Play for Keeps (The Devil's Share #6)(17)

“Yes, ma’am. Don’t you worry though, I didn’t get anything weird.”

She frowned. “Too bad. That would have been hilarious.” She walked around the counter, getting closer to the phone. “What’d you get?”

He threw open his shirt and on his chest were the words Baby Doll and then right under it Buttercup. “I got my girls over my heart.”

“That’s very sweet.” She blew a kiss at the screen. “I love it.”

Smith must have taken the phone back. “Guess what I got, cher? Guess. Guess.”

She shook her head, smiling. “Just show me.” The screen was facing her, so all we saw was Dill start to cry. “It’s perfect, babe. Thank you.” She looked up at us while wiping her face. “He put the words, ‘my girls, my whole world’ on his ribs.”

Dylan jumped when Dash shouted, “Let me see, Lexi.” She tossed the phone over. “I got a tattoo, Kitten.”

“I heard.” She bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing at how drunk he sounded. Dash rarely let loose. He was always too busy taking care of everyone else, too busy making sure we were all safe and where we were supposed to be. We all leaned over her shoulder, trying to see what he got.

I narrowed my eyes, reading the words inked down his spine. “What does that say?”

“Magnificently we will float into the mystic.” Lexi read aloud, her smile evident in her voice. “I love it, thank you.”

His big grin filled the screen. “Do you remember?”

She nodded. “I do. That was the first song you ever sang only to me. On the tour bus, the first night we met.”

“I also got Halen’s birthday tatted on the inside of my right wrist.”

I started cracking up when Luke knocked his shoulder into Dash, sending him flying to the side. “Where’s Pix?”

I waved. “I’m right here, kid.” I shook my head. “Having a good time?”

He nodded, big and exaggerated. “Yes.”

I winced. “Did you get a tattoo too?”

“Of course I did. It was a band activity, we all had to. We made a promise.” He held his forearm up to the screen.

I never thought a drunk tattoo would make me smile so big, but when I saw the word Neverland on his skin, I melted. “It’s perfect.”

He was beaming, and swaying instead of standing up straight. “Because that’s where Tinker Bell lives. And she’s a crazy little fairy that makes pixie dust.” He winked at me.





Chapter Fifteen





Smith

I sat up and immediately regretted my decision. I put my hands on my head, groaning. “What the fuck happened last night?”

“Why are you talking so loud?” Luke grabbed a pillow and placed it over his head.

I rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom. I dug around in my bag until I found the large bottle of ibuprofen. I took three. Two years ago? I would have reached for an upper and some hair of the dog. Today? I just wanted a hot shower and some greasy food. I pulled the curtain back and jumped in surprise. “Jacks. What the hell, man?” He was curled up in a ball, naked.

He winced. “Stop yelling.”

“I’m not yelling. Why are you naked in the bathtub?”

He stretched his limbs slowly, putting his massive cock on display. “I threw up all over my clothes and I didn’t want to stand up again. So I just trashed them and crawled in here. It’s really cold.”

I reached in, grinning, and turned on the hot water. He screamed like a little girl and did some kind of army crawl/barrel roll out of the tub onto the rug. “I thought you were cold, Jacky Boy.”

“You’re a dick.” He crawled on his hands and knees out of the bathroom, his dick hanging down like he was a fucking donkey.

I got undressed and stepped under the hot water, my muscles immediately relaxing. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cool tile. I missed Dylan so much. I wanted nothing more than to get into the car and head back to Texas. But we’d come this far. Me and my band. My brothers. They’d all left their families to help me. Come hell or high water, I was going to my hometown today. For the first time in a real long time. I was going to find my mom’s ring, my grandmother’s ring, and then I was going to get the fuck out of there.

I opened my eyes when I felt something stinging on my ribs. Fuck. I forgot. I got a tattoo? My girls, my world. Aw, that was awfully sweet of me. I couldn’t wait to show Dylan.

After we loaded up the car, which took a long time since we were all hungover as fuck, we drove the short distance to a crappy diner and ate a breakfast that would make the mother of my child cringe. Then we were back on the road to Meraux. The closer we got, the more anxious I became. “Hey, you guys want to stop for lunch in New Orleans?”

Dash glanced to the side, and then back to the road. “We’ll be there in less than an hour, and I’m still stuffed from breakfast. You hungry already?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t hungry. I was just putting off the inevitable.

***

Meraux, Louisiana. My hometown. As soon as we drove past the welcome sign, I had the urge to vomit all over the car. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat. I didn’t want to see this place, this town. There was a bad memory everywhere I looked. I gave Dash directions to my family’s place; I knew every twist and turn by heart. It all came flooding back, like I’d never left.