Page 97 of Forget Me

“I can take care of myself. And I’ll get those journal entries done and over to you in fifteen. Okay?”

She pressed her lips together. Her lipstick was blue today. Like Mateo’s eyes.

Crap. I needed to scour those silly details about Mateo out of my brain. Tequila would help.

“Okay. But I don’t want to see you here after five o’clock tonight. You hear me?”

“I understand. Thanks, boss.”

She nodded and left my cube.

* * *

“Want another?”Bree drained the last dregs of her margarita and looked over her shoulder for our server.

Did I ever. After unloading the whole humiliating story of my fake relationship and very real breakup onto my best friend, all I wanted to do was drink tequila until I couldn’t feel the emptiness.

But tomorrow was a workday, and I didn’t have Mateo sitting across the bar from me, ready to swoop in and rescue me when I needed it.

“No. Thanks.” My eyes prickled, and I rolled them up to the ceiling. A string of crimson paper hearts stretched from the pendant light above us to the one at the next booth.

Bree turned around just in time to see me swipe under my eye.

“Oh, no, babe. Don’t let him make you cry.”

“I’m not crying.” Shit, now I was lying to Bree. And crying. I didn’t cry. Not even when Byron broke my heart and destroyed my career in a single dick move. What the hell was wrong with me?

She patted my hand. “There are plenty of guys out there, and one of them is going to be the kind you need.”

“That’s the thing.” I pointed at her. Shit, was I already drunk? I only pointed at people when I was buzzed. I slapped my hand on the table. “I don’t need a guy at all. All I need is myself and my work.”

“Sure, sure.” She licked a few grains of salt off the rim of her glass. “You’re, like, a superhero. An Amazon. Like Wonder Woman. Though, wait. Wonder Woman pined over Steve Trevor. Don’t do that. Be like…like Valkyrie. All she needed was some ale. Am I right?”

The server set down another margarita for her and a glass of water for me. I smiled at her and then lifted the water in the air. “To independence.”

Bree clinked it with her margarita glass. “Though didn’t Valkyrie get a love interest in one of those movies?”

“Yeah. Somehow, Hollywood doesn’t find women who aren’t into love sexy.”

“But you”—she waved her glass, and margarita splashed onto the table—“you’re sexy. And it’s okay not to be into relationships. Hookups are sexy.”

“Hookups are great. All the pleasure, none of the baggage.” Though none of my hookups had given me as much pleasure as Mateo had. I’d just have to try harder next time. Which wouldn’t be for a long time. A long, long, long time. My eyes prickled again.

“Hey, hey.” Bree clasped my hand across the sticky table. “It’s okay. Come over this weekend and hang with Josh and me. We’ll do an Avengers movie marathon and drink every time something explodes. Okay?”

“How about Saturday night? I have to do gala stuff most of the weekend, but I should have a break then.”

“Yay! It’ll be just like when we were in college. We’ll get shit-faced and fall asleep on the couch.”

Huh. That didn’t sound nearly as fun as it used to. I guessed a lot of things were different now that we were thirty. Being a responsible adult sucked.

“Come on. Let’s call Josh to pick you up.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll get a rideshare.” Back to my lonely apartment.

If I weren’t so allergic, I’d get a cat.

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