Page 52 of Inked in Bloom
“Didn’t care about catching them yourself?”
“Not tonight.” He mutters something under his breath and clamps his mouth shut. “Where’s Tom?”
I gesture toward the door. “He’s inside. In fact, I should probably get back before he starts to worry.”
Briar dips his head. “Of course. Don’t let me keep you.”
For some reason, my heels stay planted on the cobblestone, my gaze locked on his. The breeze curls between us, a blend of cocktails, sweet treats, and flora.
Briar tilts his head. “Is there something else, Dr. Tanner?”
Is there?I gnaw at my bottom lip.
“Briar,” a pouty feminine voice comes from behind him. She staggers and grips his neckline, peering at me from over his shoulder. “Oh, it’s you.”
It takes me a moment to register since she’s dressed in a flashy red minidress, but the evergreen skin, hot-pink eyes, and flaxen hair are far too memorable to not know who they belong to. “Nice to see you again, Radix Corrigan.”
She smiles down at me, and I’m suddenly another ten inches shorter.
Briar’s chin falls for a moment, then he turns toward her. “Done already?”
“Yeah.” She sighs, swaying a bit on her feet.
“Time to head home.” He peels her grip from his neckline, an inked bell disappearing from view as he loops an arm around her back. “Goodnight, Dr. Tanner. Stay out of trouble.”
“You too.” I toss out, more aggressively than intended. Without another glance, I grip the nose-shaped door handles and head back inside.
I beeline for Cherri, but when I ask about Tom, she says he never returned. While I’m slightly disappointed, I’m more annoyed at myself. Tonight was about having fun and letting loose. He’d seemed eager for that too.
Once we locate Roxy and Kendrick, we call it a night. My fists clench my skirt the entire walk home. I could really go for another bath, something to relax me and get rid of this tension pinned through my shoulders. I’m not even sure why it’s there.
“That was so much fun,” Cherri squeals, skipping ahead of us.
Roxy smiles. “We’ll have to do it again.”
“Definitely,” I agree, though my jaw barely moves.
We turn down the row, our cottage beckoning us in the distance. It’s too dark to make out its floral details, the ivy crawling across its face, but I have every inch memorized.
By the time we get inside, I’m fully ready to let my head melt into a pillow and pass out, but Kendrick steps in front of the staircase. “Roxy and I have something we wanted to talk to you both about.”
“Okay?” I look over at Cherri.
She shrugs, adjusting her bobby pins with a frown. She’slost a few roses during our dancecapades. “That sounds ominous…”
“I promise it’s not.” Roxy brings us each a glass of sparkling rosé in flutes. Then she goes back and gets two more and hands one to Kendrick, nodding to him.
He clears his throat, and a grin spreads wide across his face. “We wanted to tell you both first before word gets out…”
“We’re mates!” Roxy squeals, the words bursting from her as I sputter my wine onto my top.
“Hell yeah you are!” Cherri lifts her glass and sips from it.
“That’s amazing!” I use the back of my hand to wipe the fizzy liquid from my chin.
“I’m so glad you think so.” Roxy’s eyes soften. “I know you’ve been having a rough go of it… Was a Radix able to do anything for you?”
“No.” I take a long sip. “But enough about that. Tonight’s about you. Congrats, you two!”
