Page 44 of Remember Me

I’m curious now about Jake’s place. “What do you mean?”

“It’s literally like a mausoleum, babe. You’ve been there before, but it’s so lackluster it’s no wonder you haven’t recovered your memory of it,” Kayla teases.

“Are there any updates on you and Jake?” Alyssa asks as she takes a sip of her drink.

My cheeks heat, and Kayla eyes me over the rim of her sunglasses. I’m not entertaining this, especially with his sister of all people, so I keep it as vague as possible because I don’t even know what’s going on at this point.

“We’re just friends, you know? Getting to know each other again.”

Thankfully, the girls drop the subject, although Kayla mutters something about discussing it later. Then we sit and enjoy the sun, gossiping. I’ve missed my girls; I’m so grateful Jake dragged me out of my room that day, even if it was the last thing I wanted at the time.

Alyssa’s phone dings—it’s been doing that all afternoon. I manage to catch the name ‘Boo’. Who's Boo? Is she seeing someone?

About an hour later, Jake walks in with Codey, Louis, and Theo trailing behind him.

“Hey, everyone,” he puts a hand up to wave. “I hope you don’t mind, Lotts, but I brought the guys back with me.” He winces like he should have asked me first. I’m happy he did, I haven’t seen the guys in a long time, and I miss them.

I wave over to them, saying, “Hey guys, come take a seat, I’ve missed you.”

They all come and hug me as they sit down at the table.

Louis steps toward Kayla. “Bonjour, Chérie,” he says in a delectable French accent that has, not only Kayla, but the whole table swooning. He bends over and gives her a chaste kiss on her lips before she gets up so he can sit down with her on his lap. He whispers something in her ear, and I see her physically shudder and bite his ear. It’s probably for the best I can't hear them. They’ve always been on the verge of too much.

Codey takes a seat in between Hannah and Alyssa, who is currently fiddling with her choker. He grunts out a greeting to them; he’s not much of a talker.

“Hey, boo,” Alyssa greets Theo as he sits next to her, and cuddles into her as she strokes his hair. Did she just call him what I think she did?

“How was book club?” Louis asks Kayla.

“It was great, we’re going to be reading an MM romance next.”

“MM? What does that mean?”

“It means like two dudes getting it on. Double the dick.” Subtlety isn’t Kayla’s strong point.

Theo looks up from Alyssa’s shoulder and she returns his gaze. “It’s going to be so hot. It’s called For the Fans by Nyla K if any of you guys want to read it,” she winks.

There’s a collective groan. “We don’t have time for reading. Pre-season is starting soon and we’ve got to be ready,” Codey says in an authoritative voice, one that makes you want to say, “Yes sir, how high, sir.”

“We still have months, Cap, calm down.” Theo rolls his eyes and shoves a whole cupcake in his mouth. Classy.

We all fall into our own conversations, and it feels so familiar. For the first time in forever, I can genuinely say I’m happy. This calls for a celebration.

“Wine, anybody?”

Chapter 31

Jake

The sunset tonight is breathtaking. The pinks and oranges blended together and reflecting off the ocean has me mesmerized, but nothing compares to the girl currently cuddled up next to me under the blanket, sipping on her wine. After everyone left, we stayed out here and enjoyed an early dinner of gambas pil pil with salad and potatoes. We’re now enjoying another bottle of white wine along with some strawberries.

Lottie is definitely tipsy, her eyes are a little glassy and she’s definitely more handsy than she’s ever been with me if the fingers swirling around on my thigh are any indication.

She reaches over and grabs a strawberry, taking a big bite. Juices spill down her chin and I am desperate to lick up every last drop. But instead, being the gentleman I am, I swipe the juice up with my thumb before sucking it into my mouth. Yeah, much more gentlemanly. I see the moment her pupils dilate at my action and fuck does it make me want to kiss her. I bite back my groan. We were so close yesterday, and now I can’t do it because she’s drunk.

Catching me completely off guard, she looks me dead in the eye and whispers, “Why didn’t you kiss me yesterday, J?”

I groan, that nickname does me in. Her palm reaches up and caresses my cheek and I lean into it, desperate to have her hands on me. I feel that small touch everywhere and my heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest. I need to reign it in. “Because, if you remember correctly, your stomach interrupted us.”