“Wow, that’s bigger than I was thinking. And it looks so fresh for being ten years old.”
“What?” I say in surprise, dropping the hem of my dress back in place. “It’s more like twenty years old, a little older even.”
“Really? Are you sure? Did you know that, Johnny?” Hunter looks at Johnny, who’s standing right next to me again. “That tattoo is twenty years old?”
Johnny smiles. “Yeah, I knew that.” He puts his arm around me. Even though this relationship is fake and temporary, I have to say this feels nice.
“I would not have guessed that you’re in your thirties.” Hunter says to me.
I laugh. “I get that a lot. One good thing that came from my accident is that I’mverydiligent with sunscreen.”
“Accident?”
I look at Johnny, surprised. “You told him about Freddy, but not the accident?”
“I told him about the tattoo. Not why you got it, and not about the accident. I was bragging about how you’re such a bad bitch that you got a huge horror icon tattooed on you at fourteen years old. The rest of it had nothing to do with it. Plus, that’s not my story to tell.”
Hunter raises his eyebrows, looking back and forth between me and Johnny.
“Here’s the short version. When I was four-years-old, I accidentally pulled a pot of hot soup off of the stove and onto me. I burned the skin on almost half of my body. In high school, some asshole tricked me into taking my shirt off and got all the other kids in the school to start calling me Freddy Krueger because of my scars. My uncle helped me out with all of my tattoos, starting with Freddy, who I chose as a fuck you to the guy who started the whole thing.”
Hunter stands there stunned for a minute, then he looks at Johnny. “You’re right, man. She is a bad bitch.” He turns back to me. “You are a bad bitch, Becca.”
I snort out a laugh. It was so easy to tell Hunter about the accident and Freddy. I wish I’d known before how good it would feel to tell people about it. I would have started sharing a long time ago.
Ryder’s voice cuts through the noise of the crowd. He thanks everyone for coming, then says goodnight before taking Denise into the house.
“I guess that’s it? You guys want to go out and do something?” Hunter asks.
I shake my head no. “I’m exhausted. I started my day too early yesterday. I went to the spa, where I had to witness Ryder having a full body wax. Full. Body.” Johnny and Hunter both wince. “And then there was the engagement party for Alex and Connor. Then today we threw a surprise baby shower for Denise, which involved a lot of running around. And then, of course, what happened with Denise’s ex and your Gran. Then we came and built this dance floor and set up for this wedding. I have a date with my comfiest pyjamas and my bed.”
“I’m out too. I also have a date with her comfiest pyjamas and bed. I’ll talk to you soon, Hunter.”
Hunter chuckles and shakes his head. “Guess I’ll have to see what Gran and Gladys are up to if I want to have any fun tonight. I was kind of hoping to keep it more low key than what they usually get up to though.” He waves and he walks away. “Keep your phone on. I’m calling you if I need bail money.”
“Just steer clear of explosives this time and you’ll be fine.”
Hunter flips Johnny the middle finger but doesn’t turn around again.
“So, are you completely exhausted, or do you want to stop and grab something to eat before you go home?” Johnny asks. “I don’t know about you, but I could really go for some pancakes.”
My mouth waters at the thought of a tall stack of fluffy pancakes, and suddenly I’m not so tired.
“Fine, pancakes first. But then I’m going to bed and sleeping for at least two days.” I grab Johnny’s hand and lace our fingers together. “Let’s go get some pancakes,boyfriend.”
