Forget You

by Jennifer Snyder

  Taking another sip of my soda, an idea came to me. “You should dress up in a costume from her favorite movie, and surprise her when she gets home with some moves of your own.”

  Cameron’s face contorted into a look of pure confusion. “Who would I dress up as from The Lost Boys? How would that even be sexy? She’d think I’d really lost it if I chased her around the house naked with a pair of vampire teeth and a mullet.”

  I nearly cried I was laughing so hard. “No, not that movie. Her other favorite movie, Magic Mike,” I said. “Pick one of the scenes you think you can learn, and wear something similar. She will flip out.”

  “Damn, that’s a good idea.” He nodded.

  We continued talking about Blaire’s bachelorette party after Cam had all the details down on what he was going to do to surprise Paige. Either she was going to kill me because of that idea or else she would have the time of her life and never be able to thank me enough. Either way, I was sure she would always remember the experience.

  Polishing off the remainder of my sandwich, I attempted to be more chipper for Cameron’s sake, even though I knew he could see right through me. The mention of Blaire’s bachelorette party and wedding only reminded me that my plus one I had wanted to bring wouldn’t even be in America to attend. Guess I would be going stag.

  * * * *

  When Saturday night finally came, I couldn’t have been happier for the night out we had all planned. Paige had rented a limo for us so each of us could have a great time without having to name one of us as the DD for the night. I would have gladly accepted the role as the designated driver though. My rule of thumb when it came to drinking was that you should never drink when you’re down to get happy; you should only drink when you’re happy to get happier. I was definitely more down than I was happy, so alcohol would most likely not be my friend tonight.

  Once we pulled up in front of the brick building with crazy neon lights shining brightly out front, and I saw the look on Blaire’s face, my mood lifted tenfold. Shocked didn’t even begin to describe what was going on in her mind. Blaire was more along the lines of astonished and eager mixed.

  “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I’ve never been to one of these before!”

  “You’re not the only one,” Paige insisted from beside her.

  We hadn’t made it through the doors yet, and Paige’s cheeks had already shifted through three shades of pink. Tonight was going to be a blast.

  “Let’s get this party started!” Lauren shouted. She was out the door, and practically jogging to the front door in her heels.

  Out of the four of us, I figured she would be the most excited. After all, she had been the one to suggest the place. While I wasn’t squeamish when it came to talking about sex and seeing people naked, I had to admit having some guy shake his thing in front of my face did seem slightly embarrassing. I guess it was a good thing Paige had sprung for the limo because I was sure I would need at least one drink before I felt comfortable in there.

  Climbing out, we headed through the cold, where Lauren stood, drooling over the bouncer taking money and checking IDs at the door. There was a small line of women in their late thirties to early forties in front of us. Each of them dressed to the nines in heels and tight-fitting cocktail dresses. I wondered what the occasion was, or if this was their typical Saturday night. Strip clubs that featured only women dancers had regulars. Wasn’t it safe to think that the male strip clubs would also have their regulars?

  After flashing the bouncer our IDs and paying, we were ushered down a red carpeted hallway that opened into a large room with dim lights and music blaring. In the center stood a stage. Some guy doing a dance number with a steel chair dominated the center of it. He was wearing a backward baseball cap and some sort of windbreaker pants. His moves were pretty cool—sexy even—but it was his rock hard body that really gripped my attention. Not only had it been weeks since I’d done anything with a man, but a guy who knew how to dance was just plain sexy.

  We made our way to a table near the center of the room. It had a great view of the stage, which was all any of us cared about. As soon as we sat, the guy on stage did a crazy move on his head, and when he came back up to a standing position, he tugged at his pants, ripping them off and dropping them to the floor. Lauren shouted like crazy, and clapped her hands along with every female in the building.

  Licking my lips, I leaned my elbows on the tabletop, and eyed the cause for this uproar. Oh yeah, the crazed shouts and whistles were worthy. This guy was sexy as hell.

  “Drinks! We need some drinks!” Lauren shouted. The palm of her hand slapped against the table, shaking me.

  In seconds, a good-looking guy with black slacks and a simple bowtie on was at our table flashing each of us a charmingly sexy smile.

  “Can I get you lovely ladies something to drink?” he asked.

  “You sure can.” Lauren beamed. “We’ll all take lemon drops.”

  Lemon drops were Blaire’s favorite, so we’d all decided we would stick to those.

  “I am so glad I don’t have one of those stupid sashes with bachelorette or whatever on it,” Blaire shouted over the thumping music.

  “Oh, you mean one like this?” I smirked, pulling a silver one out of my purse.

  “No!” she shouted. “I’m not wearing that thing! Put it up!” She jerked it from my hands and wadded it up into a ball, before cramming it underneath her ass.

  “Why not? You might get some free drinks, or even a lap dance.” Lauren winked.

  Blaire shook her head, and grinned. “I’m already getting free drinks, aren’t I? And hell no, to letting some random guy shake his wiener in my face, all up close and personal. I get that crap enough from the old men at work, and I don’t have to tip.”

  I laughed. Blaire was a RN at the local nursing home. Of course, she’d seen enough wieners in her lifetime already from bathing old men back in her CAN days.

