“I told him I would never have an abortion, and he yelled at me for thinking that he could be such a monster. Then, he said he meant adoption. He’s already talking about hiding me from his parents for fuck’s sake. He doesn’t want anyone to know. He wants me to give up the baby, Heather. Give her away. I don’t know what to do! It’s like he’s not even himself. I don’t know him anymore.” Amanda slid down to the floor, crying.

Shit a brick…this sucks. I knelt down next to her, pulled out my phone, and sent Ellie and Ari a text message. We needed a code blue, but I couldn’t leave, and Ellie was still in the hospital. Shit.

Just then, the restroom door opened, and Victoria walked in. Amanda flew up so fast that she knocked me back on my ass. I jumped up as fast as I could.

“I thought I saw y’all come in here. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are looking for you,” Victoria said to me, looking me up and down as if I were a bug she wanted to step on.

Turning to Amanda, I asked, “Are you okay?”

She smiled and nodded.

As we made our way to the door, Victoria grabbed my arm. “Heather, can I talk to you for a second…alone?” She directed a fake-ass smile toward Amanda.

Amanda threw her hands on her hips. “No. Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me. Right, Heather?”

I couldn’t even think to talk. Why does she want to talk to me? What could she possibly have to say to me? “Um…yeah, right Manda. I mean, is something wrong with Josh?”

Victoria gave Amanda a dirty look before she turned back to me with a smile.

God, her smile is pure evil. I think Lynda has a twin sister who she doesn’t know about.

“Listen, I get that you and Josh were together,” she said, throwing her hand back in the air like she couldn’t care less. “However, I’m telling you this now. Don’t push him into remembering you and your relationship. If you force it and he never gets his memory back, he could very well just be with you because everyone tells him he should. He needs to have the memories return to him…on their own. Right now, he only remembers…well, a relationship with me,” she said with a smile.

“You know what…Tori? I have this gift,” Amanda said, taking a step closer to Victoria.

Laughing, Victoria put her hands on her h*ps as she tilted her head to the side. “Oh yeah? And what’s your gift…Manda?”

Oh my god! What a bitch!

“Well, you see, I can spot a bitch a mile away. And, honey, I spotted you from two miles away. Mess with my friend, and you’ll have three very angry girls waiting for you in a dark alley one night.” Amanda cracked her knuckles.

I wanted so badly to start laughing, but a thought crossed my mind. When did Amanda start cracking her knuckles? She hates it when Ari does that. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Victoria stood up a little taller. “Are you threatening me? And who are these other girls?”

Throwing her head back, Amanda laughed. “Oh, honey, you should wish it was only a threat. I forgot to mention my two other friends. We have each other’s backs—always have and always will. You hurt Heather in any way, and I’d be more than happy to introduce you to Ari and Ellie.”

Victoria gave Amanda a dirty look before turning at me. She leaned in toward me and smiled slightly as she got right in my face. “I’m sure you’ve never satisfied him like I did. You’ll never be able to give him a bl*w j*b like I did. BJs from me were his favorite thing, but I’m sure you know all about how much Josh likes his BJs…now, don’t you, Heather?” She tapped my nose with her finger before walking out of the restroom.

I’m going to be sick.

“Holy f**king hell. What a bitch! Ari is so going to kick her ass. God, I can’t wait to tell her about this one. She makes Lynda look like a—” Amanda turned around to see me with my hands on my knees.

I can’t breathe. Oh. My. God.

“Holy hell, Heather. What’s wrong?” Amanda asked.

I looked up at her. I didn’t even know what to say. It was Lynda all over again. So many times, she had called or sent emails, detailing her sex life or relationship with Josh. Now, it was happening all over again. I’d only talked to Ari and Ellie about it. I’d told Josh that Lynda was contacting me, but I never told him what she’d said. I couldn’t handle it anymore, so I’d finally changed my number and my email address.

“Oh my god. Ari told me about how Lynda would call and write you. Oh god, Heather.”

I glanced up at Amanda with a shocked look on my face. I shouldn’t be surprised though. None of us could ever hold anything back from the others.

“Fuck her, Heather. Josh loves you, and his relationship with her was years ago. Trust me. The love you share with Josh is strong and true. He’s not going to forget that.”

I felt tears building in my eyes. “Amanda…I’ve never given Josh a bl*w j*b…ever.”

Amanda stepped back and covered her ears. “Oh. My. God! Heather…TMI! I don’t want to know if you’ve ever given Josh a bl*w j*b or not!”

Just then, Elizabeth walked in, looking between Amanda and me.

My face instantly grew hot. Fuck me. Just shoot me! Shoot me now ’cause this can’t get any worse.

