Loving War(50)

“I’m fine. Just bored. You could help out with that if you’d just give in and do to me what you were doing to that popsicle.”

She laughs while shaking her head, but Maverick interrupts every conversation as the alcohol takes over.

“Alright, time to do something real. Dane and Rain are getting married. Ruby is coming back, which means Corbin will be spending less and less time with us, and Kode is already missing most of the time these days. It’s time we finally get those tattoos.”

Corbin glares at Maverick, and the rest of us shake our heads in protest.

“Who’s Ruby?” Tria muses, but no one can answer before Maverick continues with his relentless charge.

“We agreed to do this forever ago. Sterling tattoos. Now. Tonight. Before everyone continues to drift apart. Call it a bonding ritual. I rented a limo, and it should be outside by now.”

“You can’t get tattoos if you’ve been drinking,” Tria points out, sounding soberer than the lot of us.

“You’re not supposed to. But it’s not like we’re going to bleed to death getting a Sterling tattoo. Come on,” Maverick begs.

“Hell no,” I say in objection. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to go get something permanently tattooed on my body after I’ve been drinking.”



***

TRIA



“I can’t believe you talked us into this,” Kode growls while straddling the tattoo chair as the guy buzzes away on his back.

I stifle a laugh when he glares at Maverick who is absolutely beaming while staring down at his arm where “STERLING” is proudly displayed in an Old-English font.

My eyes keep trailing back over to the shirtless man who has done all he can to stay close to me tonight. It actually looks sexy to see his surname being written between his shoulder blades. It’s a cliché that actually works.

“I should have gotten it on my ass,” Dale says loudly, wincing while they tattoo down his chest to his hipbone on his left side in a vertical line.

“You’d mess up that pretty ass?” Corbin jokes, eliciting heckles from everyone else.

Dale flips them off while rolling his eyes and leaning back. Dane is next to him, getting his own tattoo.

Rain is across from us, wincing as she looks down at her exposed hip. A bald man with a dragon tattooed across his scalp is working quickly to get the name forever inked on her right hip.

“Dane Sterling, you have to marry me now,” she says, prompting him to laugh as they buzz away on his chest. Wow. He’s built damn well, too.

“Baby, you’re stuck with me for life. Now there’s proof.” He winks at her, which earns him her goofy grin.

“Ah, hell, Rain,” Maverick says as he stands up, making room for Corbin to sit down, “you’ve been a Sterling since you were a kid.”

Rain grins over at him, and my heart clenches. I would have killed to have this sort of connection with anyone.

“You can get a Sterling tattoo, too,” Kode says, winking at me.

Fortunately, with all the buzzing and chatter going on, no one overhears him. Even though I’m actually starting not to give a damn. Rain and Dane can just get over it. Kode isn’t trying to get Rain’s attention. I know that without a doubt, because all of his attention stays centered on me. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so special to anyone.

“Little early to be staking that sort of claim,” I playfully quip, enjoying the sound of his rumbled laughter.

“I agree,” Corbin chimes in, the only one who is close enough to hear. “But I foresee it happening eventually.”

My face heats red, and Kode continues laughing while the tattoo artist remains stoic. Corbin tugs his shirt off when the guy is finally ready to start on his permanent marking, and my head tilts when I see the name etched across his shoulder. He’s also got several other tattoos, which I wasn’t expecting. But the name of the girl I heard mentioned earlier is proudly displayed in an extravagant font.

“Who is Ruby?” I ask again, hoping to get an answer this time.

Corbin looks up, and he motions around the shop. “She owns this place. It’s one of her many shops. It’s not open for business yet, but she called in the staff for a trial run on us.”

“Are you two dating?”

Kode laughs, apparently finding humor in that question.

“Nah. We’re friends.”

“But you’ve got her name tattooed on you?”

Corbin tilts his head, looking down at it as his lips curl into a smile. “It was a triple dare.”

That rouses my curiosity even more. “You’re serious?”

“Can’t deny a triple dare,” Corbin says with his bigger grin.