Page 103 of Never Forget

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"She's been looking at you for ten minutes." Sean leaned back. "Go talk to her."

"I'm not—" Tyler's ears went red. "I don't even know what I'd say."

"Say hello. Ask her name. It's not rocket science." Sean clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a firefighter. Women love that shit. Go."

Tyler didn't move.

Sean sighed. "Fine. I'll go introduce you."

"Don't you dare?—"

Sean was already standing. He walked over to the women's table, said something I couldn't hear over the jukebox. The dark-haired one looked over at Tyler.

She smiled.

Sean gestured him over.

Tyler looked like he wanted to die.

I caught his eye and nodded toward the table. "Go."

He took a breath and went over.

I watched him introduce himself. The woman laughed at something he said. Tyler's shoulders dropped half an inch.

Sean came back to the booth smug.

"You're welcome," he said to nobody in particular.

I shook my head and couldn’t help but smile.

I stepped outside for air.

The bar was loud and I needed a minute. I leaned against the brick and pulled out my phone. No new messages from Jamie. She'd have been asleep by now, or packing the last of her belongings.

"Sam?"

I looked up.

Amber was ten feet away. Put-together, the way she always was, but there was something careful in the way she'd stopped. Like she'd seen me first and decided how to play it before she said my name.

"Hey."

"I thought that was you." She took a step closer. "How are you?"

"Good. Fine."

"You look good."

"Thanks."

She tilted her head and smiled a little. Familiar. Easy. The smile I'd seen a hundred times across a hundred dinner tables.

"I've been thinking about you."

I didn't answer.

"I heard Jack's sister travelled."

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