He was asking me for my birthday, and the fact that he even knew what day my birthday was…. “Yeah.”
He took another step forward. “I’ve got you from now on.”
“For birthday cakes?” I asked, hoping that I didn’t sound as… hopeful as I was sure I did.
“Yeah.” He took another step. “I’ll make you that red velvet cake you like.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Now let me see what you’ve got since you know you’re not the only one who’s done some shady things.”
He took another step closer, another step that got him to stop directly in front of me, his fingers coming up to nudge me under the chin. “You are a shady shit under there, aren’t you?”
“When I’ve needed to.”
His finger traced along the line of my jaw up to my ear, and his voice was low as he said, “Yeah, I noticed when you had me break your cousin’s hand. I’m not gonna lie, Luna, I was ready to kill his ass, but I was too busy thinking about how you kicking his ass and throwing that fucking shoe like a ninja star was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Reaching forward, I pressed my fingertips against the band along the top of his jeans where the belt loops went. “You still like me even after that?”
His smile was gentle. “You could steal the Mona Lisa, and I know you’d do it for a good reason. I don’t think there’s anything you could do that I wouldn’t be all about, baby girl.”
I laughed, and that just made him smile wider and drag his finger the opposite direction of my jaw, his thumb just lightly brushing the skin under my throat.
“You are the goodest, sweetest thing I have ever had in my life, and I don’t want you to go screaming the other way, you understand me? One day I’ll tell you about everything,” he said softly.
I just stared up at him, and if he would have taken a picture, I’m sure my mouth would have been partially open, and if there could have been big, pink hearts behind my head, they would have been there.
I couldn’t even find it in me a little bit to be embarrassed as I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’ve wanted to do this a hundred times.”
“What?” he asked quietly.
“Hug you.”
It took a moment, but the second his palms landed on the top of my head, I pressed my cheek against him. One of those big palms cupped the back of my head while the other landed right between my shoulder blades, and his voice was hoarse as he whispered, “Baby girl.”
“You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever had in my life,” I told him.
Something that sounded like a laugh that had gone through a meat grinder trickled out of his mouth.
“You are. Don’t argue with me.”
That meat grinder laugh came out of his mouth again, and I hugged him so tight, it was easy to ignore that my forearm was pressed right up against his butt cheeks.
“I’m not saying any of it either to get you to show me your tattoos.”
“I know.”
“Can I see them now though?”
His laugh was lighter, but I felt him moving, felt his fingers leave me before sensing him pulling his shirt over his head. He just barely moved away from me.
I squeezed him one more time before I finally lifted my face and instantly spotted the almost olive skin at his waist…
Covered by thick lines and shapes in faded black ink.
I held my breath as I dragged my eyes over the ink on him, beneath his belly button letters spelled out ENFORCER, big and shaped in half a circle. Above the word, on top of his ribs were two skulls with wings on them. The lines were thin and detailed. And everything above that were these massive tribal lines that spread out across his pectorals, his shoulders, biceps, going up over his throat….
They weren’t pretty.
They weren’t pretty at all.
