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I bang into a body on my way to the Ink Bus and I reach out, patting her arm. “Sorry!”
“No, I’m—” Perse’s eyes come to mine. I’ve always thought Persephone Hendry was beautiful, but she’s also edgy. The very reason why I liked her to begin with was the reason I’m starting to despise her now. I was wrong. I knew why Delila chose her, and it was because she had a fire in her that burned painfully similar to mine. “—sorry.” She finishes, exhaling so loud her shoulders fall with the sound.
“Me too.” I sidestep around her to get back on track when her hand catches mine and I turn back around. I can’t be bothered fighting with her again tonight, especially after everything else, but The Brothers are my family, and their women, men, whatever would also be my family. Family is hard to deal with because they get to know you without getting to know you.
“No, I mean I’m sorry for everything, Car. I don’t want to fight with you, like, ever.”
I lower my barrier a little, enough to genuinely smile at her. “I don’t want to either. We’re good.”
“So you’re… doing the whole organizing of everything?”
“Yep.” I shuffle on my feet, running my hands up and down the outside of my puffer jacket. “Everything she did but being ring woman. Honestly, have you met my brother? I don’t think that would have worked out.” We both laugh together before hers dies out.
“You and Eli were close, huh?” It’s the first time Perse and I have spoken without any background noise.
My smile falls and my heart sinks, but the guilt returns, slamming me in the chest. “My best friend.”
“I’m sorry. I hope you guys can bring him home soon.”
“Same.” I push my hands into my pockets, wishing I had one of the few things that distracts me enough.
“I better go. King wants to try again for another baby…”
I wince. I haven’t said anything about the miscarriage, mainly because when it happened, we were told to not mention it. “I’m sorry about that, Perse.”
Her bright eyes come to mine, and just around the brightness of the tea lights I can see them genuinely widen. “Thank you.”
On my way to the Ink Bus, I can’t get that look out of my eyes. Should that have been something I should have said to her a long time ago, after she had lost the baby? Her reaction was almost too sad to replay, so when my fingers wrap around the familiar door and I widen it to a cloud of ganja smoke, Cypress Hill, and porn playing on a projector, I know I’m going to be fine.
“Ahhh, Princess Mayhem.” I like Ice Queen better. Why don’t these motherfuckers use that nickname more?
“The tatted knight!” I drop down onto his bed, kicking off my Doc Martens and curling them beneath my feet. Maya is spread on the other side of the bed, her hair spread out beneath her, and her eyes locked on the ceiling. She has a joint between her fingers, a half-smile on her face.
“She hates that name, Linkin. Ice Queen is better.” Maya rolls over onto her stomach, her soft curls falling over her shoulder. Maya has always been that girl everyone has loved. Her bright green eyes and wild nature were also something I looked up to growing up. She just had an allure about her that made me want to be her.
“Thank you, May!” I glare at Linkin. “And I need some ink. Stat.”
He rolls toward me in his chair, his gun already buzzing. “Where we going and what do you want?” I lie flat on the bed, like Maya but the other way around.
“I kind of want to get a cherry…” Just to piss Keaton off. Would he talk to me about them if I did? Or would he cut it off me? I want to know, now more than ever, what they mean.
“Ahhh, I don’t think that’s a good idea, baby P.”
I turn my body so I can see Linkin from my view. “What does that mean? Did you do Keaton?”
“Ahhh—” Maya raises a single finger, tracing something on the ceiling as she blows out a cloud of smoke. “You want to know about Keaton’s past…” The words aren’t lost on me. I don’t want to know about his past because I’ve always assumed I know about it.
What past? He doesn’t have a past that doesn’t involve me. Does he?
“Do it.” Maya turns her head to me, her eyes glowing with mischief. “Do the cherry, right—” Maya sits up, bringing her finger to my leg and then moves it up my inner thigh. “Right there.”
“Look, I love you, but nah, man. I need my fingers right where they are, and I know that if I do that, he’s gonna chop them off.”
“What the fuck is it with the cherry?”
Maya touches the tip of her nose with her finger. “Time and place, girlfriend.” She shifts her gaze back on the ceiling and I know that I’ve lost her. “Time and place.”
“Fine,” I murmur, flicking off the button of my jeans and yanking them down the bed. I lean back again and spread my legs wide, looking between my inner thigh and Linkin. “Then do a coffin.”
