Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(44)

“Three years ago... First day of summer.”

A sad but beautiful expression crosses her face, and she looks up to meet my eyes. “I have one on my back.”

My smile grows, but her lips thin.

“Let me see it.”

“Maybe I will, but not right now. It’s four in the morning,” she states like she’s amused.

“And you just jacked me off at four in the morning after giving me friend speeches all night. The least you can do is show me your eagle tat.”

She struggles to not smile, but she slides off me instead.

“I think you’ve gotten enough tonight. Maybe tomorrow I’ll show you mine… Tattoo that is.”

She winks at me before walking away, and I wait until she disappears to pinch myself pretty f*cking hard. When a shot of pain shoots up my arm, I decide I’m definitely awake and Mika just had her sweet little hands all over my dick.

Summer sucks less by the day.





Chapter 28


MIKA



I’ve been around Aidan and Hunter for longer than four days and it was never an issue. Three and four. Four and three. Never an issue with them.

It’s not a habit.

Maybe it won’t be a habit for Chase either, even though I’m already chewing my thumbnail and waiting for him to call to let me know if he’s coming over tonight or not. Technically I saw him today. I saw him at four in the morning when I woke up from a really good dream and stepped into what I thought was another really good dream.

Turns out it was real, and I lost control. It felt good to lose control. I felt like the old me just doing what I wanted to without worrying about the consequences.

Screw it. I can just go to his tattoo parlor and find out if I’m seeing him later or not, and that will solve my undeniable need to see him for the day. Shit. Shit. Shit. Not good. Aidan is going to kill me if this is a habit. I’m going to kill me if I’ve already formed an unhealthy habit that involves having to see Chase daily.

Glancing down at my phone, I check the time. I could totally stay here. It’s not a major trigger. Can’t be. The worst that would happen is some nail chewing and possibly a few broken things. Nothing severe.

My skin starts to itch, and I fight the urge to scratch at it. My eyes close, and I try to play out a scene in my head. I need to write. I could control this scenario with a few typed words.

Grabbing my keys, I decide there’s nothing I want broken in this house. The itch is getting too strong, and the skin-crawling effect is not on my favorites’ list. I head out to my car to sate the annoying piece of my mind that refuses to agree I’ve already seen Chase today.

It doesn’t take long to reach town, but the tattoo parlor is packed with cars. I debate going in, but finally talk myself into it.

As soon as I enter, two pairs of eyes swing to me, as Chase continues buzzing away in the front room on a girl’s shoulder. There are two other men in here, so I assume those other cars must belong to the garage next door and ran out of parking space.

The itch immediately dies, and a sense of calm washes over me, shoving the irrational piece of my mind back into the corner as the world tilts back upright once again.

“You’ll need an appointment,” Chase says without looking up.

I notice his receptionist is missing, so I step in behind the counter and take a seat in her spot, just watching him as he pays incredibly close attention to what he’s doing. Just as he finishes, he looks up at me and glances away. But then his eyes immediately dart back to mine, and a slow smile spreads across his lips.

“Miss me?”

“You did leave without saying anything,” I quip, sighing dramatically.

He doesn’t have to know I’m crazy just yet. The crazy is back in a locked box at the moment.

One of the guys in the shop snorts, while the other guy winks at me. The girl in his chair, however, looks back and forth between us like she’s confused.

“Thought you just got single,” she tells him.

Jealousy really does taste like shit. In case you’re wondering.

Chase ignores her as he stands and makes his way to me, and I stand up while coming around the side of the receptionist desk. When he reaches me, he surprises me by pulling me to him and kissing me in front of everyone like he’s making a statement… or laying claim.

A couple of whistles sound out, and Chase pulls away while winking.

“Trust me. You needed that if you wanted to walk out of here without one of them asking you for your number,” he whispers.

I don’t say anything, because my lips are refusing to work with words. When did we reach the level of kissing hello?

“Next,” Chase says while handing the girl a bag of something. She takes it, and I stare at the shop name and logo on the bag while she frowns and looks me over.

Chasing Ink.

In the background, there’s an eagle’s eye, and my heart swells a little bit. Things like that are the reason I’m having issues right now.

“Here’s my money, honey,” one of the guys chuckles as he hands Chase a small wad of cash.

When I ignore the girl long enough, she finally stops staring at me and walks out. I go back behind the counter and sit on the stool.

“I hope you shaved your hairy f*cking chest so I don’t have to,” Chase tells the guy, confusing me.