Page 32 of Forget Me Not

Theo smiles, temporarily satisfied by my response.

“He won’t say no.” He drops a kiss on my head before walking toward the door. “By the way, we’re going dress shopping on Wednesday. I don’t trust you or Gabby with your own outfits.” He winks at me before leaving the room. I pull my phone out of my scrubs, open my texts with Kade and wonder what the hell I just got myself into.

“Come out of the dressing room,” Theo yells from outside the door. We are currently in a local dress store that Theo dragged Gabby and me to, claiming we needed new dresses for the gala. He also claimed that neither of us was capable of picking out said dresses and he must do it himself. He’s hard to say no to, so here we are.

“Theo, I am absolutely not wearing this.” I look into the small dressing room mirror at the first dress he threw at me before shoving me in there. It’s a long black dress missing about half of the fabric that it should have. It’s a halter with an open back that crosses over my boobs, barely covering the little I do have. It opens back up to cross over my stomach into the long skirt that turns sheer at barely midthigh. I feel naked.

“If you hate it, I won’t make you buy it. Just let me see it, Tink.” He begs, and I cave, opening the door. He immediately starts fanning himself dramatically. “You look fucking hot, Tink. Tell her she looks hot,” he says to Gabby, sitting next to himon the couch outside the dressing rooms. She looks at me helplessly.

He already picked out her outfit, a pale-pink dress with spaghetti straps that is tighter on top with a slight dip over her cleavage and flowy from her waist down, a single slit on one side that opens to her upper thigh. It took them over an hour to agree on it, but the final decision looked gorgeous on her.

“We’re going to a hospital fundraiser, Theo,” I remind him, gesturing to my barely covered body, which is clearly inappropriate for the event.

“Fine.” He huffs. “Try on the next one.”

I try on six more perfectly good dresses, all of which Theo says are too boring and just will not do. He called one of them horrendous, saying that it looked like something his great grandma would wear, right as one of the salespeople was walking by. From the dirty looks I’ve been getting from her since then, I can confidently say that she isn’t our biggest fan. It’s half an hour later and I’m trying on dress number seven. I know shopping is a treat and I should be grateful that I’m even able to afford a new dress, but I swear shopping with Theo is what nightmares are made of.

I carefully take the next dress that Theo picked out for me off of the hanger and slip it on. I look in the mirror and am surprised by how much I love it. It’s the first one that feels like me. It’s a pale-blue halter dress with thicker straps that leads into fabric that crosses, parting into aVaround my chest. It’s tight enough to push up my cleavage but in a classy way. It accentuates my waist, the fabric clinging to my every curve until the bottom, where it lies loose and flowy. The left side has a slit that hits about midthigh where the fabric is all ruched together. It’s simple yet elegant. I walk out of the dressing room and Theo immediately gasps while Gabby smiles softly at me.

“That’s the one.” He jumps up from his seat and proceeds to twirl me around. “You look stunning. Kade isn’t going to know what hit him.”

I roll my eyes at him.

“You look really beautiful, Lo,” Gabby speaks up.

“Thanks, Gabs.” I smile at her. “Does this mean we can be done?” I look at Theo with pleading eyes.

“Yes, we can be done. Go change and we’ll pay and get out of here before I get murdered.” He nods his head toward the saleswoman who’s still side-eyeing him. I laugh at him as I walk away.

After changing back into my normal clothes and grabbing the now hung-up dress, I walk back out to the area where Theo and Gabby, also holding her dress, are waiting for me. My phone buzzes as I follow them to the register. I let Gabby in front of me to pay first and look down at my phone, reading the text lit up on my screen.

Kade: I’ll meet you outside the hospital tomorrow at 5:45. See you then, baby girl.

I feel the blush rise to my cheeks as it does every time he calls me that. I’ve never been affected by terms of endearment before, in fact, most of the time I find them cringeworthy. But with him, I can’t help the way my heart beats a little faster every time the words leave his mouth.

I look behind me to see Theo looking down at the text over my shoulder, then up at my heated face with a knowing grin.

“Oh, tomorrow is going to be so much fun. Better answer him, baby girl.” He chuckles.

Fuck me.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Logan

I’m fucking late. It’s five forty, I’m supposed to be outside in five minutes, and I’m not even dressed yet. I hate being late. Hate, as in it makes my insides tighten, my heart beat faster, and my anxiety shoots through the roof. Although the reason why I’m late definitely isn’t my fault.

Just as I was finishing up my shift, there was a little girl who had wandered out of her bed, so I of course walked over to help. I walked over and bent down to ask her where she came from. She opened her mouth to answer, but projectile vomit came out instead, all over me. I can’t say it’s the first time it’s happened and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It wasn’t the poor little girl’s fault, but it still put a wrench in my schedule, nonetheless.

I had to help clean her up and get her back to her room, where luckily there was already a nurse there ready to take the situation out of my hands. It was already 5:25 by the time I rushed into the shower and quickly fixed my hair and makeup.

I throw everything back into my bag, shoving it into my locker, before slipping the dress on. I pair it with simple nude strappy heels and move to look in the mirror one more time. My hair falls in loose curls down my back, and my makeup ismore than I normally wear but still light with all neutral colors. I forgot a jacket that matches, but I’ll be inside for most of the night, so I should be fine.

My eye catches on the dainty silver chain around my neck, the smallLhanging from it. My heart feels a little emptier as I stare at it. Nobody questions the charm, assuming it stands for Logan. It doesn’t. I never wore jewelry when I was younger, not liking the way it felt to have it on all the time. But Lennox loved it. Specifically, this necklace. She got it when she was just a kid and never took it off. Until she did.

The day after she died, I found her journal. I opened it up to the first page, and the necklace fell right out. As if it was waiting for me. I don’t like jewelry. But I haven’t taken it off ever since.

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