Forget You (19 page)

Sawyer’s heartache attached to his last words
sliced through me. He’d loved his brother dearly; it was more than
obvious. However, that wasn’t what got me most about the situation.
What stabbed me the deepest was knowing Sawyer would never have an
answer to the questions he sought most, because the one person who
held the answers was gone.

I hated the look of brokenness that hung
heavily on his face. I hated the way the room felt eerily silent
and devoid of oxygen. Leaning over, I wrapped my arms around his
neck and pulled him toward me. I kissed him with the hope of
bringing him back to the here and now, of popping the memory bubble
he seemed to be trapped in. It was the only thing I could think to
do that would snuff out the moment I wasn’t sure I could linger in
any longer.

Sawyer’s hands dropped the tape he’d been
holding, and moved to grip my hips. He lifted me up, and placed me
in his lap with ease. My hands slid down his chest, until they
hovered over his abs. He intensified our kiss by slipping his
tongue inside my mouth, and brushing it along mine in gentle
strokes. Pushing his hands beneath the shirt I wore, I could feel
their warmth seeping into the skin of my lower back.

“I have to tell you something,” I said, glad
I was able to pull him from his sad place, and bring him back to a
happier one.

His lips brushed along my throat as he made
his way toward my collarbone. He pulled my shirt away so he could
have easier access to the top of my right breast.

“And what is that?” he asked, tracing a
pattern with the tip of his tongue along the top of it.

“You suck at wrapping presents.”

Pulling back, he glanced at the present he’d
been wrapping. The paper was crinkled and lying lopsided across the
gift. He’d used too much tape, giving the illusion that a
three-year-old had helped me wrap the thing.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he agreed.
“Wanna know my philosophy on present wrapping?”

He pulled my bra cup away, exposing my entire
right breast, and returned to his kisses and licks there.

“What?” The word flew from my mouth in a
moan.

“Wrap it like it’s a diaper. As long as it
keeps the shit in, that’s all that matters.”

My head fell back, and I laughed. “Nice
philosophy.”

Sawyer licked my nipple and then pulled away
to blow across it, causing a shiver to slip along my spine. I
tugged the edges of his shirt up over his head, and tossed it on
the floor beside us. Any thoughts of wrapping Christmas presents—or
his brother—evaporated, and the only emotion lingering in the air
was desire.

I straddled him as I ran my hands down his
solid chest, and resumed kissing him like some lovesick schoolgirl.
Sawyer removed my shirt, and added it to the growing pile of our
clothing. Pressing his lips back against mine, his hands slipped up
my back and fumbled with my bra. When he finally managed to unhook
the thing, I got my arm tangled in the strap while removing it
completely and elbowed him in the chest. We laughed and went back
to kissing. His hands skimmed over my body, sending chill bumps
across my skin.

Leaning me back, Sawyer hovered above me as
he undid the button on my jeans and tugged them to my ankles. I
kicked them off and then wasted no time removing his jeans. I
hooked my thumbs into the waistband of his boxers, and shimmied
them down his hips. His fingers slipped along the sensitive skin of
my inner thigh until they reached my panty line. My breath hitched
when he pushed the fabric to the side, and slipped one finger
inside of me. My back arched, pressing me closer to him as a soft
moan escaped me. Sawyer’s lips crushed against mine, and my head
filled with the dizzying haze of lust.

SAWYER

Slipping out of Eva’s apartment at five
thirty in the morning felt just as wrong this time as it had all
the previous times before. Fear clenched my stomach and forced me
to breath all weird as I worried she would wake up and catch me,
thinking I was attempting to dip out on her and we’d end up in some
sort of unnecessary argument.

Why I hadn’t told her I still managed to get
my run in, even on the mornings when I woke in her bed with her
legs tangled in mine, I wasn’t sure. She knew I had a change of
running clothes in the bottom of my duffle bag each time I spent
the night, so it shouldn’t be a huge shock.

