Page 1 of Fighting for His Life

Zoey

“Man, stop squirming,” Jax says to my brother for what seems like the tenth time. Of course, he squirms again just because he was told to stop. Always defiant, that one.

“Why the hell am I doing this again?” Zane asks through gritted teeth.

I laugh. My brother never has been one for needles – or pain – though he lives for football. I never understood why he was okay with two hundred-pound boys hitting him on the field, but he lost his crap over a papercut.

“Because we just graduated, and we all agreed to do this together,” I remind him sassily.

Jax wraps his arm around my waist and my heart accelerates like always. He’s my brother’s best friend and he’s my best friend. He’s totally not into me like that, but my stupid heart never gets the memo. Fortunately, I am in control of everything else, so I just smile and wrap my arms around him like I’ve done a million times before.

“Zoey didn’t even flinch,” Jax taunts Zane while squeezing me a little tighter. “Your sister made you look like a pussy.”

Zane throws us a finger with the hand not being worked on. We laugh again while the tattoo artist shakes his head. I’m sure we are quite the exasperating bunch. Especially since Zane’s tattoo is taking twice as long as Jax and mine did.

I hold out my wrist looking at the fresh ink. Jax holds his out next to mine and we admire the artwork. “Pretty cool, huh?” he whispers in my ear. I suppress a shiver threatening to break across my skin.

“I love it,” I admit with a giggle. “I may be hooked.”

One side of his mouth twitches in that way that makes my stomach flip. “Told you so.”

The buzzing from the tattoo gun stops. Zane is finished – finally. He walks towards us with his wrist out. Three tattoos adorn each of our left wrists. “Worth it?” I ask.

He shakes his head but is grinning ear to ear like the lunatic he is. “Totally worth it, but I am never doing this again.”

Jax and I laugh at him. “You are such a baby,” I tease.

“I am not a baby,” he pouts which is one of the funniest things ever. My six-foot two-inch football playing twin brother pouting is definitely a sight with his bottom lip stuck out and his arms crossed petulantly. “There were needles digging into my flesh to place a foreign substance there permanently. It hurt.”

“Baby,” I tease again with a poke to the chest.

Jax pulls me away by the waist sending my pulse racing. He’s always touching me like that. I like to pretend it’s because he secretly feels the same way I do. I doubt it’s true, but it doesn’t hurt to hope. “All right. Leave the baby along before he cries,” he taunts Zane sending me into a fit of giggles.

“Fuck you both,” Zane gripes. “Let’s go before all the good parties are over.”

“Wait one second,” I say. I open my purse to retrieve a hundred-dollar bill from my wallet. I hand it to the artist. “A tip for my brother being such a little bitch,” I chuckle earning a full-blown scowl from Zane and a full-on laugh from Jax.

The artist nods with a smirk. “Thanks.”

Jax

We walk out of the tattoo parlor with no plan where to go next. Not that I mind. I don’t need a plan tonight. The tattoos were enough.

Me and my two best friends marked together forever. As soon as our caps were in the air, we took off without a word to anyone. Including our parents. The three of us had this planned since senior year started.

Most would say it’s bittersweet. Not me. I fucking graduated with honors and a damn full ride to Southern U. I’ve worked my ass off to get here. I may be a year behind, but I’ve done it with my two best friends by my side.

“Okay seriously,” Zane says quips. “I am never doing that again.”

I shake my head laughing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zane whine so much. I’ve seen him beaten, battered, and bruised, and he never loses that damn cocky grin he’s known for. Two hundred fifty-pound defensive end clipping him at the knees? No problem. A little needle and ink? He cries like a five-year-old.

“I’m ready for another,” Zoey chimes in bouncing on the balls of her feet.

That’s my girl.

She got two to Zane's one. So did I.

La mia bella vita is now permanently etched on my ribs just below my heart. My beautiful life. Zoey has no idea what it means, and I'll probably never tell her the significance.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com