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“I’ll love whatever it is, Peach, because you drew it. Even if it is a dick. I happen to like dick, so it’s all good.”
Laughing, I felt better and quickly cleaned up before pulling them out of the shop. “Come on, it's your turn to ask Simon something.”
We headed back upstairs, and my cheeks heated as I thought about the design and what it meant.
Slade’s Tattoo
Love Letter
Dear Peach,
Each day I get to spend with you, I fall even more in love with you. I don’t know if I believe in fate, but I know I believe in us. I think we’re stronger than fate, finding our way to each other from across the country, through missed connections and lies, to a small town in Kentucky and the back of a tattoo shop. Maybe it’s the destiny of the stars, or some cosmic plan. All I know is that I don’t care about the reason, as long as it brings me to you.
Today I realized how much easier you make things. Thane and I are getting along better than ever, and I know that’s because of you. In the last letter, I told you about Simon and me. So, this one, I’ll share about my brother.
You know a lot of our history from our pen pal letters, but I kept a lot of it back too, not wanting to sully our relationship with it. Things started to change between us after the divorce. I’ll admit I wasn’t the easiest to get along with during that time, and I blamed myself for destroying our family. I was angry at my mom for a long time too, but when she got sick, I pushed it aside, wanting to be there for her. It was a lot of guilt and responsibility for a 12-year-old, and for the first time in my life, I felt alone.
Thane made friends easily and school came naturally to him. I wasjealousof it and it started to come between us. I didn’t know how to do those things on my own, and I blamed him. I know now that I should’ve never been put in that situation and that I was too young to understand everything, but it changed us. I started to resent him, and it put a wedge between us.
When Mom died, I raged out against him, wanting someone to blame. It was so scary being there by myself and not knowing what to do. To this day I can still hear her gasping for her last breath. It haunts me and for a while, I saw his face when I would hear it and how he wasn't there. I pulled away from him. I did. I was a mess and I didn’t know how to handle my grief.
When I discovered he’d been writing to you, it was the ultimate betrayal. It took me a while to be able to forgive him for that. It wasn’t until after we were both in Nashville that we’d started to work on things. The night everything went to shit, I thought he’d been lying to me again when I found him helping you. I pulled him into the bathroom, and that is something I regret because you were gone when we came out. I know I can’t ‘what if’ it, but it’s something I live with, and wonder.
I don’t know why I told you that, perhaps to tell you that I wish I’d handled it differently, and even when I thought I hated you, I thought of you continuously. I have a lot of faults, Peach, but loving you was never one of them. I’m sorry I couldn't get my head out of my ass sooner and see how much I cared about you. But we’re here now, and I don’t want to waste a day where I don’t tell you I love you.
I love you.
I’ll meet you in the stars, under a million different galaxies until our song stops—may it never stop.
Your ‘loveable’ asshole.
Simon walked backto the table, grabbing the bottle when we entered the apartment again. He bypassed the chair and walked into the living room.
“So, are we staying here or heading out? I don’t want to get comfortable if we’re leaving soon,” I asked, standing, shifting my weight.
“Let’s just stay here, Slade. We can all fit on the bed, it will be fine. I’m sure there are some clothes for us around. If not, I’ll run to the place in the morning and grab some.”
Slade looked between us, nodding. “Yeah, okay. I might be able to do your tat before anyone else gets here in the morning too.”
Gulping, I nodded, kicking off my shoes as I sat in the chair, pulling my legs under me. I didn’t trust myself to sit next to them on the couch. I’d told myself earlier to let go of the fear, but it was hard to kick the habit. My heart raced, only emphasizing my nerves.
This was the first time we’d all three been alone since we admitted our feelings. I’d been dodging their advances as best I could all night, but it seemed my clock had run out, and I would have to face this. I didn’t know why I was scared, Sawyer had seemed to like being with two guys at once in that series I’d read. Plus, it had been fine afterward. Some of my curse-filled doubt lingered, though, making me fearful.
“Fish, truth or dare?” Slade didn’t waste any time, taking a seat on the floor, putting him between us both. To be fair, there wasn’t much space in the room to begin with, but with his legs stretched out, he ate up the majority of the remaining area, and I found myself distracted by his long jean-clad legs.
“What the fuck, I’ll do a dare.”
Slade had a mischievous look on his face when he looked at me. “I dare you to let Lennox pierceyourjunk.”
“Oh, fuck no. No offense, Lenn, I’m sure you’re awesome, I just,” he shivered, “no.”
Laughing, I gave Slade a pointed look. “That’s my dare. You dare stealer.”
“All’s fair in truth or dare, Peach. Your turn, Si. Now, Ms. Rule follower, can he ask you or me, or does he have to ask you? If that’s the case, then we’ll always be in the same order, andthat’snot fair.” He pointed out, giving me a look. Visions of Slade as a hot teacher flashed through my head.
I nodded, pushing his authoritative look out and thought about a solution as I tapped my lips. “Hmm, yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, so new house rule. You can ask whoever,however, no ganging up, so you both can’t only ask me. You have to trade off, no doubles!”
“Well, there goes my dare if we can’t do any doubles.”
