Page 212 of Hot Mess
“Nope. Not uncomfortable about that,” I said, getting slowly to my feet. “You asked for it.” I started undoing my black cargo shorts.
Her eyes got big and soft as she watched me work open the button and slide the zipper down, slowly. Might as well enjoy this, before she started laughing at me again…
I dropped the shorts and kicked them aside. Her gaze fell to my dick in my short boxer briefs. Then I sat back on my lounge chair and tossed my leg up, spreading my thighs as I lounged back. I reached down between my legs and slid my underwear up my left thigh as far as it went, showing her the very top of my inner thigh.
I knew the exact second she saw the tattoo. Her eyes went wide.
Then she leaned in and kind of squinted at it.
Something flickered over her gorgeous lips, but it wasn’t quite a smile. To my shock and awe, she didn’t laugh, either.
Maybe she really was a nice girl. Too nice, because that shit between my legs was ridiculous.
Her pretty blue eyes met mine, and she said, “Uh, Ashley… it’s…”
“I know.”
“… spelled wrong.”
“Huh?” I sat up to look between my legs. I could only partly see the tattoo when I craned my head. But there it was, as always.Danny 4Ever.“The fuck do you mean?”
“I mean,” she said, “that’s not how you spell it.”
I stared at her, unable to process. “You mean…4Ever?”
“I mean my sister’s name. We’ve never spelled it like that,” she informed me. “It’s D-A-N-I.”
I blinked at her. “Motherfuck. Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Are you fucking telling me I have this shitty-ass tattoo of some chick’s name under my balls, with a flower, and it’s not even spelled right?”
She softened and tried to backpedal. “It doesn’t matter, Ashley. No one sees it anyway. Right…?”
I growled and shut my legs. “Fuck me.”
“Really, it’s not a big—” Danica froze. “Wait. She didn’ttellyou to spell it like that, did she?”
“No.”
“Jesus. Thank God. I really didn’t think she’d bethatevil, but sometimes… I wonder.”
“I guess Pepper or the tattoo guy just assumed… And I never even thought to question it.Damn.”
“I mean… it’s not like the tattoo had meaning for you anyway, right?” Danica was giving me empathy eyes again.
Christ, at what point was she gonna decide I was a fucking irretrievable idiot and just give up on me?
“Yeah,” I said. “Except now it’s just stupider than it ever was.”
“Well, technically, it was always that stupid,” she said. “You just didn’t know.”
I stared at her. She made a weird bubbly noise like she was swallowing a giggle. She was trying really hard not to laugh at me, and I couldn’t help it. I grinned at her.
“You’re as bad as she is,” I told her.
“I am not!”
