Laina didn’t explicitly say why she wanted to hang out today, but I could read between the lines—or I was hoping she wanted something specific from me. After I cleaned the whole place, I showered, making sure to scrub every inch of my body.
It’d been hard to give her space these last few days. Everyone experienced grief differently, no one processed it the exact same. Of course, if she would’ve needed me, I would’ve dropped everything to go to her. That much went without saying.
It was three in the afternoon when she arrived, and I answered the door with a smirk on my face. “Well, well,” I said, letting my gaze rake over as I held open the door. “Look at what the cat dragged in.”
Her lips puffed up in a mock pout, those pink eyes twinkling as she gazed up at me. “Are you saying I don’t look nice?” Her hair was once more pink and blue, the color of cotton candy. It had been completely bizarre to me to see her in blond hair and her natural blue eyes at the funeral, like she’d been someone else.
“Never. I could eat you up.”
Laina let out a giggle. “That’s what Fang always says—speaking of which… Fang brought me here. He’s outside in his car.” She pulled out her phone, fiddling with it. “I could either tell him to head home or, if you’re up for it, I could invite himin.” The smile that spread on her face after that told me precisely what she was thinking—or, rather, what she wanted.
What I’d told her before jumped to the forefront of my mind, and something below the belt twitched in what must’ve been anticipation. I didn’t miss a beat when I told her, “What are you waiting for? Tell him to get his ass in here.”
Her grin grew wider as she sent off a message before strolling past me. I left the door open, figuring Fang would be quick. She sauntered to the couch in the living room, plopping herself down on it with a happy sigh.
“Who knew this was where we’d end up?” she asked. “I mean, when I saw you at that club, my first thought was: what is that sexy silver fox doing here? And then when I woke up kidnapped for the millionth time and saw it was you, well… you can probably imagine what I thought that day.”
“Yeah,” I said as I walked toward the couch. “I think I know you well enough by now to know exactly what you were thinking.”
Laina bit her bottom lip in a gesture that was oh so tempting. “Is it so wrong for a girl to have a type?”
I sat beside her. “No.”
The way she beamed at me made me lose all thoughts. Everything in my head vanished, just like that. “Speaking of that night, ever since I’ve been wondering… what other tattoos do you have?”
My chest hummed. “Let’s just say they don’t stop at the sleeves.”
“Of course not. That’d be boring.” She scooted closer to me and lightly touched my left arm, the blackout tattoo that went all the way up to my neck, to my jawline. “How long did this one take?”
“A long fucking time.”
“Obviously, but how long?”
“Multiple sessions.” Not only that, but multiple layers, too. It wasn’t easy to get a uniform black look when it came to huge, blocky tattoos. It involved a lot of patience and quite a few follow-up appointments.
“What made you get it?” she asked.
“I had another sleeve, similar to this.” I lifted my right arm, full of intricate designs. “There were… some things I wanted to cover up.” The way she looked at me told me just how curious she was, so I added, “Nora’s name was the biggest thing I wanted to never see again.”
“She must’ve been crazy to leave someone like you. It sounds like you always tried to support your family, even though you were young. I don’t understand why someone could ever leave someone like that. These days, it feels like so many people are willing to cut and run without hesitation.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang walk in. He saw us further in and shut the door behind him, locking it, and then he strolled over to the couch and sat on Laina’s other side. “What are we discussing?” he asked, his sharp silver fangs glinting in the light.
She glanced at him. “Just how crazy his ex was for leaving him and how it seems like everyone’s ready to cut ties these days at the first sign of hassle.”
“Not everyone,” he told her. “You have a few men who’d burn the world for you.” Fang was always earnest in the things he said; out of her boyfriends, he was definitely the most peculiar—he also seemed the most open to me, which was why he was here.
“True,” Laina said. “But Kieran’s probably thinking he’d have way less trouble in his life if he didn’t have me.”
“He would never leave you,” Fang told her. “It might drive him crazy knowing you’re here with me and his father, but not to the point where he’d ever cut ties with you, Princess.”
“How about,” I started, “we don’t talk about my son today?” The idea of sharing her with Fang and that Mike fellow was one thing. The notion of sharing her with Kieran was another. I was no vanilla man in the sack, but there were some lines even I was hesitant to cross.
“Easy enough,” Fang said. “What should we talk about, then?”
Laina glanced between us. “How about we don’t talk at all? Talking’s not why we’re here, anyway.” She turned her mischievous smile to me when she said this next part: “It’s been a long week. I could use some unwinding. Think you two are up for the job?”
“Based on experience, you know I am,” Fang spoke with a smirk. “The real question is, I suppose, whether or not Jason is.”
