Page 16 of Unforgettable

I swat his hand away. “This isn’t funny. Can we please leave?”

Sighing dramatically, he links his arm through mine. “Fine. Lead the way.”

It takes all of ten minutes for us to get back to our apartment, which is an absolute blessing now that I’ll be working at Vino and Veritas.

Murph heads for the fridge while I drop to the couch in defeat. When he returns offering me an open beer, I waste no time raising it to my lips for a long pull.

“Okay, now that you’re somewhat medicated,” Murph says sarcastically. “Spill.”

“Do you remember that night you went out with your friend who was visiting from Vegas?”

“Yeah.” He clicks his fingers in excitement. “Didn’t I ask you to come with us? Is that why you said no?”

“Maybe,” I admit. “I downloaded First Spark when I got to Vermont. I remembered you talking about how it had a subsection called Blush that was a little less daunting than the usual apps,” I explain. “So, I figured if there was ever a time to step out of my comfort zone, somewhere new was a good place to start.”

“Hold up,” he says, looking confused. “Have you been hooking up with hot men on the regular and not telling me?”

“No,” I scoff. “Oz was, and will be, the only one.”

“So,” he drawls. “Who swiped right on who first?”

“Really?” I chuckle. “That’s your question?”

“That’s my first question,” he clarifies. “I have plenty more. The next being why you didn’t tell me.”

“If I told you what I had planned to do, you wouldn’t have let me chicken out,” I say truthfully. “And I was more than likely going to chicken out.”

He nods in understanding, knowing there’s no way he would’ve let me slack on my mission toward becoming Reeve 2.0. It was moments like the night with Oz where I wished I was more like Murph, who lives and loves so freely and unashamedly. Where the whole night, from beginning to end, didn’t feel like such a big deal.

“I would’ve at least been able to tell you that I knew him before you swiped right,” he sasses.

“He swiped right,” I correct casually.

“Well, that’s a no brainer. You’re sexy as fuck. But what has me stumped”—he places a finger over his mouth as if he’s in deep thought— “is what made you say yes to him, because he is not your type. Like,at all.”

I take another long sip of my beer before saying, “That was the point. I wanted to forget about Micah.”

My ex’s name on my lips always left a bad taste in my mouth and a painful feeling in my chest, and this time wasn’t any different.

“I wanted to be someone else for the night and do something completely out of character,” I confess.

Murph throws an arm over my shoulder and quietly squeezes me to him in comfort. We sit in silence, and I try not to let my mind get lost in the memories of my heartbreak. It happened and I want nothing more than to move on from it.

Untangling himself from me, Murph holds my gaze. “Can I ask how it was?”

I feel my face fill with heat, images of our night together flashing through my mind, and I dramatically fall back into the couch, covering my cheeks with my hands. “It was so good, Murph.Hewas so, so good.”

“Oh my god,” he squeals. “I can’t say I’m even remotely surprised. That man looks like he knows what to do with that giant body of his. I bet his dick is huge too.”

I backhand Murph in the chest. “Do not talk about his dick.”

“Oh my god, is this you getting territorial? Should I be worried?” he jokes, even though I wasn’t. “But on a serious note, he’s a really great guy. Well, the version I see of him anyway. He’s always been nice to me, easy to talk to, and just seems like good people, you know?”

Small knots of tension leave my shoulders with every nice word Murph has to say about Oz. It’s somewhat of a relief to know that there was truth and sincerity in the night we shared together.

“And you haven’t seen him since?” Murph asks skeptically.

I wish.

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