Page 39 of Forget Me Not
“Oh, no. No, it gets better—worse? Whatever, now I’m triple mad, because what a fuckingwasteof espresso that was, and thisfucking man!” Aimi squealed. “He wiped the coffee off his face, says, ‘God, you’re hot when you’re mad,’ and fuckingsucked the coffee offhis fingers.”
Cameron made an animalistic sound and fell off the couch. Syve put a hand over her mouth in shock, she’d never heard ofanyonegiving Aimi such a run for her money.
“I. Can’t. Breathe!” Cam cried from the floor.
Aimi continued, speaking a little louder to be heard over Cam’s hysterics.
“He did that—he did that, and then says, ‘You know, that’s actually pretty good.’”
There were more squawks from the floor.
“That honestly pissed me off more, so I grabbed the cup out of his hand, the half-made drink he was working on, andthrew that on him too.” She was beaming. “He wasn’t expecting that one. Then I told him to get the fuck out before I kicked his ass.” Aimi rolled her eyes again. “He laughed at me, like I was kidding, jumped back over the counter, the cafe door isliterallyright there, but he still jumped over the counter and justleft! I still don’t know what the hell…” She shook her head, now giggling along with Cam.
“And Toni was gone the whole time?” Syve couldn’t help but laugh with her friends.
“The whole time! She came back up front and was confused as to why there was coffee all over the damn floor.” Aimi shrugged.
“This has literally just made my entire day.” Cam sighed, wiping her eyes.
Aimi mocked a bow. “Happy to serve my people.”
They were still giggling when Cam’s phone chimed from the coffee table. She quickly snatched it up—she was always quick to check messages when she was not with her kids.
She unlocked her phone and quickly read the screen. Cam groaned.
“Of fucking course. Mom just texted me—apparently that dude she’s been talking to just invited her on a cruise. Tomorrow. She’s supposed to watch Kayla tomorrow so I can take the boys to their baseball day camp!” She visibly melted into herself, shoulders slumping in defeat.
Syve hesitated a minute, knowing what she wanted to do, but not knowing if she could stomach it. Her mouth made the choice before her brain could interfere.
“I’ll watch her. I mean, if you want, I can come over and watch her…”
Aimi and Cam both froze and turned to look at her.
Cam thawed first, asking, “Are you sure? Would you? She would love that and I would owe you big time!”
“You don’t owe me anything, what are friends for? I love Kayla, I can watch her for you so you can just focus on the boys.”
Syve had spent a lot of time around Kayla and the boys—they were a package deal with Cam—but she never volunteered to babysit, and Cam never asked. Not that she could blame her, it was hard to be around kids since the accident and her friends knew that.
Surely one night could not hurt…right?
It was just after four when Syve knocked on the front door of Cameron and Tyler’s big yellow house.
“Come in!” Cam hollered, quickly followed by, “Zachary! Donotfart in your brother’s face! Where are your shoes?”
Syve turned the handle and pushed, quickly jumping back as Bryce, Cam’s middle child, bolted out the now opendoor—his little arms snuggly hugging a pair of shoes that were most certainly not his.
Stepping into the house Syve hollered, “Hey Cam, it’s me! How can I help?”
“Hey, girl!” Cam cheered, diving out of one doorway at the end of the hall and into another one across from it. “I’ve got this handled, unless you’ve seen a pair of cleats since you walked in?”
Off Cam went, back across the hall and into a third doorway.
Unable to keep from smiling at what looked like a reenactment of Scooby Doo, she answered, “Pretty sure Bryce has them in the front yard.”
A groan came in return, then Zach was zipping down the hall and out the still open door.
Cam reemerged a second later with a duffel bag slung over each shoulder, her crossbody hanging around her neck.
