Page 19 of Unforgettable You

She seemed surprised that I’d picked up on her reference.

Reid looked away from me and it almost looked like she was fighting a smile.

“You can’t be serious,” Reid said.

“I’m very serious. That’s why I brought the peaches,” I said, gesturing to them.

Reid snorted and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

“Ohhh, this is such a bad idea.”

“It’s not, though. I know there’s nothing in it for you. But maybe…maybe you could help me out anyway? Even if I don’t deserve it? I just… I have a hard time with social stuff, and it would be so nice to figure things out when there’s no pressure. Please, Reid? Please?” Begging hadn’t been in the plan either, but here I was.

Reid ran a hand down her face and groaned, bending over and then standing back up. She pressed her lips together and shook her head before she spoke.

“What did you have in mind?”

Chapter Nine

Reid

Why? Why was I entertaining this ridiculous idea? This wasn’t going to happen. No way was I agreeing to this.

Except I was absolutely agreeing to this. She looked so earnest and adorable and I couldn’t say no when she begged me. Sweet girls had always been my downfall. Case in point: her sister.

But there was a softness to Sophie that Kaylee hadn’t had. Since Kaylee had been the older sister, she’d been more of a go-getter. More aggressive.

Sophie wasn’t like that. I’d remembered that she was an anxious kid and I guess that had followed her into adulthood. That was rough. Cade had ADHD and it sometimes caused her to have anxiety about social situations. She was more outgoing than Sophie, though. I’d paid attention and noticed that she didn’t have anyone over to her place that I had seen.

She was bright, though. And funny. There was just something about her that made you want to step closer. At least she had that effect on me.

Which was how I found myself listening as she laid out this outlandish plan for me to “teach” her my sapphic skills. Like I was some kind of expert. She was right that I’d seen a lot of people at Sapph. I’d heard a lot of bad lines, seen a lot of people strike out and fail. I’d seen more than a few successful seductions too.

Sophie kept talking and all I could do was stare at her face. Now that I’d been around her more, I could fully separate her from Kaylee. The similarities hadn’t completely faded, but I could see her now as Sophie, and not just as an imitation of Kaylee.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I figured since you don’t really like me, it’s easy to keep things very platonic. You know, mentor and mentee.”

I held my hand up to stop her before she kept going.

“I don’t hate you, Sophie,” I said. Her eyes went wide. “I know things were rough when we first saw each other, but I’m working on that. You don’t deserve to be permanently tied to what your sister did.” That was the truth.

She bit her lip and nodded. The urge to reach out and pull that lip out of her mouth was strong. I clenched my hands behind my back instead.

“How is Kaylee?” I asked and my tone sounded fake in my own ears, but I was making an attempt.

Sophie gave me a look of surprise. “Do you really want to know? Or are you just trying to be polite?”

I snorted. “The second thing.”

Sophie nodded. “I figured. We don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to. Ever. And I haven’t told her that you’re here. That we live so close to each other.”

That was surprising. I assumed she would have.

“You can tell her. I don’t care.” I knew I sounded defensive, but I didn’t care. I was allowed to be defensive about this.

She sighed. “I don’t want to get into all that.” Her eyes snapped to mine. “So. When are you free? I work part time, but I think we can figure out when we can hang out together. Do you want to do it at my place or here?”

We were doing this. I was going to teach my ex’s little sister how to pick up women. This was the plot of a very bad movie, but Sophie had begged me, and I was weak.