“Okay…I’m going to pretend that I never heard those words come out of your mouth, Amanda,” Elizabeth said as she walked over to me. “Baby girl, Josh wants to talk to you,” she said with a smile.

My heart started pounding. “Me? He wants to talk to me? But he doesn’t even know who I am,” I said, confused.

She laughed and pulled me in for a hug. “Oh, it was the most romantic thing ever, Heather. He knows.”

I leaned away from her. “He remembers me?”

Her smile faded some before it returned. “Well, no…but he knows that y’all are more than friends.”

“Oh no. Did you tell him that, Elizabeth?” I asked, thinking back to what Victoria had said about forcing him to remember.

“No, not really. He asked Greg and me about you. He said when he saw you, his heart dropped to his stomach, and he has never felt like that before. He also mentioned that the whole time the doctor was talking, he just kept wondering who you were!” Elizabeth clapped her hands and then grabbed Amanda in for a group hug.

Amanda started laughing as she and Elizabeth began jumping up and down like little kids.

“See! A love like y’all’s can never be forgotten,” Amanda said with excitement.

Chapter Six

My dad had left to grab some lunch for him and the girls while Mom went to look for Heather and her friend.

Shit, I can’t remember her friend’s name.

I was praying that Victoria wouldn’t come back in the room until after I had a chance to talk to Heather. Victoria had already given me a lecture about trying to force memories to come back. Then, she’d reminded me about how much I loved her bl*w j*bs. Any other time, I would have pulled back the covers and told her to have at it, but something was different now. I felt like I was being unfaithful if I even thought that way. Unfaithful to whom though? Heather?

When I heard a faint knock on the door, I called out for the person to come in. The moment I saw the blonde hair, my heart started pounding. She closed the door and turned to face me.

Fucking hell. Her eyes…goddamn, those eyes are beautiful.

I couldn’t help but smile at her. She smiled back, and I swore if I were standing up, my legs would have given out on me.

“Hey, um…Elizabeth, um…your mom said you wanted to talk to me,” she said with the cutest damn smile on her face.

She’s nervous. Why is she nervous? Well, shit, Josh. It’s because you don’t remember her, you fuckhead. “Yeah, if you don’t mind, I’d love to talk to you for a few minutes.” Or a lifetime.

She nodded as she headed for the chair next to my bed. I watched as she studied my face. She frowned slightly, and her eyes looked so sad.

I wonder how bad I look. “So, I take it that I’ve had better days when I didn’t look this bad, huh?” I asked as I winked at her.

When her face lit up like Christmas morning, I found myself wanting to make her smile like that again. Then, she let out a small giggle that moved through my whole body.

“You could say that, but I still think you’re very handsome, and…” She stopped talking and looked away.

“Please…flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Listen, Josh, I know your parents told you we were dating, but I don’t want to force—”

“Dating, huh?”

I watched her as she gave me a confused look.

“Oh, um…well, your mom said you figured out we were more than friends, so I just assumed you thought we were dating.” Then, her eyes filled with anger. “Wait, did you think we were f**k buddies or something?” She stood up and stared at me.

Oh shit, this is turning south fast.

Considering my mother had told me they’d found an engagement ring in the pocket of my pants, I safely assumed that Heather and I were much more than f**k buddies. Just the way she made me feel in her presence told me that.

“What? God no, Heather. I didn’t think that at all!”

Her eyes instantly softened.

Damn, she’s cute as hell when she’s mad. I wonder if I used to purposely get her mad just to see that spit and fire come out of her.

“Oh. Well, okay…because…well…”

“Heather, please tell me about us. I know everyone keeps saying to let my memory come back on its own, but please tell me about you and me. I feel something between us that I’ve never felt before,” I said as I reached out for her hand.

The smile that spread across her face caused me to suck in a breath of air. Fuck. I wanted to know everything about this girl, and I wanted to know it yesterday.

She moved closer to me, and then she put her hand in mine. The moment she touched me, an electric shock ran through my whole body.

This is what I’ve been waiting for—for a girl who makes me feel like this. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

She tilted her head. “What’s so funny?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I’ve just waited so long to feel this way, and I can’t imagine how or why I would forget it.”

“To feel what way?” Heather began to sit back down, not letting go of my hand.

I can’t move too fast. I need to do this right. “Do you think we could maybe start out by being friends?”

I noticed when her whole body sank. Shit, that didn’t come out right.

She tried to pull her hand away, but I held on to it.

“Wait, that didn’t come out right.”

As she stood up, she took her hand away from mine. “No, it’s fine. You’re right. I don’t expect you to just jump into this like nothing happened. I mean, you don’t even know me.” She gave me a weak smile.

Ah shit. Why do I feel like I just ripped out her heart?

“Heather, please…” I reached out my hand for hers, willing her to take it.