Page 12 of Unforgettable You

Of course Reid had been walking up the stairs when I noticed that I’d forgotten my keys. Of course. My luck was just that terrible.

What surprised me the most was her inviting me into her place. The tension was thick and hard to breathe through once she’d shut the door. I’d done my best to chill out and just fold my laundry, but then Reid had surprised me while I was checking a pair of underwear to make sure they weren’t ripped and I’d only embarrassed myself further.

Then she’d literally had to leave the room because I looked too much like Kaylee. I hadn’t thought about that. People always told me I was a copy of my sister and hearing that had been both annoying and flattering. Kaylee was absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn’t see how we were that much alike.

Reid stayed in her room while I attempted not to do anything to mess up her place. It was different than I’d thought it would be, actually. I guess I assumed it would be darker, moodier or something. But Reid’s place was light and bright, with plenty of soft pastels and a cream-colored couch. She also had a number of bookshelves and I did take a good long look at those and had been shocked at the titles carefully lined up on her shelves.

Romance. They were nearly all romance, along with a few writing manuals that I recognized because I’d used them myself.

So. Much. Romance. Hoping she wouldn’t mind, I took some shots of her bookshelves so I could look through her titles later. I had no doubt that she had good taste, and I was going to see where we had any overlap.

Tyler finally arrived with the master key and I thanked him profusely as he unlocked my door. He was in his early thirties and assured me it was no problem. I promised that I would get a spare key made and put it somewhere safe. I had no idea where that would be, but I’d figure it out. This could never happen to me again.

Once I was back in my apartment, I pulled up the pictures I’d taken of Reid’s bookshelves and went through them. I grabbed a notebook and started making a list to cross reference with my own collection.

We had a ton of books in common, and she also had quite a few that were on my TBR. There were others that I wasn’t familiar with and I put stars next to those on my lists so I could look them up and see if I might want to read them. I was always looking for new books even when I had an enormous pile to read.

What a delightful surprise. Reid was probably never going to talk to me again, but at least I’d have good reading material for a long time.

I did my best not to think about Reid and put her from my mind, but it was impossible not to, with her right next door. She definitely did work nights, and I caught her leaving once and got a look at her shirt as she was putting her coat on.

Sapph. She worked at Sapph. Bartending, I was guessing. That made sense. I bet she was good at it too. She seemed like the kind of person who would know how to mix a drink.

Well now I definitely couldn’t go there. I mean, not when she was working. The only sapphic bar in the state being off limits to me just after I’d come out was some kind of cosmic punishment. I wasn’t a fan.

On Friday afternoon, I had a brief conversation with my best friend. “You need to go out tonight. Live a little. You don’t even need to hire a sitter!” Larison told me while Juniper struggled to snatch the phone from her.

“I mean, I guess I could. I feel like I’m even more nervous around guys now, though. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it’s true. I’m scared someone is going to hit on me and then I have to decide whether I come out or not and what if they won’t leave me alone?” I knew I got all up in my head about it and always imagined the worst.

“Auntie Sophieeeee,” Juniper wailed. She was four and wasn’t shy about demanding her share of attention.

“What is it, Miss Juni?” I asked. Larison rolled her eyes fondly.

“You gotta watch my dance!” In an effort to burn off some of Juniper’s boundless energy, Larison had signed her up for dance classes and every week she just had to perform for me. Even though she was so young, she was incredibly coordinated, and I didn’t think it was me just being a proud godmother.

Larison put on some music and set up the phone so I could watch Juniper’s performance. I made sure to give her a standing ovation as she curtsied at the end, pretending to hold the edges of a skirt.

“I can’t wait to see you perform.” The dance studio was doing a livestreamed performance for their end-of-the-summer recital and I was going to be logged in.

“That was beautiful, baby. Good job.” Larison gave her a kiss and then told her that she should have some time for herself so we could talk. She only whined a little until she ran to her toy box and pulled out her dolls.

“How is it being so far away?” I asked her once I heard Juniper singing to herself. Larison’s moms had been there every step of the way when she’d gotten unexpectedly pregnant with Juniper after a one-night stand. She’d found the guy and he wanted nothing to do with any of it, which had almost been a relief. Her moms had been behind her a thousand percent and I’d stepped up in my duties as best friend, throwing her a shower and making sure I learned anything I needed to know to help when Juni came screaming into the world. I’d fallen in love with her the second she’d blinked her eyes at me in the delivery room.

Now she was four years old, turning five this October, and this September she’d be headed to pre-k. I was going to be an absolute mess.

“It’s not easy, that’s for sure,” Larison said, and I could see how tired she was. She’d confessed to me that one of the reasons she wanted to go away to school was so she could learn how to parent Juniper on her own. Needed to know she could handle everything on her own and not depended on her moms and me so much. I understood, but I still thought she might be making a mistake.

Now it was nearly a year later, and I could see my friend was struggling.

“Juni looks happy though,” I pointed out. Larison smiled.

“She is. That’s all that matters, really.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not. You need to be happy too.” One job I took very seriously was making sure that Larison knew she was also a person and not just a mom, and that her needs and wants were important too. Juniper would flourish best when her mom taking care of herself, physically and mentally.

“I know, I know.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m just strung out with finals next week. You know. Once I’m only taking two classes this summer and Juni is at camp, things will be good. They’ll calm down and I’ll be able to breathe.”

I swore I said the same thing to myself all the time. That this week was going to be hell, but once I got through it, next week would be better.