Page 101 of Forever Fighting
“Be mad. Just don’t go.”
I think about this. About everything he’s saying. The things he’s telling me and promising. He’s rewriting everything for me. All of it was written because of me. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to run. I want to believe this is the moment that makes us.
“I’ll stay.” I press my forehead deeper into his and repeat the words I said to him in Mexico. “Don’t let this become the worst decision we’ve ever made.”
32
BRAELYN
“There’s something I want to do today,” he tells me as if it’s the most important thing ever.
“What’s that?” I ask, my mind still heavy with everything even as we’re back to lying in bed, his arms around me, his steady heart by my ear. He dragged me down and held me and told me every detail about the restaurants in Europe. We talked it out and figured out a tentative plan. I’m still pissed he hid it from me, but I don’t want it to be the thing that tears us apart either.
“I want to get a tattoo.”
I giggle. I don’t know why that’s funny. The man has a million tattoos, and I can’t imagine how getting one today requires the level of seriousness he’s exuding.
“Good stuff. I think I want to get one too,” I whisper, and I don’t know why I’m whispering. It feels like a nervous secret for me. I’m a tattoo virgin after all.
“What would you get?” he mumbles, shifting closer to me and kissing the top of my head.
“I was thinking I’d havelick thisput above my pubic bone with an arrow pointing down.”
He chuckles and flips me over so he can crawl down my body. “Right here?” He taps the space above my mound.
“That’s the spot.”
“Hmm. I think I already understand the assignment, and I don’t want anyone else touching you here, so that’s a no.”
I peer down at him. “I wasn’t asking for your permission. You’re still in the doghouse a bit, guy.”
He kisses my pussy over my clothes and climbs up me until he’s hovering over me, his hands planted into the mattress. “What else you got, kid?”
“I want a heartbeat on my wrist with a heart on the end, but I think I want the waveform to be abnormal. Maybe tachycardic or V-tach.” I blow out a breath and meet his eyes. “And I want Nash’s name on my back left shoulder because I feel like he’s my guardian angel and always with me and I want his name there.”
A smile lights up his face. “I love that. Let’s do it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. It’s a long drive, though.”
I tilt my head. “Why?”
“The place I go to is in Maine.”
“I thought you had your last one done in Boston.”
“Lenox was in Boston that day and fit me in. He’s the only guy I go to.”
“Then let’s get a move on.”
“Do you forgive me yet?”
“Pfft.” I roll my eyes. “Absolutely not.”
I get a deep, plunging kiss. “I’ll make it up to you.” Then he climbs off me and helps me out of bed.
The drive up to Maine is a long one, but Roman called ahead and secured us spots and now I’m nervouscited, which is nervous and excited in one. At least that’s what one of my patients told me once. It’s a thought that’s been brewing for a while.