  “Yeah, but I bet none of them look like that guy’s is sure to.” I nodded at the guy taking the stage. He had a baby face with sandy blond hair, and he was built like a freaking god.

  “Nope,” Blaire agreed quickly.

  We all fell silent as we waited to see what baby face would do. The music changed to some techno beat, and he broke out dance moves a background dancer to a music video would. I was mesmerized by him, and I was positive every female inside this building was also.

  “Dear God, he looks like Channing Tatum from Magic Mike,” Paige insisted, her jaw nearly in her lap.

  “He looks better than Channing Tatum,” Lauren muttered. “Where do I get my own?”

  We broke out into a fit of laughter, causing the guy on stage to look our way. He danced in our direction, his eyes shifting over each of our faces as a sexy-as-hell smile twisted his lips.

  “Put your sash on,” Lauren told Blaire. “Maybe he’ll see it, and take you up on stage with him.”

  “No, I’m not wearing it,” Blaire said. “He’s good to look at from right here, but I’m not going up on that stage.”

  Our drinks came then, and I wondered how many it would take before Blaire loosened up and put the damn sash on. My guess was four, and then she would have no more issues with being on stage. In fact, we probably wouldn’t be able to get her off it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  SAWYER

  After stepping back to allow the guy I’d been training the past few weeks to perform an IED search on his own, I stood alongside a brick building, keeping an eye out. Phillip, a guy who was the biggest smart-ass I’d ever met—in fact we all called him Lip for short because of it—stood with me.

  “I’m so fucking ready to get out of here,” Lip said. “I don’t know why this section is giving me the creeps.” He shivered, and I chuckled.

  There hadn’t been a section yet Lip didn’t shiver at and claim it gave him the creeps. Even though he was a smart-ass and could shit talk like no other, that didn’t mean he was tough. In fact, I actually thought I’d heard him cryi
ng the other night. I didn’t cry about being here, but I could relate to his desire to go home.

  Just a few more weeks, that’s what I kept telling myself.

  Something caught my attention from the corner of my eye—movement. When I turned to check it out closer, I realized there were two civilians walking from the alley beside the building I was leaning against. It was a woman and her little boy. She was holding his hand, and carrying a fabric tote bag in her other.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Lip asked. His voice was in a near panic. The dude really wasn’t cut out for this type of thing, but who was I to tell him that?

  “Civilians.” I pointed.

  “Oh fuck, has she got a bag in her hand?” Lip demanded.

  We both knew what that could mean. Inside the bag could be a bomb waiting for someone to detonate. My heart hammered against my rib cage.

  “I guess I’d better go find out.” I started down the steps of the brick building with my gun aimed and ready.

  I wasn’t sure what bothered me most, seeing the look of fear flickering in the little boy’s eyes or having to be the one putting it there. My mind snapped back to the little boy in the car from the night of the wicked snowstorm, and I lowered my gun a little. Holding up my other hand, praying she would take it as an act of peace, I flashed the two a small smile. The others in my unit had noticed them now. If they weren’t here with orders to blow us all up as some sort of suicide mission, then I didn’t want them here. They needed to leave. They needed to get as far away from here as possible. It wasn’t safe.

  “Can I see?” I motioned for her bag, hoping she would understand and give it to me so I could look through it.

  Holding it up in front of her and pushing her son behind her, she handed it to me. Glancing inside, all I saw were books. I pulled them out, and shook the pages to make sure they were exactly what they appeared to be. It wasn’t until I had confirmed everything was okay that I relaxed.

  “Thank you,” I said softly with a smile. Putting my gun away, I spun the mother back into the direction she had come. “Go back, please. Go back.”

  “Everything all right, Keeton?” someone yelled from behind me.

  “Yeah, fine. Resume your search,” I called over my shoulder. I nudged the mother, and ruffled the little boy’s hair. “Please, go.”

  The mother nodded as though she understood. There was a look of relief passing over her face as she walked away. I watched the two of them, until they had rounded the corner in the alleyway and they were out of my view. I remained where I stood, making that alley entrance my new post while the searches continued. I was unsure why someone hadn’t been standing there keeping watch to begin with. I attributed it to the length of time we’d all been out in the field today, and the amount of ground we had covered.

  Exhaustion, that’s what it was.

  Thank goodness, there were only a few weeks left. I’d been keeping track of the days while I was here, counting down until I could return home, while at the same time praying it would be a long, long time before they decided to deploy me again.

  Three weeks. That was all the time left for this mission. It didn’t sound like long, but I was sure it would feel like forever.

  Glancing back at my training partner, I noticed he was standing at the front of the vehicle he’d been searching, staring at me as though he was waiting for orders to move to the next vehicle.

  “Over there.” I nodded to the one farther down, parked practically on the sidewalk. I watched him as he swept over the vehicle the way I’d taught him. When he reached the right front tire well, he jerked back. My jaw grew tense as I locked eyes with him. He was scared shitless, and I knew instantly what he’d found, but had to ask anyway. “What? Did you find something?”

