faces.

“Go on,” Luke urged.

“She’s literally perfect and everything I could fucking want, but… there’s another guy.”

Devon groaned. “Please, for the love of God, tell me she isn’t married. Or engaged. Or in a relationship at all.”

Ardently, I shook my head. “No, it’s not like that.”

“Okay, then…” Devon questioned.

I glanced around to see if anyone else was within hearing distance. Amanda, Hazel and James were still talking in the living room, and Reed had stepped outside a few minutes before to talk to his mom.

It was just me, Luke and Devon alone in the kitchen, hovering around the island. “She has feelings for me and this other guy.”

“That fucking sucks,” Devon said, taking a long pull of his beer.

“You’re telling me. She said that there was no way she could choose. Or at least she can’t right now or anytime soon.”

“So, what are you going to do? If that’s the truth, then it seems like you’re stuck,” my brother asked.

Out of all the questions I had, what I would do wasn’t one of them. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I was on the correct path. “I’m going to keep fighting for her. Until she makes a decision, I’m not bowing out.”

Devon and Luke shared a look that I knew meant they thought I was crazy. Hell,Ithought I was crazy.

“Seems to me like she’s just stringing you both along. Does she have any intentions of choosing one of you?” Devon grabbed the three of us another round of beers from the fridge.

“What are we talking about?” James asked from behind me and made me jump about ten feet in the air.

“Josh’s caught in a love triangle and is in denial about it,” Luke spoke up, and I swore I couldn’t have scowled harder if I tried. Leave it to my older brother to announce my business to anyone.

James cringed and grabbed his own beer from the fridge.

“I just wouldn’t take her word for it, man, or get your hopes up that she’s going to choose you. That’s not to say you wouldn’t be a hell of a choice, but…” Devon trailed off and shrugged.

The more they talked, the more I changed my mind—I actually didn’t want to talk about it at all.

“Yeah, love triangles never turn out the way you want them to,” James added.

Luke eyed me curiously, then asked, “Do you know the other guy? What’s his deal?”

That question, I thought, was the one I dreaded the most. God’s honest truth wasn’t going to happen when the implications of our situation could have been tragic for our group.

So, I decided to go with as much of the truth as I could without pointing large, red arrows toward Amanda and Reed.

“He’s a good guy, which makes it even worse. But she’s worth the fight.”

At that, they were all silent, which said something. I couldn’t remember the last time I confided in my friends about a woman like that—it was possible that I never had. Because I’d never felt that way about any other woman.

Their silence was louder than if they’d said anything at all, and the weight of their stares was heavy.

Devon and James only appeared concerned for me, but it was Luke’s stare that felt like he saw through all of the lies. Like he knew there was so much more to the story than what I’d said.

“Either way, don’t pass that information around,” I requested, spinning the beer bottle on the counter. “Not everyone needs to know everything about my life.”

---