Carefully opening the front door, I stepped
outside in the icy morning air. Starting past her neighbor’s door
and down the stairs, I thought of last night and how I had told her
about Ryker. A smile twisted the corners of my lips, because she
sure as hell knew how to erase heartache, and she was damn good at
it too. I shook my head and then pulled my earbuds from my pocket,
remembering how hot the sounds I had forced from her lips had been.
Plugging up my ears and switching on my favorite running station, I
forced all thoughts of Eva and last night out of my head. If not,
I’d be running down the sidewalk with a raging boner.

No good could come from that.

Stretching for a moment, I started out in a
slow jog and then picked up the pace. After making it to the
crooked stop sign at the end of the next road over, I turned around
and headed back.

Eva was still asleep when I climbed back into
bed with her, sweaty and breathing hard. She didn’t even stir when
I placed a hand on her bare hip and wrapped around to spoon her
from behind. Closing my eyes, I inhaled her sweet coconut scent and
enjoyed the peacefulness of the moment.

Slipping my thumb back and forth against the
smooth skin of her hip, I thought of how grateful I was that she’d
come into my life when she had. I’d been drowning in the aftermath
of my brother’s death before her. She’d saved me without ever
knowing.

Eva let out a little moan, and stretched her
arms.

“Morning, sunshine,” I whispered against her
hair.

“Morning.” She snuggled against me a little
more, pressing her perfect ass to just the right place.

“I have to get ready for work. Wanna take a
shower with me?”

“Mmm, yeah that sounds nice. Give me a minute
to wake up.” She yawned.

Twenty minutes later, I had her pressed
against the wall of the shower with my head between her legs, and
her fingers tugging at my hair. I could start every day like this,
with her. Eva was adamant about returning the favor, so our shower
lasted longer than I’d intended, but it was worth it.

“What are your plans for today?” I asked,
shoving my legs into the slacks I’d packed to wear for work.

She hooked her bra into place, and then
positioned it correctly so she could shove her arms in the straps.
“I have a class at ten.”

“Do you work today?”

She shook her head. “No, I work the rest of
the week though.”

“Meet me at my place for dinner tonight?” I
asked. She’d mentioned last night that she wanted to stay at my
place next week, but why wait until next week?

Eva glanced at me as she buttoned her jeans,
her ocean-colored eyes locking with mine. “Okay, what time?”

“I get off at five.”

“I’ll be there about six, then. Just text me
the directions.” She smiled.

“Sounds good.”

* * * *

My cell vibrated in my pocket. I finished
laying out all the new ties we’d gotten in yesterday morning, and
fished it out to see who it was. Eva’s name and number flashed
across the screen. I smiled as I opened the text.

If you think nobody cares whether you’re
alive, try missing a few payments on something. ~ Eva

I laughed. My boss, Bruce, eyed me
skeptically, and I clamped my mouth shut. There were no customers
in the store, but I didn’t want him to get on me for being on my
phone during work hours. Turning my back to him, I pretended to
organize the display of dress socks on the table in front of me for
a minute or two, and then replied to her message.

What’s that supposed to mean? What did you
forget?

To pay the power apparently. ~ Eva

I smirked.

Did they cut you off?

Sure did. Right after you left actually. I
called and they claimed I neglected to make a payment two months in
a row. I remembered writing the check last week for it, which I did
do, but I forgot to mail it. Just found it inside the bill, sitting
on my counter. ~ Eva

Oops.

Serious oops. This is what you do to me,
Sawyer Keeton. You make me forget things. ~ Eva

I smiled at her words. She had no idea how
her statement went both ways.

Sorry.

Don’t be. Have a good rest of the day. I’ll
see you tonight. ~ Eva

You too. See you later.

Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I
focused as much as I could on selling suits. At the end of my
shift, I had managed to talk three guys into buying the ugliest
ties we had and sold two suits. It was a record for me.

After helping Bruce close the place up, I
headed to the grocery store to pick up the stuff I would need to
make chili, beer, and some of the wine I’d seen in Eva’s fridge a
few times. After making it home and putting the groceries away, I
shucked off my suit and tie, and got comfortable, opting to change
into a pair of jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt. Before I could
pick up my place any, there was a soft knock at the front door.

