Page 77 of Embrace

“What? No, Scarlett. You…you didn’t do anything. I just needed a second away.”

“Oh. I can go.” She makes a move to leave, but I catch her hand. The warmth of it leaves me disoriented. We’re close again, and I scold myself for being in this position for the third time tonight. So close yet so fucking far away from what I want.Need.

“What are the letters for?” she asks, pivoting the conversation from what I expected it to be. “On your back, the letters.”

My hand moves to my opposite shoulder, touching the tattooed letters. “It’s Japanese. My dad’s name.”

Her head tilts. I’m not sure she even realizes when she does that. But it’s like she’s trying to memorize the moment from all angles.

Scarlett steps forward. “And this?” She presses her fingers right against my sternum, making me swallow hard as she traces the nautical star.

“He worked on ships his whole life.”

She runs her fingers over a few more. I don’t think I can breathe right now. The more she asks, the more she’ll realize they all connect to my dad somehow. The thought takes my mind to the ones for my mom, but I push it away.

I texted Kiyomi earlier, and she told me to enjoy the party and that she’d text me later. I’m not sure I believe that.

“I should clean myself up,” I whisper. Why the hell am I whispering?

“I can do it,” Scarlett offers, nearly gutting me. She takes off into my bathroom before I can speak.

She returns with a wet towel, giving no warning before she cleans my torso like this is normal. Like this slow, deliberate touch, where she runs the rag over my abs and my chest, isn’t sending my body into something close to cardiac arrest.

“There. All clean,” she says, folding the rag in her hand but it slips to the ground.

We both reach for it at the same time, and our foreheads collide. I let out a low groan that mixes with hers.

“Shit, sorry,” I say, rubbing the spot on her head. I blow on it, like I would if we were kids on a playground. Like my dad used to do to me.

Scarlett bites down a smile. “Your forehead’s red.”

“So is yours. I can go get you some ice,” I offer.

She takes hold of my wrist, shaking her head.

I don’t know how long we stare at each other. Long enough that I forget about changing into a new shirt, the party downstairs, and everything that isn’t her. All I can feel is this sudden, bone-deep stillness, like I’ve stepped off a ledge but haven’t hit the ground yet. There’s a moment when I look into her eyes and I think I see my soul reflected.

My pulse trips when her chest brushes against mine, and I can taste her, that’s how close she is. I’m about to make that a reality when my bedroom lights dim, and the music downstairs stops just for a second before the power comes back on.

That can’t be good.

Scarlett and I stare at each other before I’m tugging herdownstairs with me. We pass Sampson and Amara in a corner by the stairs, his back against the wall and a smirk on his face as she points a finger in his face. We pass Dylan’s room, and I hope he and Sierra don’t hear the commotion, but I’m pretty sure they won’t be hearing much of anything other than each other tonight.

We weave through the crowd to the porch, where Cole’s shaking his head, and everyone else gathers. Scarlett drops her hand from mine.

When he sees me he yelps. “It was an accident! It was supposed to be a dumb prank.”

I’m staring at our most prized possession, the hot tub, filled with beer. The outlet we use to turn it on sparking, and a bottle smashed beside it. Sebastian emerges from the backyard, wearing a snorkel.

When he sees me, his eyes go wide and he pulls it off. “Please don’t bench me again.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, staring at the two of them, when I hear Aiden and Eli laughing. They’re recording my reaction, having the time of their fucking lives.

“It’s not funny,” I mutter.

“Are you kidding? It’s like a mirror of the shit I dealt with,” Aiden says, staring at a captain irritated with his two linemen. Yeah, karma’s a bitch.

I turn to the guys. “I’ll deal with you in the morning. Just clean this up.”