BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS (Broken, Series #2)(75)

“I’ll take care of you later,” I warn.

“It’ll be f*cking worth it,” he whispers back with a laugh.

After the longest thirty minutes of my life, he finally finishes without eliciting even a flinch from Audrey. She probably handled that better than I do. This whole time, I’ve been staring at her face and haven’t stopped to read the script across her ribs. Max pats her hand to signal he’s finished. Her eyes blink open and readjust to the light. She begins to sit up, so I rush to hold her shirt against her chest.

She smiles and says, “I’ve got it.”

I follow her to the mirror and check out the work he did. I’ve got to hand it to Max, he knocked it out of the park again. His art looks badass on her skin, yet also very feminine and sexy. I kneel down in front of her so I can look at it up close. My finger trails the outside of the tender letters without actually touching the ink as I take in what I see.

“Expose yourself to your deepest

fear; after that, fear has no power,

and the fear of freedom shrinks

and vanishes. You are free.”

After thinking about what this means for her, I lean in and kiss a slow circle around the perimeter.

I look up into her eyes and ask, “What is your deepest fear?”

“Being alone,” she whispers back. “I didn’t realize how alone I used to be until I met Lane, and then I didn’t fully accept it until I found you again. I’ve finally freed myself from that fear. I don’t ever want to go back, but I know I can survive it.” I lean in and kiss her side one more time before standing up and looking down at her beautiful face. I grasp her face on both sides and speak to her, hoping it reaches the deepest part of her.

“Never again, baby. I never want you to feel alone again,” I express, and she stands on her toes to capture my mouth.

A groaning noise comes from behind us. “Dammit, knock it off. Doesn’t anyone care that I’m heartbroken over here?” Max grumbles. He crooks his finger, signaling for Audrey to come over to him. He slathers on some ointment and covers the tattooed area. “If this * f*cks up, please come find me. I’m ready to propose to you, run away with you, let you have my babies, kneel down and kiss your feet daily, babe.”

It takes me about two point five seconds to reach him and then only another millisecond before I smack him upside the back of his head.

“Hmm...that’s a tempting offer,” she smarts off.

“Audrey...” I growl.

“Thanks again for the tattoo, Max. It’s amazing. Better than I ever imagined,” Audrey compliments.

After going back and forth with one another at the counter over who is going to pay for the tattoo, she finally wins and swipes her card.

“You two know each other?” Jinx asks, looking bewildered by our exchange.

“Yup,” I reply vaguely, not wanting to get into this with her right now.

Audrey gives me a confused expression and elaborates, “I guess he’s my boyfriend...although he still hasn’t taken me out on a date yet.” Her smile widens and I can tell she’s excited about tonight. Jinx’s surprise is written all over her face as she gapes at me and I inwardly cringe. Without a word, she hands Audrey her receipt and we head out the door.

Audrey appears worried as she tries to interpret Jinx’s behavior. When we reach my car, she says, “Did you ever date her?”

Slowly I inhale and exhale, trying to think of how to best approach this subject with her. I’ve never thought of Audrey as the jealous type, but you can never tell with girls. I’ve seen them flip a switch so fast it made my head spin.