Page 74 of Property of Player

“Whoa. That’s a bad burn. You have a doctor look at it?”

“Yes. He said it would take a while for it to heal.”

“Her old boyfriend did it with a curling iron. Isn’t that sick?”

Zayden stiffens. “A guy did that to you?”

I drop the bandage and don’t meet his eyes. I’m sure he can tell by my body language that I don’t want to talk about it.

“Look, I’m sorry that happened to you, and that guy should be strung up from a tree, but yeah, I could cover it up once it’s completely healed for a while. I wouldn’t want to rush into it anytime soon, though.” He slides a book over and flips to a page. “How about something like this?”

He shows me a beautiful spray of flowers and butterflies in beautiful soft colors on a girl’s thigh.

“That’s lovely.”

“Thanks. You can’t even see the scar underneath, can you?”

“That girl has a scar?”

“Yep. Big jagged one from a car wreck.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. I couldn’t tell at all.”

He grins. “It’s all in the magic.”

Cici tugs me to the wall and points at a design. “That one’s pretty, too.”

We spend another few minutes looking at designs, then I thank Zayden for his time and tell him I’ll keep him in mind when it heals.

He wishes me luck, and we leave.

Cici drops me at my car, and I make her promise she’ll steer clear of Molly. Then we part ways.

I go up to The Rusty Pelican, but Kayla won’t let me work. Instead, she parks me at a table and feeds me lunch. She won’t let me drive and has Pete take me home, and Ron follows him to drive Pete back to the bar.

By sunset, I’m exhausted and tucked into my bed.

Knowing Randall is far away, I rest easy and fall asleep soon after texting Player that I’m home and going to bed.

Chapter twenty-one

Player

It’s been a long fucking day, and I’ve finally got a minute to breathe. We’ve been out here three days, and it’s our last night in Cali. We pull out tomorrow, and it can’t come soon enough for me.

The guys are gathered around a bonfire, and I walk off into the darkness on the edges, light up a smoke, and check my phone. I smile, seeing I’ve got a text from Taylor.

TAYLOR: Hey sweetheart. I’m tired and going to bed. Just thought I’d say goodnight before I fall asleep. I miss you so much. I love you, baby. Goodnight.

An image of her tucked in bed and fast asleep fills me with happiness. This text is the bright spot in my day. I think about calling her, but I don’t want to wake her.

Checking my other messages, I see one from Zayden and frown.

He does all the club’s ink, and yeah, I guess he’s got my number, but we don’t usually communicate much, and I can’t imagine why he’d be texting me. Opening it, I find he’s sent a photo and a long damn text.

The photo is one taken in his shop of two girls standing at the wall, looking at designs. Looking closer, I realize it's Cici and Taylor.

What the hell?