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“Grab that chair and sit next to me,” Lily directs.
I do as she says, and the tattoo gun whirs to life.
“Hold my hand,” I whisper, wrapping her fingers around mine. Her pulse strums through her palm. The moment the tattoo gun touches her skin, Lily lets out a large exhale, her eyes glued to the ceiling.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” I smile, knowing my flesh and hers will share the same mark.Permanently.
“It’s just a flower.”
“Yeah.” I squeeze her hand. “And we’re just friends.”
Chapter30
Lily
“Luca and Averyseemed excited that we’ll be in the Azores soon.” Nico wraps his arm around me as we turn onto a cobblestone street brimming with people and shops. On our stroll today, we quickly called them ahead of our visit in a few days.
“I’m excited to spend my birthday with them.”
“It'll be great.” Nico smiles. “We’ll have to explain the matching tattoos to them, though; gonna be a bit hard to hide that.”
He runs his thumb over the black ink kissing my inner arm.
It was a risky impulse decision that has come with no regrets. It’s too beautiful to dislike or tire of.
“I’ll simply tell them you stole my design,” I say.
“Ruthless.”
London has been a change of pace from Rio. I miss the people, the sun, and the beach every day, but London’sdifferent. It probably has something to do with the fact I’m constantly getting laid by a man who can find my G-spot with his eyes closed. Or the fact that he’s taken the time to run his fingers over the chains around my heart, stirring it awake.
I keep trying to convince myself it’s the former, but I’m beginning to understand that I’m failing miserably.The matching ink on our skin spells it out loud and clear.
We pass shop after shop and peruse a few outdoor stands. We try on wooly hats and play around with bobbles until, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a huge bookstore.
Nothing like the smell of paper to make a perfect day even better.
There’s an intricate display in the window with paper swans floating from the ceiling. But my gaze falls onto something that forcibly drains the blood from my face.
“Are you okay?” Nico notices the shift in my posture.
All I manage is a stumble backward.
Maybe I’m hallucinating.
I rub at my eyes, but when I open them again, the familiar words still stare back at me.
“Oh shit.” Nico joins the newly distorted reality in front of me. “That’s your book! So fucking cool. Let’s go buy a copy.”
He walks past me, aiming for the entrance to the bookstore.
“Wait.” My hand grabs his arm, halting him. “I—I don’t sell my books internationally.”
“What do you mean? Your book’s right there.”
Itisright there. The same colors of a melting sunset with the title of my novella in large, bright letters.
Coastal Fling.
