Taking Chances (Taking Chances #1)(49)

“No Princess, I'm all done.” His smile and the way his eyes were shining made my heart squeeze. “Are you ready to see it?”

“You have no idea!”

He chuckled and shook his head slightly, “Close your eyes again, I'll let you open them when we're next to the mirror.”

He placed his hand on my right hip, grabbed my left hand and walked me a few feet away. Turning my body slightly he whispered into my ear, “Open your eyes Harper.”

The first thing I saw was his anxious expression in the mirror. He was worrying his lip waiting for my reaction. I inhaled quickly and his body locked up when I looked down to my left side. It was beautiful. There were four large orange lilies wrapped around my hip, and I couldn't believe how amazing they looked. I stepped closer and took in the perfect shading and detail to each flower. From the sketches I'd looked at and his drawing of me, I had known Chase was amazing, but I'd never thought he could make something like this look so real. His forced swallow was audible, and I realized I still hadn't said anything. But there were absolutely no words. First my ring, and now this? Did anything get past him? I turned to face him and ran a hand through his messy hair.

“Please tell me what you're thinking.”

Unfortunately, I wasn't. I crushed my mouth to his and he quickly deepened the kiss. Right away the other tattoo artists started hooting and yelling for us to get a room. I pulled back and knew there was nothing I could do about the deep blush on my face. Chase led me back to his table and put ointment and a wrap over my tattoo before fixing my shirt, he was all smiles.

“What made you choose those?”

He beamed his white smile at me, “I heard you talking to Bree and Mom about them being your favorite. And ever since that day all I've wanted to do was get you orange lilies, but I knew I'd probably get punched again. This was my way around it.”

“It looks amazing Chase, thank you.”

He shrugged, but he still couldn't contain that smile.

“I'm serious.” I grabbed his face with both hands and brought him close, “I love it, thank you.”

Chase kissed me once and skimmed his nose across my cheek. “God, you're beautiful Harper.”

My phone rang then, Brandon's name flashed on the screen. “Hey babe.”

“Hey, how's the tattoo look?”

“Um, it's not done yet, can I call you after?”

“I'm going out with some buddies from high school, I'll just talk to you tomorrow, kay? But send me a picture when it's done. I love you.”

My stomach clenched, “I love you too. Have fun tonight.” I pressed the end button and looked up at Chase's closed off expression. “Chase –”

“So you'll need to go buy some anti-bacterial soap to clean it.”

“Please talk to me.”

“I'm trying. Look, here are some aftercare instructions. Don't take the wrap off for at least an hour. If anything looks wrong give me a call.” He dropped the paper on my stomach and stepped back.

“Chase!”

“I have another appointment, and he's waiting. I'll see you later.”

I looked into his guarded eyes and exhaled deeply, “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing. It was a gift. But I'm busy, please go.” He turned away from me and walked to the back.

Aces.

***

Everyone loved my tattoo, even though Bree wouldn't talk to me for about an hour because I hadn't told her beforehand or let her come with me. Chase really had done an amazing job and I wished I could fix things with him, but he'd been avoiding me since the tattoo parlor. It didn't seem to matter how we ended things lately, he always avoided me after. It was probably for the best though, Brandon would be back two nights from tonight, and I already had enough guilt eating at me, I didn't need to add more. I hated myself when I thought of the kisses with Chase, how Brandon trusted me completely and I'd gone and kissed the one guy he had always worried about.

Mom and Dad went to Lake Tahoe with a few of their friends yesterday, and Bree begged me to go to LA with everyone for the weekend, but I faked being sick. A bunch of them were going clubbing tonight and tomorrow and planned on splitting hotel rooms both nights. I would have wanted to go, but everyone was going with a boyfriend or girlfriend except Drew, and I didn't want to be left to deal with him. All I really wanted to do was sit at Bree's house and mope. When I moved here, I wasn't planning on falling in love with the first two guys that came along. Hell, I wasn't planning on falling in love during college at all. I wanted to have dysfunctional relationships and flings, but did that happen? Nope. I felt like Elena from Vampire Diaries. She has two insanely hot men who are in love with her and would do anything for her. One of which, she would give almost everything to be with, and the other she continues to push away, even though she can't ever actually stay away, so she won't have to admit she was in love with him too. At least my guys weren't brothers. Thank God for that.

Chase walked into the house an hour after Breanna left and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. “I thought you were going to LA?” His voice was gruff, and his face was still guarded.

“No, I told Bree I was sick.”

“Are you?” He started to move towards me but stopped himself.