She trails a finger over the delicate female angel that takes up most of the real estate on my right forearm. “Contradictory to the other ones.”
A half-sleeve of skulls covers my left forearm. Above it, on my inner biceps, readsMayhem Forever. And then, of course, isUnholybigger than life across my pecs. But the angel reminded me of a specific person who disappeared on me like a fart on the fucking wind.
I shrug. “Saw it. Wanted it. Got it.”
“It’s not very manly. Weren’t you worried people would tease you?”
I look at her like she’s sprouted a second head. “Seriously, Jamie?”
She leans away and takes my measure—all six foot three and 220 pounds of me. Her laugh/snort is adorable. “No, I don’t suppose anyone would.”
I rip the pillow out from behind my head and whack her with it. “Fuck no, they wouldn’t.” She fends off the attack and kicks me under the blanket. “Oh, so you’re going in for the sneak attack.” But her tiny foot catches me in the side, and I’m still sore from whatever the trizapam did to me. I bite back a hiss as a shock of pain runs up my rib cage. “I concede, runt. You win.”
She huffs and slaps the blanket down around her legs. “I may have launched a sneak attack, but you struck first.”
“Gotta be on your toes around me.” I kiss the side of her head. “Hungry?”
Jamie tucks her hair behind her ear. “Starving.”
“Go use the bathroom first.”
“You sure?”
I give her a gentle shove. “Yeah, go. Not ready to give up lying on a clean mattress.”Fuuuck.I have to watch what I say because she looks like I punched her right in the gut. “Didn’t mean it like that, Jamie. Go use the bathroom.”
“Okay.” She looks all sorts of miserable as she slides off the bed.
I admire the view of her tight ass as she hurries across the room. Jamie may be five foot nothing, but her legs are long and lean. Everything about her fits her frame, making for a prime package.
One thought leads to another, and next thing I know, I got my hand on my junk because I’ve got a full-blown hard-on.Virgin.Holy Christ. If she were anyone else, I would already have her bent over the bed now that my dick’s come back from the dead. But this is Jamie, and I’m not doing her dirty. She’s different. Always has been. That’s why I never jumped all over her back when we were teenagers. Figured I had all the time in the world to get that wild shit out of my system before I made her my girlfriend.
That blew up in my face.
Needing to feel normal, I throw my legs over the side of the bed and grab my cell phone off the bedside table. I text Crow.
Me: We need to talk
His reply is instantaneous. Crow is always available, always working.
Crow: Rest. We’ll talk in a few days. Nonnegotiable.
Well, fuck. When the prez putsnonnegotiableon the end of a sentence, the discussion’s over.
Me: Fine. A few days. That’s it.
He pings me back in less than twenty seconds.
Crow: You’re resting. Not talking.
Frustrated, I slam my phone back on the table as Jamie comes out of the bathroom. She takes one look at me, and her face contorts into a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
I shake my head as I push off the bed. “Nothing.”
When I walk by her, she grabs my arm. “Wraith, we’re in this together. If something happened, you need to tell me.”
“I have to pee.” I shake out of her grip. “That’s what’s wrong.”
