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ZARA
“You’re really going to let Ezra permanently mark your skin?” Ruby’s watching me get ready from her bed. I’m in her closet looking for something to wear that isn’t a color that starts with “hot.”
I’ve started accumulating some money, but Ruby refuses to let me buy anything from the only boutique on the island that sells clothing appropriate for anyone under seventy years old. According to her, at least. I haven’t even been in the store. Lena told me Ruby highly dislikes the owner of the shop. I know where my loyalties lie, so in solidarity I didn’t bother asking Ruby about it. She doesn’t like the owner, so I won't buy anything there.
That leads to another problem, though. I might have some money, but I still don’t have any identification. That means I’m unable to get a bank account and can’t buy anything online. That, I’m told, is how I should do my shopping. Ruby keeps telling me to charge it to her card, but I’m sick of her paying for things for me. At least I was able to get some groceries and make dinner the other night. Ruby declared it far too healthy for her tastes, but she ate everything on her plate and all the leftovers, so I know she enjoyed it.
“Do you think he’ll do a bad job?” I silently cheer when I find a pair a black leggings. Then I spot the white rabbit on the butt, with the words “follow me” plastered above the animal, and put them back with a grunt. I continue my search.
“No.” Ruby pouts. I can hear it even if I’m not looking at her. “He’s actually really talented. Fucker. But I can do it, if you want.”
That stops me, and I turn and look at her. “You know how to do tattoos?”
Ruby shrugs, looking both sheepish and cocky. “I’ve done a few.”
Ruby doesn’t have any tattoos as far as I’ve seen. I had no idea she’d done any before. I suppose it’s not a total surprise. The memory of the artwork on Rhys’s walls comes back to me. I wonder why Ruby doesn’t do more with her art. She’s so talented. But she’s never even mentioned that she paints. There’s none of her art in her house either. Admitting she’s done some tattoos is the closest she’s come to telling me she’s artistic. And if she wants to do my tattoo, or prefers that Ezra doesn’t, then maybe I should let her.
“Do you think you could cover this up?” I point to my back.
Ruby can’t see the mark, but she knows it’s there. I told her about it after Rhys offered to talk to Ezra about covering it up. I didn’t want her to hear about it through the grapevine. In the short time I’ve known this group, Archer has told me more secrets in passing than I could have gathered on my own in months. Maybe years. Lena told me he’s a horrible gossip and I have no doubt that as soon as he found out about the plan, everyone else in the group would have known about it shortly after.
“Ugh, probably not.”
Ruby’s long violet hair is wild and large today. She did something to it earlier called crimping. Now it looks like she slept with a braid in and then teased it into a halo around her head. She’s wearing a pair of jean shorts with tights underneath. The tights have lightning bolts embroidered on them. Her top is a thin vee neck white shirt, and she has on a pair of suspenders. The whole thing is rounded out with a pair of red vinyl boots. She should look ridiculous, but it suits her. Which is why I still can’t find anything to wear.
In the beginning, I was grateful not to have to steal clothing from people. I put on whatever Ruby threw at me. Now, I want to pick out things I want to wear. I just have to dig deep to find them in Ruby’s closet. I finally find a pair of plain jeans with minimal rips and a t-shirt with some half-naked ladies on them. Whatever. It’ll do.
Once I’m dressed, I give Ruby my full attention. “If you don’t want him to tattoo me, I won’t.”
Ruby’s mouth turns down. “No. I… I don’t want you stuck with that piece of shit’s stamp on you. He’ll do an amazing job, Zara. I’m just being territorial.”
I don’t know which one of us she’s being territorial toward. Ezra or me. I’m not about to ask. Ruby can keep that to herself.
“I really can wait.”
“No. No more waiting. Forget I even said anything. Let’s go get you inked up.”
It’s a gorgeous day out, so we walk to Ezra’s office. The sun is shining, and the summer day is warm but not too hot. It’s only a ten-minute walk before we’re at Ezra’s clinic. Ruby told me he’s a veterinarian. One who gives tattoos to his friends on the side.
“I’m not sure how I feel about getting a tattoo in an animal doctor's office.”
“He has a dedicated room, and all his equipment is there. He could do it at his house or at my place, but he’d have to move everything.”
I wave Ruby off, before she keeps giving me reasons why Ezra’s office is the best choice. A wooden sign with the words, Haven Veterinary Clinic painted on it is the only initial indication that the unassuming house in front of us is an animal hospital. The house is red brick, and like many of the houses on this island, has two stories and not much embellishment on the outside. To the side and back of the house is a fenced-in yard, where I’d guess animals are allowed to roam when they are staying at the clinic.
Another surprise is waiting for me at the front entrance. Rhys is leaning against the brick, arms crossed in that lazy way of his, with a grin on his face that has my panties going up in flames. That was another conversation I had with Ruby. I told her what happened with Rhys. After she stared at me for a solid minute, she punched my shoulder and called me a sneaky bitch. She’d said, “If you’re going to do grown-up things, then you need to be responsible.” Then she cursed me for making her be all “adult and shit.” and took me to a free clinic in town and told me to pick out some form of birth control.
“Keep it in your pants, Marsten.” Ruby flicks Rhys’s nipple before she strides past him and walks inside.
My hand drifts up to cover my hanging chin. I don’t know if I should laugh or kick Ruby in her butt.
“I take it you shared our little interlude the other night with Ruby?” Rhys grins at me, all while rubbing his chest. I’m pretty sure I can see his nipple through his shirt and it’s…doing things to me.
“She’s very tenacious.” I shrug, my smile growing wider and wider on my face.
“Like a rabid dog.” Rhys doesn’t touch me, but he does lean down, his lips hovering over mine for a brief second before he brushes a sweet kiss over my lips. “You ready?”
“I’m always ready around you,” I breathe out, wanting another kiss.
