Page 105 of Remember Me

After hearing the front door close, footsteps come closer to the bedroom, and in saunters Jake in all his shirtless glory. He should never be allowed to wear T-shirts again. He’s got an iced coffee in one hand and a cupcake with a candle in it in the other, and like a video montage playing in my mind, I see seven years’ worth of memories of him doing this for me.

“Make a wish, Lotts.” Closing my eyes, I make my wish: For Jake to always love me as much as I love him, and for us to be together forever. I blow out the candle and take a sip of my white mocha—heaven in a cup.

“Thank you, J, I love you. Now come and get back in bed with me. All I want to do is spend the day snuggled up next to you.”

The smile on his face makes his dimples pop as he leans down to kiss me on the lips. It’s chaste and leaves me longing for more.

“No can do baby, we’ve got places to be.” Wait, what?

“Where are we going? I didn’t realize we had plans.”

“It’s called a surprise, Lottie, you’ve heard of that right?” His eyebrow raises in question.

“Of course I have,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“You still have a bit of time, enjoy your coffee and then get dressed. I’m going to take Bella for a quick walk.” Hearing her name, Bella’s head pokes out from under the covers.

“Come on, Bella, lets go,” he calls, and she leaps off the bed to trot after him.

Checking my phone, I have messages from all the girls. It’s my first birthday without my parents, so everyone is checking in to make sure I’m doing ok. And sure, it’s hard and different, but with the amount of love I’m lucky to be surrounded by, this day will be much more bearable.

Once Jake’s back, we jump into his car. I still have no idea where we’re going, so I look out the window for clues, but I come up empty.

Pulling up to an unfamiliar building, we get out to a chorus of "Happy Birthdays,” and it’s then I see all my friends. Even Wren and Sawyer are here, and I rush over to my best friend, where I’m swept up in a hug and sink into her embrace. God, I’ve missed her.

“Happy birthday, babe. There was no way I was missing this.” She rocks me from side to side.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” I say as I wipe the tears forming from my eyes.

“Can we go inside now? I need to pee,” a very heavily pregnant Kayla shouts. Turns out, she was further along than we thought when we discovered she was having a baby at Disneyland.

We walk into the unfamiliar building, and we’re ushered into a room full of cooking stations. Huh?

“Welcome to Lottie’s Great Birthday Bake Off,” Jake announces.

What the?

“So, baby, what’s going to happen is we’re all going to split off into pairs and attempt to make you a red velvet birthday cake, and you get to judge who's best.”

My hand covers my mouth, and my eyes sparkle in excitement. “Oh my god, this is so exciting. Who’s pairing up with who?”

“So, we have me and Louis, Mom and Codey, Alyssa, Theo and Soph, and Wren and Sawyer. Seth had to work so he’ll be here later on. Kayla will be walking around judging with you.”

Kayla links arms with me, her other hand resting on her belly. She whispers in my ear, “I can’t wait to mess with these guys.”

I bark out a laugh, she’s always the troublemaker.

Everyone takes their positions and the timer is set; the guys have two hours to make something that resembles a red velvet cake, and then there will be a blind taste test to decide the winner. Can’t have any bias here.

With a three, two, one, they’re off, and me and Kayla let everyone get into it before we start walking around.

Some are definitely looking more at ease than others. “Who’s your money on?” Kayla asks.

“Probably Hannah and Codey if I had to pick. They’re both controlled and methodical, you know?”

“I see that, I’d probably go for the same. I don’t hold out much hope for Theo and Alyssa, he’s already got flour in his hair.” Kayla points at him and his now dark blonde hair is indeed covered in flour. Sophia has flour smeared across her cheeks too.

“Let’s go and check in.” We get up and start to walk toward the first table, which happens to be Jake and Louis.