She caught me staring. At her tits. Like a fifteen-year-old that’s never seen tits before. If this was any other woman, I couldn’t care less, but not with Hannah.
There’s no coming back from this. She thinks I’m a creep. She can’t even meet my eyes. She’s gonna tell Levi, and he’s gonna punch me in the face.
She’ll tell Ellie and Lacey, meaning JJ will know what a creep I am too. He’s gonna punch me too. Shit, so is Lacey. Jesus.
Turning around, hoping to get this day over and done with, I make my way to the front to pay Vivi. Maybe by paying for the tattoo she’ll just forget about the tit staring. I mean, this was my treat no matter what, but maybe it’ll make me seem less creepy. Hopefully. Probably not.
Making my way to the front, I see Vivi staring at me with a smirk, “Get caught staring there, playboy?”
Ignoring her, I fumble my wallet out of my back pocket as I avoid all eye contact and stare at the fish swimming in the aquarium behind her. Completely ignoring the fact that I’mignoring her, she continues with a raised brow, “Ahh so you’re ignoring me, I’ll take it you actually like this one?”
“How much do I owe you for this one?” I ask, completely ignoring her question.
“Definitely likes this one!” she confirms. “If it makes you feel any better, I caught her staring too. That thigh tattoo was mighty interesting to her. Can’t say I blame her, a good thigh tattoo could definitely turn me straight—if Clara didn’t have one, that is. Not to mention I caught the shiver that went through her when you grabbed the back of her neck.”
Finally catching my attention, I look at Vivi and she looks serious, but she can’t be. There’s no way that Hannah was staring at me. I did not make her shiver, did I?
“Swear on the tattoo gun, that girl has the hots for you,” she says, reading my mind as she passes me the debit machine.
Before I can ask her if she’s serious or to elaborate on why she thinks Hannahhas the hotsfor me, Hannah joins me at the counter just as the debit machine pings, signalling that my payment went through.
“Did you just pay for my tattoo?” Hannah asks, coming to stand right beside me to peek at the debit machine still in my hands.
“Yes, he just did,” Vivi answers, for me.
“Why did you do that? I could have paid for myself,” Hannah asks, looking up at me.
“Thought I should pay for helping you lose your virginity,” I say. The minute the words leave my mouth, Vivi, and Clara, who I didn’t notice had joined us at the counter, burst out laughing.
“No, no, no. That came out wrong,” I say, holding up my two hands and turning towards Hannah, who has a raised eyebrow and is trying not to laugh as well.
“Pay her . . . virginity . . .” Vivi says, laughing uncontrollably and wiping at the tears running down her cheeks.
“What I meant was, of course I’d pay for your first ever tattoo, why would I make you pay? It was my idea to bring you here today. Not that you would ever sell your body, but I mean if you wanted to that’s okay too. Your body, your choice, I say. I mean really, virginity is just a social construct . . .” Oh my God, what am I saying? Someone needs to shut me up. First I stare at her tits and get caught, now I’m rambling about her selling her body. Jesus, could the floor just swallow me whole. Somewhere in the middle of my rant, Hannah started laughing and is now also wiping tears off her cheeks.
As she takes a breath and calms down, or tries to, she puts one of her delicate hands on my forearm, pulling me away from my thoughts. “I know what you mean. Thank you. I never would have known where to even go for a tattoo if it wasn’t for you. You’ve already done so much, you didn’t have to pay. Thank you,” she finishes as she wraps her arms around my waist and gives me a hug, which instantly calms me down.
Her head reaches just below my chin, making her the perfect height. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, making sure not to touch her fresh ink, I squeeze her right back and realize that not only is she the perfect height, but she’s also the perfect fit. Looking over her head I see Clara is now standing beside Vivi, both of them smile wide and Clara sends me a wink. Before I can get too comfortable in the hug, she pulls away from me a little, tilting her head back, resting her chin on my chest, looking me in the eyes and softly says, “Thanks, Ian, I really appreciate you bringing me here and staying. It means more than you could even start to imagine,” so only I can hear.
“Anytime,” I say, pulling her in for one last squeeze before letting her go. Not that I want to let her go. She feels perfect in my arms, like coming home. Like the perfect puzzle piece I didn’t know I was missing.
As I turn towards Vivi and Clara behind the counter, I notice a small blush high on her cheeks. Maybe Vivi isn’t wrong. Maybe I do have a shot here. The real question is: am I ready to have a shot? It’s been years since Alex did what she did, but I can’t help thinking that it’ll repeat itself. Even if she does know what it’s like having your heart ripped out of your chest, knowing what I know about her ex-husband doesn’t mean Hannah is ready or willing to jump into another relationship. For all I know, she’s just looking for fun.
I know the minute I get this girl, I’ll never have enough. I already can’t get enough, and I’ve only known her a few weeks. My gut and my heart tell me there is no getting over Hannah Taylor if I ever get the chance to call her mine.
Two days after bringing Hannah to get her tattoo, I’m dropping Levi off at the airport at 5 a.m. so he can go visit his parents in Vancouver for a week or so.
“I hate asking you to do this,” he starts once he gets in the truck, “not because I don’t want to put you out, I really couldn’t care less about that. What I do care about is that you’re a player.”
“Are you gonna tell me what you need me to do or just give me another speech?” I say, cutting him off as I merge onto the highway. I thought we were over this. I thought he was backing off and letting Hannah make her own choices. I can’t say that it doesn’t hurt either that he only sees me as capable of one-night stands. I figured he knew me better, that he knew the real me. For fucks sake, we were roommates for two years. We startedour careers off together, lived through so many ups and downs together, but I guess I was wrong.
“Touchy,” he answers, earning him a glare and pulling me out of my depressing thoughts about our friendship. “I need you to keep an eye on Hannah.”
“I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself for a few days.” Although, I was already planning on keeping her company. Maybe I’ll ask her to go hiking, or maybe . . .
“I know that,” Levi continues. “I saw that we were supposed to be getting some weather and I know she hated storms as a kid. I doubt she’s still afraid of storms—having lived on the East Coast, but still. Just make sure she’s not going without power and that she’s safe, please.”
“I was already planning on it,” I say before I can stop myself. I know she’s afraid of storms, she said it when we first met. “Worse comes to worst, I’ll bring her over to the ranch. My parents have all the generators you could want,” I say, trying to save face.
