Page 54 of Please Remember

Shields did say that whoever did this was likely someone I knew. Someone who was in my life before, and my circle right now is really small.

"Just our friends and my family," he says and wraps his arms around me. "Don't worry. You'll love it."

"Okay."

I want to tell him I don’t think I’m ready for this, but he looks so happy. So relieved to finally feel like we’re normal again. Maybe this will feel normal to me. If that were the case, why does my stomach feel like it’s filled with jumping beans on cocaine?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jax

It feels like my girl is back. She talks like Allie. She acts like Allie. And she screws me like Allie. Everything feels normal again with the exception of a few times where I want to ask, "remember when?" But they're coming fewer and farther between as we spend more time together.

We walk up to the front door, but Allie stops me, and I turn to look in her eyes. "Remind me again who will be here?"

"Just the usual," I say and kiss her temple.

She opens her mouth to say something, but the door opens and interrupts whatever she wanted to tell me. Mom grabs Allie in her arms, lifting her off the ground as she hugs her.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, sweetheart. But we need to get some more weight on your bones!"

Setting Allie down, Mom ushers us inside, and Dad hugs her, too. For some reason, Allie looks really uncomfortable, but before I can check on her, Seth calls out to me from the open back door.

"Big Brother. Master of the Grill. We request the honor of your presence because this thing seems to have a mind of its own. Or, more likely, it's become possessed by a demon of fiery proportions."

Laughing, I squeeze Allie's hand as she reaches out to grab mine, and I walk out back to find Seth standing with Benji and Drew with the grill on fire. Flames rise above my head, and I gape at him before leveling him with a glare. "What the hell did you do? How much lighter fluid did you use?"

"Is there a limit?"

"The food's going to taste like gasoline, isn't it?" Benji asks, slapping my little brother on the back of the head. "Why didn't you just wait for him to get here?"

Drew shakes his head. "Because Seth thinks that whatever Jax can do, he can do better. He'll never learn, I'm afraid."

"Hey!" Seth cries.

"You'll never believe the terrible date I was on last night," Benji says while I close the lid on the grill to try and snuff out the flames. "The girl started talking about getting married as we ordered drinks."

"To you?" Drew asks and hands me a beer.

Shaking his head, he opens his own. "No! To some other guy. I was just there to make him jealous."

"Which you obviously hated, right?" Seth asks. "You turned her away immediately?"

"Are you kidding? I got a blowjob in the bathroom when the guy walked in. I think she left with him. At least the night ended on a climax for me."

Drew laughs and holds his hand up. "That's good, but I can top it. A few weeks ago, I went out with this hot redhead."

"Yeah?" I ask, drinking the beer he handed me and forgetting how normal this feels. Too normal. "What happened?"

"She got shitfaced drunk, which can be kind of fun. At first. Then she dry humped me on the dance floor before peeing all over me. While we were still on the dance floor."

We laugh and joke around for what feels like only minutes, but I realize I've gone through three beers already. I think about checking in on Mom and Allie, but if neither has come out, I think I should leave it alone. At least until Mom storms out and smacks me on the arm.

"Ow! Mom, what was that for?"

"How can you be so incredibly inconsiderate?"

"What'd I do?"

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