Fireball (Cheap Thrills #1)(58)

As he said the last bit, my eyes flew down to the numbers now on my ribs for the rest of my life. I’d had Mom’s, Jose’s, and Olivia’s birthdays tattooed on me, and although the days and months were ok, I immediately worried that I’d gotten the years wrong.

“You got them right, Tab,” Jose snorted. “I wouldn’t have let you get it done if you hadn’t.”

Relieved, I leaned slightly to the side so I could see the full effect of what was written under it. It was too soon to get Dave’s birthday tattooed on me – I wasn’t that much of a tit to get that done right now – so, instead I’d had a verse of one of my favorite Aerosmith songs tattooed under the birthdays.

“I wonder why she went with the song Pink?” Jose chuckled.

“Not a clue,” Ellis replied, walking over and motioning for me to turn around so he could wrap it up. “What I do know is that the Sheriff is going to get a kick out of this, and so will you.”

I’d had the third verse of the song tattooed on me. Yes, the fact it was called Pink wasn’t a shock, but in the verse itself, it says about pink being their new lingo and also mentions kink – both of which were appropriate to our relationship. Not saying we were kinky, although I guess to a certain extent we might be considered that, but with what I’d said to Jarrod on the night when I’d been coerced into going on a date with Dave. Plus, pink was our new lingo. Every time he saw the color he thought of me, so I was giving him more things to think about…sexual things, which I guess was kind of kinky. See, it was totally us!

“Welp, there’s some irony that’s for sure. That’s you done, Miss. Newton,” he told me as he stuck the last bit of tape down. “I know you know the aftercare instructions after getting the big piece on your leg and all your other ones, but I’ll give you a sheet anyway,” he reeled off as he washed his hands and up his arms in the sink. He’d had paper towel covering that part of his arms, but you could never be too careful.

And then it all became clear why he was scrubbing so hard as he walked over to Jose and held his arms out for Liv.

It turns out that we weren’t done though, because Jose decided she wanted something done too. One Monroe piercing later, and an appointment to get a similar tattoo to the one on my thigh put onto the forearm with nothing on it, and we walked out into the sun, both of us squeaking and covering our eyes at the same time.

Life’s a funny thing. If you’d have asked me this time a year ago if I’d feel the way I was at that moment, I’d have told you it was impossible. Mom had been ill, and we’d been worried that her treatment wasn’t going to work, something which was confirmed weeks later. I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and honestly – it felt like life was ending. If you’d asked me seven months ago when I lost her if I’d ever have a full heart and feel as happy as I was, again I’d have said it was impossible.

Except now, I knew it wasn’t impossible at all, it was my life and I was living every beautiful moment of it. She might not physically be here with me, but Mom was still here, and I could bet every strand of pink hair on my head that she was laughing her butt off with happiness.

DB





I was an hour late getting home even though I’d left work two hours ago. Opening the door to Tabby’s house, I froze and looked around for the tiny asshole that was her cat. She might have been cute, but my theory was she used that cuteness to lure you in so she could drink your blood. In fact, after she clawed the shit out of you, she took great delight in licking her claws after it, probably lapping up every speck from underneath them.

Not hearing the telltale meow, I walked in and closed the door behind me. Warily take a step forward, I stopped when I heard a noise in the kitchen, and then let out a breath when a screaming ball of fur didn’t fly at my head.

This was the other thing she took great enjoyment in – Katy would attack you for about four days in a row, and then there would be nothing for a couple of days after it. To hell with writing books on how to fight a war and win over your opponent, this little shit had it all beat.

I could feel the tape on my side pulling each time I turned my head to look around the room, but I wasn’t going to leave myself open to an attack – hell to the no, pussy twat. After we’d pulled Mrs. Bane and Mrs. Keating apart, Raoul and I had listened to the whole “I’m shook” speech and argument again. This time, it wasn’t me who opened my mouth to discuss vernacularisms, it was Raoul who waded unknowingly into the ‘oh shit’ pond. By the end, he repeated five times how lucky they were that they weren’t being arrested, and that the only reason he wasn’t doing it was because he wasn’t sure that driving a police officer insane was an arrestable offense.

After it all, we’d returned to the station where I’d watched the clock, waiting for it to hit five. I was aware of Raoul doing the same thing, except he planned to numb his brain with a beer at the bar, and I was headed to see Ellis. And that’s what had made me late coming home.

Hearing a noise coming from Tabby’s room, I altered my course and headed toward it. Please don’t let it be the feline asshole.

“Well done, puppy. Do you think the sheriff’s going to like it? I hope so, because it flipping hurts.” Hearing her talking to the dog was amusing as hell because she spoke to him like they were actually having a conversation, unlike the cat who could probably only commune with Satan’s minions…