  No sooner had the words left my mouth than I heard the explosion. Dust and debris blocked my vision. Shock jolted through me, and my ears rang. All of these sensations took place as I flew backward through the air into the alley, propelled by the force of the blast.

  It wasn’t until I hit the ground that everything stopped, and the things surrounding me faded into blackness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  EVA

  “Here you guys go.” I set two plates of wings and two beers down in front of the guys dressed in suits and ties, wondering if their bosses knew they liked to drink during their lunch break. Then I wondered if maybe one of them was the boss. “Enjoy.”

  Making my way toward the bar, I moved around the other girls working, until I stood in front of the computer register near the opposite end. As I tapped in the guys’ order, and printed out their bill, Mindy came up behind me.

  “Hey.” She smiled, and bumped me with her elbow. “What are you doing tonight?”

  My eyebrows drew together. “What are you doing here? It’s your freaking day off.”

  Why did people do that? When it’s your day off from work, why the hell would you want to come in anyway and hang out? I would rather sit at home, scrubbing my damn bathroom floor with a toothbrush than come in on my day off.

  Mindy shrugged. “I wanted to say hi. I haven’t seen a whole lot of you lately.”

  Pursing my lips together, I sighed. She was right. Since the party at Wes’s months ago, we hadn’t hung out at all except during work hours. I placed a hand on my hip, and locked eyes with her.

  “I know. I’ve just been busy. Between school, work, and helping my friend out with the final touches of her wedding, I haven’t had time for much more.” An idea came to me then. I’d opted for the plus one on the RSVP to Blaire and Jason’s wedding before I knew Sawyer was set to be deployed. Obviously, he wasn’t going to be able to go with me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take someone else in his place. “How do you feel about weddings?”

  “What, like planning them?” She scrunched her nose, and shook her head. “No, I hate planning them. Maybe if it was mine, I’d be okay with it, but not someone else’s. You always get sucked into the whole vicious circle of unnecessary questions. You know what I mean, like how they ask you which centerpiece you like best and then they choose the opposite one to go with. Not my cup of tea.” She went off on a tangent.

  I laughed. “No, that’s not what I meant. How do you feel about going to a wedding with me?”

  She jerked back, and arched an eyebrow. “As like your date?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” I said. “I already did the whole plus one thing, because I thought Sawyer would go with me, but then he was deployed. He won’t be back in time. The wedding is this Saturday. Want to come with me and laugh at all the stupid people dancing? Who knows, maybe there will be something hilarious we can record and post on YouTube?”

  “I’m there.” Mindy smiled. “Let me know what time.”

  “All right. I’m in it, so I have to get there a little earlier, but I’m sure you’ll still have a good time. There will most likely be some cute guys you can flirt with across the aisle.” I winked.

  I knew her and Wes were on again, off again. She deserved to find someone better so she would stop letting herself get strung along by that douche bag. I hoped that Jason had some decent, worthy friends he had invited.

  “I like your way of thinking,” she muttered. “I’ve got to go. My studio art class starts in twenty. I wanted to see if you were here so I could ask about tonight, but I also needed to mix up my creative juice—some tequila and 7UP in a to-go cup.” She moved around the bar, and grabbed a large Styrofoam to-go cup. “Shh.” She held a finger to her curved lips.

  Mindy had a little deeper wild streak than I thought. Interesting.

  Chuckling, I spun and started toward the guys in suits, ready to hand them their bill. My phone vibrated in my apron pocket before I could reach them. The desire to see who it was made my fingers itch. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be Sawyer calling, I still wanted to look and see. Pausing mid-step, I slipped my hand in my pocket, and quickly pulled out my phone. Janet’s name and numbe
r caught my attention. Cramming my phone back in my pocket, I rushed to the guys’ table and handed them their ticket without uttering a word.

  Weaving through the throng of people on their lunch break, I headed to the storage room. I’d learned early on that if you wanted to call or text someone while not on break, this was the place to do it. The owner, Sam, hardly ever came back here during open hours. Even if he did, all you had to do was grab something—a thing of beer for a tap, a bag of frozen French fries—and he would assume you were still doing as you were supposed to.

  Leaning against the metal shelf all the condiments were kept on, I grabbed a jar of hot sauce I knew was needed at table seven, and reached for my phone. Janet hadn’t left a message, but now I realized she’d already called me twice. I didn’t know why I hadn’t felt my phone ring the first time. Tapping on her name, I dialed her number with the hope that she had some good news to tell me. Maybe Sawyer and his unit had completed their mission sooner than predicted; maybe they were on their way back. Excitement from this possibility pumped through me.

  “Eva,” Janet answered on the second ring. From the tone of her voice, I knew there was no good news to be said, and I felt my heart deflate.

  “Hi. What’s wrong?” My lips quivered as the words passed through them. “Is Sawyer okay?”

  A sniffle on the other end was my response. Moments ticked away, and my willpower not to scream for her to tell me something, anything, chipped away. I needed to know what had happened. I couldn’t just continue to let my mind run wild with possibilities while I listened to her cry.

  “Janet, did something happen to Sawyer?” I asked. My voice was a whisper, but the words jarred me to my core nonetheless.