Free Unforgettable by Shanna Vollentine

hours, give her a break.” Ethan was speaking to Nigel but looking at me. I hurriedly looked back down at my plate and scooped up some rice, shoving it into my mouth so quickly that some of the grains went down my throat. I started coughing and grabbed for my water, gulping it down. I looked up and everyone was staring at me.
      “Sorry, it went down the wrong way,” I croaked out. Why couldn’t I just be smooth for once? I slowly brought a bite of enchilada to my mouth and daintily started to chew. Everybody else went back to eating so I turned to Carrie.
      “How was the christening?”
      “Fine. The parents went all out on this thing. There were almost as many guests as my wedding. I hope they call me to plan his first birthday party.” The mention of her wedding made me feel bad again. I didn’t know how many people came to her wedding. That was something a best friend should know.
      “How are you coming with the cookbook?” Nigel asked between bites.
      “I don’t know,” I said stupidly. I looked at Ethan and waited for him to answer. He was probably the only one of us that knew.
      “It’s coming along. She’s pretty much figured out what she’s putting in there. We were just talking about if she was going to make the food for the pictures or hire a food stylist.”
      Hire a food stylist for my own book? I don’t think so. Then again, I didn’t even know what recipes were in there so maybe I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
      “Oh yeah, sorry Juliet, I keep forgetting.” Carrie groaned at his statement. “What?” Nigel was clueless and that made me happy. Things felt kind of normal in a weird “time moved forward two years overnight” way.
      Lunch progressed without further incident and before I realized it most of the afternoon had gone by in idle chatter about nothing in particular. It’s not like I would be up-to-date on anything recent. That would have been cool on a regular day, but I kept waiting for something to clue me in to the present. Nothing happened and by four Carrie and Nigel were getting ready to go home. I couldn’t let Carrie leave without having an important talk.
      “Carrie, can I talk to you for a second?” I motioned toward my bedroom. “In my room.”
      “Sure.” She followed me into the room and shut the door. “What’s wrong?”
      “Everything’s wrong, but I just needed to talk to you about Ethan. What am I supposed to do?” I sat down on the bed and she sat down next to me.
      “Do about what?” She looked confused. Kind of like how I felt.
      “Well, I mean, I don’t know where he’s going to sleep or anything. I don’t want to kick him out of his own bed, but I can’t have him sleep with me . What am I supposed to do with him tonight? I’ve never spent this much time alone with him before. I’m running out of things to talk about.”
      She looked at me and didn’t say anything for a while. “I don’t know what to say to you about this, you love being around him. You guys spend all your time together. You’re always laughing at some inside joke or whispering between yourselves. I would feel left out if I didn’t have Nigel.”
      I took a moment to absorb that. We were one of those couples. I couldn’t get my mind around it. I had never been like that with any of my boyfriends, not even in high school. It seemed like I was a completely different person.
      “But what am I supposed to do with him tonight ?” It didn’t appear that Carrie was getting the import of what I was saying.
      “Have him sleep on the couch. It’s okay, he won’t be mad at you, he’ll understand. Don’t get yourself worked up over it.” She rubbed my upper arm. “Do you want us to stay a while longer?”
      “No, that’s okay. I’ll be okay.” I said this more for myself than for her. I thought of something else. “Am I still on the pill or anything? I don’t want to forget to take it if so.” I found that after this