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“What the fuck are you doing?” I hiss aloud to myself, turning off the television and throwing the remote.
It’s been a week since she walked away from me at Jon’s party. We haven’t spoken, but I still find myself flipping through the channels each night, imagining she’s watching with me. I stopped on Sex and the City and watched it for a full twenty minutes to feel closer to her, but it only made her absence more noticeable.
I’m beginning to understand why I never had interest in this love shit in the first place. I don’t like the whining, moping person I’ve been this week. If I were on the outside looking in, I would totally make fun of myself for being such a little bitch. My heart fucking hurts, though.
The knock on my bedroom door causes me to jump, my fists curling as my irritation grows. I already told Allison and Jon I wanted to be left alone. Sitting by myself in my room on a Saturday night might be pathetic, but I don’t have it in me to give a damn.
“What the hell do you want?” I yell, getting up from my bed.
“Um…Brenden? Can I come in please?”
The voice coming from the other side of the door causes me to freeze. I hold my breath and wait to hear it again, needing to be sure it hadn’t merely been a figment of my imagination. Every sound around me seems to intensify as I strain to listen for her voice, feeling unsure which outcome I’d prefer more.
“Please, Brenden, I want to talk.”
My traitorous heart skips, the corners of my mouth curving. Lizzy. She’s really here.
In my mind, I’ve already reached the door; but in reality, I can’t seem to get my feet or mouth to move. Panic courses through me when she jiggles the knob, my brain still unwilling to command my body to respond as I watch the door slowly open.
“I’m coming in,” she declares before mumbling, “dear god, please don’t be doing anything inappropriate.”
My body relaxes the moment she comes into view, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed. A rumble of laughter comes out of me causing her face to crinkle with confusion. My laughter dies out as I admire her, the gravitational pull growing by the second.
Damn it, I love this woman. She’s fucking perfection.
“I’m not, but now that you’re here we can change that,” I tease, moving toward her as she steps inside my room.
The smile that lights her face knocks the wind right out of me, crumbling my resolve to let her go. I’ve missed her so damn much. No matter how much I’ve been hurting, I’d go through that pain all over again just to get the chance to be with her a little longer.
The color on her cheeks intensifies as she licks her lips and clears her throat. “Well, yes, I’d like that very much. But first, there’s something I need to say—and show you.”
I smirk, closing the gap between us as hope springs in my chest. “Show me, huh? You certainly have my attention, beautiful.”
I reach around her to close my door before giving into my desire to touch her. I glide my hand along her jaw, to her hair as I begin to sweep it over her shoulder. Her eyes close as she nestles into my touch, like a cat about to purr.
It takes all my willpower not to kiss her right fucking then, my hand dropping to my side instead. “I’m ready when you are.”
Her eyes flicker with disappointment as they open, and she takes a harsh breath before stepping around me.
She moves to the center of my room, hand landing on her hip as she spins to face me. “I can’t think when you’re that close,” she huffs. “And there’s something important I need to say.”
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to distract you from your mission of show-and-tell. Please, continue,” I snicker, gesturing for her to go on.
She rolls her eyes, saying, “Here goes nothing,” under her breath.
She unzips her hoodie and slips it off her shoulders, causing my entire body to heat as she exposes her creamy skin underneath.
“Oh, wow…getting right to the point and going for the show before the tell,” I joke. “I like it.”
“Shut up and look, jackass.” She smirks, shaking her head before turning around so her back is to me, revealing a white bandage on her right shoulder.
“You got a tattoo?” I rasp.
“Yep. Go ahead and pull back the bandage. I want you to see it.”
After closing the space between us once more, I remove her hoodie. It drops to the floor as I slide my hands up her arms, leaving delightful goose bumps on her skin in their wake. She inhales a sharp breath as I lean down and kiss her shoulder before gently removing the bandage.
Bold colors peek out as I lift the padding away from her skin, and my mouth falls open once the tattoo is fully exposed. I’m speechless as I study every detail. It’s so colorful and full of life, like an actual work of art. It makes the little symbol I got on my chest seem insignificant in comparison. There’s so much to take in, it’s hard for me to focus on the image as a whole. There’s a clock—no, a broken clock. The edge morphs into a flock of birds, flying away.
