“I’ll need to bring it up your arm and connect it there,” he mutters with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, while he’s absolutely focused on his art.
I stare up at the ceiling, barely listening.
He’s tattooing himself all the time, and all his tattoos are just scribbles that don’t make much sense to me, but I don’t ask. He already did some damage on me too. He’s really good at it.
“I don’t care,” I mumble, replaying my conversation with Kiara in my head for the hundredth time.
Why the hell was I so fucking weird?
The needle barely hurts on my wrist—the skin there is half numb—but when he moves up to my bicep the pain hits hard enough to drag me out of my thoughts.
Then the door flies open. Natalya walks in and drops onto the sofa next to Adrien, tossing something onto my chest. I catch it and study it.
A blue cord bracelet.
“What is that?” I frown at her.
“That’s a bracelet,” she says dryly. “Caterers have to take them off before their shift.”
She raises her eyebrows at me, clearly waiting for the realization to hit.
My heart starts racing again as a smile spreads on my face.
“I sent you her number,” she says with a teasing tone.
Did she leave it on purpose?
Adrien pauses the tattoo gun as I slip the bracelet onto my other wrist. I lean back against the couch and light another cigarette, staring at the thin blue cord around my wrist while I try to figure out what I’m supposed to text her.
Or maybe I should call.
No. That would be weird.
I’ve never done this before.
My leg starts bouncing uncontrollably, and I can’t wipe the stupid smile off my face.
Kiara
Age 17
“Thanks so much for the ride. See you next week.”
I grab my bag and step out of the car.
“Sure. Good night.”
I check my pockets as the car disappears down the street. When I unlock the front door, I find my mom sitting at the kitchen table.
I’m really not in the mood to talk.
“Hi. I’m tired, and I already ate,” I say flatly.
She just nods and quietly wishes me good night. I rush upstairs to my room and drop onto the bed.
For a moment, I just stare at the ceiling. Then my lips twitch and I catch myself smiling. I press them together, trying to stop it, but it doesn’t listen.
I’ve heard she has a brother, but I’d never actually seen him before.
