“Uh huh. I just can’t fucking believe it!”
“Believe what?”
“That you’re Dane Pearson from The Hysterics and I am fucking tattooing you!”
“You know my band?”
“Know it? I love your band!”
I chuckled a little, nervous to even ask, but I needed this tattoo to be over soon or my pain tolerance was going to dwindle down to nothing. “Do you think…?” I pointed to the gun in Serena’s hand and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah! Shit! Ok!”
She chugged a cup of water then gushed for a few more minutes about how she’d been following my band ever since we played a summer concert a little over a year before.
Finally she got back to work and Fallon made her way over to my side. The calm settled back into my chest as I grabbed her hand.
“How’d Cruz treat you?”
“After he got over the fact that I have a tattoo under my left boob, it went well.”
Jealousy bubbled back up in the back of my throat while the sudden urge to gouge Cruz’s eyes out with a dull spoon coursed through my mind.
“Can I see?”
She shook her head. “It’s already wrapped.”
Fallon leaned over my chest while Serena wiped. “Oh, Serena, it’s breathtaking!”
“Thanks! I actually didn’t get your name.”
Fallon looked down at me and I winked at her while she choked out, “Fae, my name is Fae. It’s nice to meet you. Take care of him, will ya? He’s my ride.”
She walked away after glaring deeply and smiling sweetly at Serena, a small but cunning warning of possession. Usually I hated when chicks acted like that but the fact that Fallon-freaking-Dunbar had just laid claim on me made the hair on the back of my neck perk up and my dick twitch.
Fuck, I need her.
“Hey, Fae!” I jumped a little when I heard Colt’s voice call out from across the room.
“Hey, we’re almost done.” Serena pushed my shoulder down and got back to work. “Just finishing the last letter.”
“Dane! That’s sick!” Colt’s deep voice boomed and he leaned onto the table to get a better look at the scrolling letters.
“Thanks, man. What are you doing here?”
“Marty. I went in to grab a beer and he ratted you out.”
“Sorry, man. This one I needed to fly solo on.”
“Solo, my ass. Fae is here.”
“It’s different.”
“Yeah, whatev—” Colt locked eyes on Serena, his mouth open. I think he might have even been drooling a little.
“Colt, this is Serena.”
Her eyes got wide as her gaze darted up to my bandmate. “Ha-hi.” She stuttered as she wiped my chest way too hard for how tender the flesh was.
“Am I done?” I tapped on her gloved hand, which was still wiping tiny painful circles over ‘love’.
“What? Yeah! All done! Wanna look?”
I popped off the table with Fallon and Colt by my side as I stared at letters that melded together to form a phrase that meant more to me than I could even admit to myself.
“Excuse me.” I ducked into the bathroom. The cold water splashing on my face did nothing for my shaking nerves. Seeing the words finally on my body brought so much more flooding back to the surface than I had expected.
FALLON
Dane sort of stumbled over to the bathrooms and I was left to watch Colt and Serena make sickening googly eyes at each other.
At least she’s not fawning over Dane anymore.
Serena was all over him, eating out of the palm of his hand. She seemed nice and all but drooling over musicians just never made sense to me. Doesn’t she know that they shit and fart just like normal guys?
“Yeah, we have practice almost every day. Why don’t you come tomorrow?” Colt was sitting on Serena’s tattoo table, holding her between his legs, his hands resting right on her ass.
That escalated quickly.
“Oh, my god!” Her shrill was deafening. “I would fucking love that!”
Colt smiled and cocked his head to the side. “Fae, you should totally come too!”
“Come where?” Dane slowly walked back over to us, looking pale with his hands digging into his pockets.
“Colt invited Serena and me to your band’s practice tomorrow.” Serena popped up and started to clean and bandage up Dane’s new tattoo.
“How’re you feeling?” Her smile had faded as concern washed over her face.
“Oh fine. I’m a big boy, I can handle the pain.”
I laughed. “I’m sure the toilet agrees.” I was hoping to lighten the mood, but everyone just stared at each other until Dane cleared his throat.