Gathering all the socks that had been
discarded near the front door after my morning runs, I dashed back
to my bathroom and shoved them into the hamper. I lifted the lid to
the toilet and glanced at it to see how clean it was, or wasn’t.
Grabbing the cleaning wand beside it, I put one of those scrubby
things on the end and laid it to it. Another knock sounded, this
one a little louder than the first.

“One second,” I shouted over my shoulder.

Damn it. Why hadn’t I just kept the suit on
and cleaned for a little while? Changing when she got here would
have been fine. Hell, she might have wanted to strip my suit off
for me.

I ran the wand around the toilet bowl a few
more times, and then popped the scrubber into the trash, flushed,
and made a mad dash toward the front door. When I opened it, Eva
stood there with the beginnings of a smile creeping onto her
face.

“Hey.” I motioned for her to step inside.

Closing the door behind her, I watched her
face as she took off her coat and handed it to me.

“Hi,” she muttered, still taking the place
in.

It wasn’t the most spectacular apartment, not
even by a long shot, but it was home nonetheless. The walls were
still painted that dreary white most apartments are, but the floors
had some character. They were a dark hardwood, which matched the
trim and baseboards. It gave the place an old feel, which I liked.
The decorations were minimal—a couch, recliner, coffee table, TV,
and a picture of the ocean Ryker had hung up when we first moved in
that I hadn’t had the heart to take down yet.

“Did you have any trouble finding the place?”
I asked, hanging her coat on the rickety rack beside the door.

She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve passed by
these apartments like a million times. Actually, I was excited when
you said this was where you lived, because I’ve always wondered
what the inside of these places looked like. They seem so old and
cute on the outside.”

I smiled. “And now you know. What do you
think?”

“It definitely meets my expectations.” She
spun around to face the kitchen. “I always wanted to live in one of
these. My place is nice, but it doesn’t have as much character as
this. I mean look at your cabinets!”

My eyebrows went to my hairline. If I had
known she would have been so excited to see where I lived, I would
have invited her over sooner. Should I have needed it, this
apartment could have been an early deal sealer with her.

I glanced at my kitchen cabinets. They were
white with the little windows you could see all the dishes through
and tiny white circular knobs. On paper, they sounded modern and
clean, but in reality, they were more old-fashioned and girly
looking. While the white was nice and not dingy by any means—thank
you Mr. Clean Magic Eraser—they were still feminine. Ryker had
always joked about the kitchen appearing fancy girly, like
something you would see in one of our mother’s
Home and
Garden
cottage edition magazines.

Eva walked to the kitchen, and brushed her
fingertips against the countertop. “God, I love this kitchen. I
don’t bake, but I think this kitchen would make me want to
learn.”

Kitchen porn, that’s what I suddenly felt
like I was the owner of. The way her eyes flitted over the white
and gray speckled countertops before making their way up the white
walls and over the cabinets was incredible.

“Well, feel free to come over and put it to
use any time,” I offered, truly meaning every word.

She shifted to look at me. “I might just take
you up on that.”

“Do you like chili?” My question seemed
random.

“Yeah.” Her brows pulled together. “Is that
what you’re cooking?”

“Yeah, you can help if you want.” I grinned.
“It would be your first time cooking in, what seems to be, your
dream kitchen.”

“Absolutely, but I want to check the rest of
the place out first. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” I went to the fridge, and grabbed a
beer. “Want me to pour you a glass of wine?”

“My love,” she whispered when her eyes fell
on the bottle of the sweet red she enjoyed so much.

I chuckled. “Were you speaking to me or the
wine?”

“The wine,” she gushed. “I stopped by the
store on the way here, because I was going to pick up a bottle, but
they were all out. I was so freaking disappointed.”

“Ah, got you. Well, that’s because I snagged
the last one.” I pulled it out, and set my beer on the counter so I
could open it for her. Digging my nail into the little sticker on
the top, I peeled it off, and grabbed my wine opener from in a
drawer.