“I do too,” I said, grabbing his as proof.
“Please. First of all, I’m your bestie. Second of all, grabbing my hand is not the same as what you did that night, and you know it.”
It was shocking it took him this long to ask, although I’d dodged any hits our conversation was heading in Theo’s direction when it first went down.
“Fine.” I fell back against the couch and closed my eyes. “I may be sort of, kind of…fine, 100 percent slept with Theo that night.”
“You what?”
“Yeah, we banged. We did the do. He had me seeing stars. Happy now?”
“I would’ve been a lot happier if you hadn’t skipped over all the things that led up to it and gone straight to the stars.”
“Do you really want to know what I was doing with Theo, your partner’s brother?” I made sure to meet his eyes before blinking. If I was going to be this uncomfortable, he could be too.
He closed his eyes. “No. Ew. No, no, no. That’s like my brother.”
“Exactly. No details for you.”
“So, then, start with what happened next? Don’t tell me he kicked you out of bed, because I will go over to that firehouse right now.” He held up his fists as if he could ever hurt a soul.
“Of course he didn’t. He’s not an alphahole.” This would be so much easier if he was.
“Then what happened? You guys just decided, one and done, see you later?”
“More like I left before he woke up.”
His eyes went wide.
“Because you didn’t like him?”
“Less that I didn’t like him and more that I liked him too much.” Saying the words out loud had me cringing.
“You are talking in circles. Liking him too much makes no sense on any planet.”
“And how many have you been on?” I pushed his shoulder.
“Cut it. You know what I mean.”
I nodded.
“He did your tattoo. He can’t be too mad.”
“I guess.”
“What is it, anyway? I didn’t get a good look.”
And that had been intentional. Something about it felt too private and important to share. I didn’t like keeping things from my bestie, but it was more instinctual than thought out at the time.
“Well, it’s not done yet, but it’s a bear. A dragon. A dragon-bear. I don’t know. It’s beautiful, though, absolutely stunning.” Even half done, it was a true masterpiece.
“How can you not know if it’s a dragon or a bear?”
That was a fair question.
“Because it’s a bear, but I think it’s a dragon.” I unbuttoned my shirt. “Look.” I showed him my tattoo.
“I see what you mean.” He leaned in close. “Wow. He’s talented. Like, really talented.”
