“I love you too, pretty girl.”
Chapter 36
Three more days
I slide into the booth beside Madeline and let out a sigh. “Alright, fine,” I say, raising my hands. “I’ll show you guys.”
Grayson turns, his brows knitting together. Does he ever smile? Probably only when he’s alone with Rosie. “What are you talking about?”
Everyone’s eyes are on me now, and I roll mine in response. “My tattoo,” I clarify. “Since you’re all so desperate to see it,” I add with a shrug.
Chris chuckles, sitting beside me, but Grayson’s frown deepens. “Literally no one here knows what you’re talking about.”
“You have a tattoo? Damn, that’s hot,” James says with a grin.
“You haven’t even seen it,” his boyfriend, Carter, points out.
James shrugs. “Tattoos are hot.”
Carter, who has zero tattoos, narrows his eyes. “You think so?”
James’s eyes widen, realizing his mistake, and he shakes his head vigorously. “No, of course not. Ew, I hate tattoos,” he says, trying to sound convincing but failing miserably, and I can’t help but laugh.
“You got a tattoo?” Madi asks, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Matching ones,” I say with a grin, glancing at Chris.
Chris shrugs, running a hand through his hair. “She asked.”
“Of course,” Aiden says with a laugh, shaking his head. “I doubt there’s anything you wouldn’t do if she asked.”
I nod, resting my head on my boyfriend’s shoulder. “He even said he’d lie on a train track for me.”
“That’s not surprising,” Aiden says with a smirk.
“What’s the tattoo?” Rosie asks.
I lift my sleeve, and Chris does the same, revealing our new ink. As they look down, I notice their smiles falter, their brows furrowing as they see the faded scars, piecing it all together.
I can see why it would be surprising, since I never even told the girls before. I didn’t want them to know there was a time when I was broken. The only person who knew what happened was Chris. Until now.
“I wanted a new memory,” I explain, seeing the sadness in their eyes, but I keep smiling. “Get rid of the bad, and cover it up with a memory that means something.”
“It’s beautiful,” Grayson says, his brows knitting together.
“Yeah.” Madi swallows hard, staring at my arm. “What made you want to get a tattoo?”
I shrug, pulling down my sleeve as I look up at Chris. “I wanted to feel connected to Chris,” I explain to them.
Aiden lets out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “I don’t think you needed a tattoo to do that.”
Chris wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side. “I told her the exact same thing.”
Turning to Madi, I continue, “But I also wanted to settle something between us.” Her eyebrows furrow. “Remember the bet we made two years ago?”
Her brow arches. “Vividly,” she says, flicking her dark red hair behind her shoulder.
We made a bet that whoever fell in love first had to do a forfeit. Hers was dying her hair red, and mine was getting a tattoo.
