I cross my arms against my chest, feeling the burn of my own tattoo on my left peck, “if I wasn’t okay with it then I wouldn’t have gotten it” I tell her.
It’s true though, even Blair wouldn’t be able to convince me to mark my body permanently. The only thing I was a little worried about was relapsing, I thought the pain of the needle would cause me to want the sting of a blade again.
But it didn’t.
All I felt after was peace, a wave of calm knowing I would be connected to my friends no matter where we end up in life. Our bond is unbreakable, and now it’s forever engrained on our bodies.
Miller got it on the inside of his wrist, Blair got it on his rib, Davis got it on the outside of his right thigh, August got it on the outside of his shoulder, and Steph got it right in between her tits.
August was a little apprehensive about that one.
She put up a good fight and told him to go fuck himself, ‘if you didn’t want me to have the freedom of deciding where to put it, you shouldn’t have invited me. You also don’t get a say because you aren’t actually my boyfriend.’ I laughed so hard when she said that, August looked like he was about to blow.
But none of us could argue with her, for one she’sSteph, and two… we couldn’tnotinvite her. She’s just as much part of this group as the rest of us.
The boyfriend comment was a little bit of a low blow though. August still hasn’t asked Steph to officially be his, none of us talk about it cause it’s between them, they’ve been pretty private with what’s been going on.
Claire cranes her neck to look back at me, “I just don’t want you to regret it.”
I could never regret it, I’m tied to her even more now.
“Stop overthinking and get your cute butt over here” I say, rolling my eyes and opening my arms. She get’s up quickly, rolling over and rushing into my lap. She straddles me, wrapping her arms around my neck before leaning in for a kiss.
This girl is like candy, she’s so sweet, I want to taste her forever.
Her lips press against mine softly, more gentle than we have ever kissed before, and I can’t help but wonder why that is. We’ve always been full throttle. From the first moment we met, we were all in, we never had a moment to stop and enjoy the lives we have now.
Maybe we’re finally at that point.
Claire sure as hell deserves it.
“Come on love-birds, we’ve got a game to go to” August says through my bedroom door. “Tony will rip us a new asshole if we’re late.”
Correction, Tony would kill us if we’re late. Claire gets a free pass cause… well cause she’s her. Claire does no wrong in Tony’s eyes, but I’m already in a grave with that man because of everything that happened with her, not to mention the little stunt I’m about to pull.
“Come on” she tells me, hopping off my lap and reaching out a hand towards me. “You owe me the show of a lifetime.”
She’s going to piss her pants when she sees what Davis picked out for me. I figured if anyone was going to pick out the most embarrassing option… it would be him.
And let me tell you, he did adamngood job.
* * *
The cheers from the crowd make me smile, there’s nothing like the rush you get before hitting the ice.
The guys have been ragging on me for the last hour, laughing at the tutu and dress combo I have over my gear, but I’m not as embarrassed as I thought I would be. Knowing that Claire is mine, and this is the last thing I have to do in order to make sure she knows I’m serious about us, it makes me happy.
“You should do a little dance for us Lu” one of the freshmen laughs.
I slap him on the back, “I don’t want to give you any material for your spank bank bud, but thanks for the offer.”
His jaw drops and his eyes dart around the room, “I’m not into guys, I swear.”
Blair and August burst into laughter, along with a few of the others at the absolute panic our teammate is experiencing.
“It’s okay man” I say, “I’m just fucking with you.”
The intro song for our team starts to play while the announcer pumps the crowd up. One by one, my friends skate onto the ice and do a lap, each of them soaking in the feeling of how excited the crowd is to see us play.
