Forget Me Not

“Well, yes.” He points at me. “But if I’m no longer an option, it definitely shouldn’t be that douchebag.”

“Well, for your information, I wasn’t going to take him back. Not that it’s your business, and I’m glad he didn’t try to come here. You wouldn’t know how to act!”

Bennett’s response is interrupted by keys in my door and Alyssa coming through it, sporting leggings and an NYU Med School hoodie. “Hiiiiii!” Her face is free from makeup and her black hair is slightly damp, meaning she probably showered at the hospital and came straight here.

“Don’t you knock?” Bennett immediately asks, crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry. Don’t you not live here?” Alyssa quips, just as Wren comes in behind her dressed in jeans and a leather jacket.

“You’ve been here thirty seconds. Already?” Wren looks at his wife, and tugs on her ponytail. “What did we just talk about in the Uber on the way over?” She makes a face behind his back and gives him her middle finger when he walks by her. “I saw that,” he says without looking at her.

She closes the door behind them and bounces her way towards me before wrapping her arms around me. “We’re here to make sure both parties are alive. Well, I don’t really care all that much about you.” She points at Bennett before she presses her hands to her hips. “You’re going out with Wren,” she says nodding at Bennett.

He looks at me and Alyssa, eyeing us warily. “And what are you two doing?” I watch in fascination as his muscles tighten when he crosses his hands over his chest. A vein pops out and I turn my gaze away from him, knowing that Alyssa will call me out for eye fucking him.

“Having a girl’s night here,” she replies.

“You’re not leaving?” Bennett asks as his eyes dart back and forth between us searching for the answer of what we’re really going to be doing.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, we’re not. I’m getting my girl liquored up.” Alyssa does a dance where she stands and looks at Bennett. “Go get dressed and get out.”

“Excuse me?” he says.

“Come on, we’re going to go watch the game. The Giants are actually decent this year,” Wren says and points towards the door. Bennett stares at all three of us, probably figuring that he isn’t going to win this argument and pads back to the master just as Wren’s blue eyes and Alyssa’s brown ones find mine.

“You alright? God, we wanted to come last night, but we both had surgeries,” Alyssa says as she pulls me into a hug and kisses my temple. “How has it been?”

“Fine…fine…” I tell her as she lets me go and I can already see Alyssa isn’t buying it as she narrows her gaze at me and takes a step back, roving her eyes over me from head to toe. Her eyes widen and her hand goes to her mouth like she’s had a sudden realization. “OH for the love of GOD! Did you fuck him?”

“NO!” I shake my head and put my hands up. “No, no…totally did not.”

“Oh, but you want to…Jesus, Liv. I leave you alone with him for one day!”

Wren is staring at us with a mischievous smile on his face, his eyes shifting back and forth between us. “I’m really here for this.” He slides a hand around Alyssa and I glare at both of them.

“Seriously? Nothing has happened.” I resist the urge to snort at my own lie because a fuck ton has happened in the past twenty-four hours. “It’s weird having him here and it’s fucking with my emotions a little, but I’m fine. It’s fine. We’re fine.”

“Say fine, again,” Alyssa says as she pulls out of Wren’s grasp and makes her way to the kitchen. “Tell me you have food, I’m fucking starving.” She opens the refrigerator and squeals. “Oh! You went shopping.”

“Yeah, uh…Bennett ordered groceries.”

She slams the refrigerator closed behind her as she pulls a cheese platter out and some crackers from the pantry. “I’m choosing to ignore that for the time being because I haven’t eaten anything today, but we are going to talk about that.”

I roll my eyes and Wren looks me over. “You sure you’re okay.”

“No thanks to you and your bright idea.”

“Liv…I’m sorry for springing that on you and I’m sorry I was so hard on you yesterday.”

I cross my arms and give him a glare, though I don’t totally mean it. It’s hard to stay mad at Wren. He’s like a giant teddy bear with a warm heart and the ability to make you feel better with the best hugs. “You should be; you were a jerk.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I had just spent the last three days running on practically no sleep and dealing with my banged up best friend who doesn’t remember anything from the last two years other than the fact that he’s madly in love with you. We did a lot of talking the night you didn’t stay and…I’ve never seen him like that.”

I frown at his choice of words. “Like what?”

“Broken.” He shrugs. “That’s a broken fucking man in there.” I go to protest when he puts his hand up. “I know he hurt you, Liv. I know he crushed you and you were devastated…are devastated. But he doesn’t remember any of that, and you’re so much stronger now. You’ve moved on and now you have the power to completely destroy him, and despite the anger you feel towards him, I’m just asking you…begging that you don’t.”

Thirty minutes later, Wren and Bennett have left for the night. I had to tear my gaze away from him when he emerged from the bedroom wearing dark jeans and a white button down with his sleeves rolled to his forearms. That was what he wore when he wanted my full attention. When he was trying to seduce me. And he fucking knew it. He shot me a wink just as he followed Wren out the door along with the instructions to “behave ladies.”