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“You ready?” I nod and bite my lip as I feel the gun start to outline. Holy shit!
“You okay, Kitten?” Reed caresses my cheek.
“Um… this hurts.” But in a strange way, it’s kind of empowering. Brad Pitt looks up at me and then at Reed and nods his head. “She’s one of us now.” A big smile spreads across his face.
Reed stares at him. “No, she’s only mine.”
Brad looks at him for a moment then goes back to his work. It takes way over two hours. I’m almost begging him to not worry about another layer of shading and color. A sigh escapes me as the machine turns off at last. Brad peels off his gloves.
“I want to get a picture of this for my book. This looks better than I imagined.”
My eyes meet Reed’s. Today was more than a birthday present. It’s his promise to me, and mine to him.
Brad comes back and happily snaps some photos, then wraps up my tattoo, explaining in detail how to take care of them. Reed’s face is peaceful, and the awful night has been purged from us. I watch as he hands him a bunch of hundreds.
“Hey,” Brad Pitt calls out to us, but his eyes are fixed on me. “You know where I am if you ever need me to fix any of that.”
A slow smile appears on Reed’s lips. “Good to know. Thanks, man.” He laces our fingers together as we leave.
“Wow, I’m impressed. You must be relaxed—you didn’t even engage.”
Somewhat breathless at how a simple smile can undo me, I snuggle into him as he helps me down the dark stairs.
“I’m happy.”
It’s so honest, I stop breathing “Reed…”
Cocking his head at me, he says, “I don’t care about that guy. I care about you. When that needle was engraving your name into my heart, I thought about my actions and how I almost destroyed the only thing I need to live.” Cupping my cheeks, he keeps going. “It scared me.”
Not even thinking about it, I launch myself into his arms, and thankfully, he catches me.
“How do you always catch me.” I choke back a sob.
“I’ll never drop you.” We rub our noses together and he gently places my hand across his tattoo. “Happy Birthday, Kitten. I love you.”
I feel like I’m glowing.
“You’re beautiful.”
“So are you.”
As we open the door, the sun is blinding and I blink. Jay is waiting. A cigarette dangles from his mouth. He takes an inhale and tosses it to open our door.
“I’m starving. What do you want for dinner, Kitten?”
“How about pizza?” Resting my head on his shoulder, I nuzzle against him.
“Pizza it is. Jay, you hungry?” We both look at the back of his head.
“I could eat.”
“Let’s go to Joe’s.” I can’t stop smiling as I bounce a little.
Jay says nothing, but I can feel his disapproving eyes in the mirror looking at me.
“What’s wrong, Jay? You’re so quiet,” I tease.
“Just wondering what your parents are going to think when they find out their fourteen-year-old daughter tattooed Reed across her side.”
Great, Jay.
“My dad pays you a shitload of money. Your job is pretty clear,” Reed says calmly.
“You two are only kids. A lot will change as you get older.” He stops at a red light and turns to face us. I want to stick my tongue out at him, but I’m turning fifteen in a week, so I don’t.
“Jay, no one but I will ever see Tess’s tattoo no matter how old we get.” Reed’s voice is dismissive.
“Really? Because when I was your age, I thought I was in love too. Until a year later, when I found someone else. Guess what? I’m still falling in love. Trust me—it doesn’t last.” He shakes his head in disgust.
I reach over and lace my fingers with Reed’s because he looks like he wants to hurt Jay. Also, I was starting to feel better, and now Jay is bringing me down. I hate it. “Come on, Reed. Please focus on me. Tomorrow, I’m going to have to deal with all the crap at school. Tonight, I want to be with you. Don’t you feel like… I don’t know, like you and I have this big secret that no one else knows about?” I bat my eyelashes at him.
He stops giving Jay the kill stare and turns his focus on me. His hand caresses mine… eyes lock with mine, and I launch myself at him again. He catches me. Reed always catches me.TESSThe next week of school is exhausting. Everyone talks behind my back but pretends they want to be my best friend. I show up Monday morning with Reed and Jax walking me everywhere. Reed has decided that if he kisses me all the time, everyone will stop talking about us. Sure enough, it only makes it worse. I know everyone thinks Reed slept with the blonde at the party. And I’ve worked hard to ignore it since I know the truth. Still, it hurts when I hear Tiffany and her posse giggling about how I have no self-esteem because I’ve stayed with him.
