Page 15 of Remember Me

He smirked down at me and cupped a hand to his ear. “Lay it on me. I’m a good listener.”

We took a sidewalk that wound in and around campus, strolling at an easy pace. I let him lead, not having any clear sense of direction.

“Long story short, I had a car accident a few weeks ago. I woke up from a coma with amnesia.”

He stopped walking. “You’re shitting me.”

“I wish. It’s been…difficult. To make things even more complicated, there’s a man I don’t remember telling me I’m his fiancé. And I’m…” I trailed off, unable to bring myself to say the rest out loud.

“What?” Levi prompted.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “That’s enough, right?”

“That’s a lot, for sure. Just tell me this. This guy…do you feel safe with him?” He paused before the word safe.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s bound to be a little unsettling, having some strange dude tell you you’re his fiancé and you’re getting married. Is he a creep? Does he scare you or make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No! Oh, no, nothing like that. Although, it is weird as hell. I feel guilty because I don’t feel much of anything for him. Except maybe gratitude that he’s not pushing or putting any pressure on me to pick up where we left off.” I bit my lip, thinking. “He’s actually a really nice guy.”

“Good. Hey, give me your phone,” he demanded, stopping again.

“Why?” I pulled it from my back pocket and handed it to him.

“Because I’m going to need more of this story, and I figure that dude stalking this way might be the one you were just referring to?” I looked up sharply to find Hayes was, indeed, making his way across the street in our direction, his movements jerky.

“Umm, yeah. That’s Hayes.”

“He’s my c — I mean, one of my professors.” He shook his head as he stumbled over his words.

There wasn’t time for further conversation before Hayes was upon us. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and tugged me into his side. “Birdie. What are you doing here? Is this guy bothering you?” He glared at Levi.

“No! He’s just being friendly. W-what in the world, Hayes?” I pushed at his chest, but he didn’t budge. He and Levi eyed each other over my head, and finally Levi extended a hand for Hayes to shake.

“Hi. I’m Levi. I’m in one of your classes.”

Hayes took his hand and gripped it, holding for an unnecessarily long period of time. I could smell the testosterone and pulled free. “Jesus, Hayes. What’s the matter with you?”

Hayes relaxed abruptly and winked — at me or Levi, I couldn’t tell. “All’s good, Mini. Nice to meet you, Levi. Thank you for keepingmy girloccupied.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you just brand me, Big?”

Levi broke eye contact with Hayes and offered me a lazy smirk. “No problem, Professor Ellison. Anything for this pretty girl. Enjoyed the conversation, Birdie.” He gave me a half-salute with and turned and walked away, his gait unhurried and posture relaxed.

I whirled on Hayes. Despite his words, he was vibrating with tension. “Do you have a f-fucking tracker on me, or something? What the hell was that all about?” Without waiting on an answer, I started walking.

He fell in beside me. “No, I don’t have a tracker on you. But it’s not a bad idea. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to walk around, see if anything was familiar.” I shoved my hands in my hoodie pocket, cold all at once. “Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset. I’m worried about you. And then I find you walking with some guy, talking and smiling…” From the corner of my eye, I saw him rake his hand through his hair. “Are youinterestedin him?” The word emerged as a rasp. “Interested in other men, period?” We were at a crosswalk, and we paused to wait for traffic to clear before crossing. Hayes gripped my arm when I would have kept walking and turned me to face him. “What’s this all about, Birdie? I thought…don’t you want what we had?”

The vulnerability in his expression and voice, his willingness to let me see it, made my stomach churn. “Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

“What’s there to talk about? You’re either with me or you’re not.” His hazel eyes bored into mine.

“Are you r-really giving me an ultimatum right now?” He didn’t answer immediately. “Because I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the answer.”

---