“Colt, inviting chicks to our practice, huh?”
Sheepishly, Colt nodded.
“Rodney is going to flip his shit.”
“He can suck it. He’s too much of a prima donna, I’ll take care of him.”
“Alright. Fallon, you ready?”
I said my goodbyes to Colt and Serena then made my way over to Cruz. Hugging him, I thanked him for an amazing job.
Walking into the cool night air, I hugged my hoodie tighter to my sides, feeling the sting of tender skin under the fresh bandage. Dane wrapped his arm around me. “Wanna grab something to eat?”
I shook my head. “I think I’ve had all the excitement I can handle for one night.”
His back stiffened a little as he dug his keys from his pocket. “Yeah, we should get these cleaned up soon anyway.”
We walked through the bustling bar and out the back door virtually unnoticed. Sliding into the passenger seat, I breathed in the smell of worn leather and pine air freshener. The car rumbled to life as Dane took my hand, pressing his lips to the backs of my fingers. “I cannot wait to see that beautiful ink.”
“Cruz did an amazing job.” The weirdest flutters consumed me. I was getting nervous. An overwhelming sense of needing to be alone washed over me. “Dane?”
He looked over at me with a raised eyebrow, slowing down at a stop sign. “Yeah?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, ok?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take you home.” He squeezed my hand before shifting gears and speeding off toward my apartment.
Chapter Twelve
Skeletons
DANE
Walking in my door, opening a beer, and watching boring television was too mind-numbing and infuriating while my skin burned under its bandage. I checked my watch: only ten more minutes and then I could clean up my newest artwork.
I channel surfed until Jim Carrey’s goofy smile was beaming from my screen right as his character was talking to the waitress at Medieval Times. “Dos thus have thou a mug of ale for me and me mate, for he hath been pitched in battle for a fortnight and has the king's thirst for the frosty brew dos thou might have for thus!” I cracked up for a good five minutes, all the way to a commercial, and then my mind wandered back to Fallon.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. So, against my better judgment, I gave in and grabbed my phone.
Me: You should have let me come up and help you take care of that beautiful new skin.
Within seconds she responded.
Fallon: I think I can handle it. This isn’t my first rodeo, ya know.
I shoved off my couch to hop in the shower, grabbing the fragrance free soap out from under my bathroom sink.
Me: Maybe I’m the one that needs help. This one stings a lot.
The steam from the shower bellowed up from behind the curtain and I slid in, cringing a little when the hot water ran over the tender skin on my chest. Right then it rushed over me, sending chills down my back as the black ink clouded the water.
“Dane? You home?” Maverick’s voice called up the stairs as I stepped out of the shower.
“Yeah, man. Up here!” I dried off as fast as I could and threw on a pair of basketball shorts as Maverick came into my room.
“Hey, man, what’s up?” Maverick looked like h
e had seen a ghost, standing in the middle of my room with his hands gripping so tightly onto his hips that his knuckles were white.
“You haven’t heard yet?”
“Heard what?”
Right then the doorbell rang. As I turned to head for the front door, Maverick put his hand on my shoulder. “Wait, it’s better if you hear it from me.” He shuddered, his eyes flicking to everywhere else in my room other than my gaze.
“Hear what? You’re acting strange. Where’s Leilani?”
His head fell while a tear rolled down his cheek.
I gripped both of his arms, my voice cracking. “Mav! Where the hell is my sister?”
My best friend’s voice shook while he fell to his knees. “There was an accident.”
I dried off, trying to get the assault of memories to die down. There was no easy way to live with loss, but living was step one. My cell started to buzz on the counter as I folded my towel to hang it back up.
“Hello?”
Fallon’s sweet voice came from the other line. “Hey, Romeo, aren’t you going to answer your door?”
I heard a soft knock on my front door as Fallon hung up. I pulled an old Hysterics shirt over my dripping head and jumped into a pair of jeans that were crumpled on my floor.
I opened the door and saw a sight for sore eyes. Even though it hadn’t been more than an hour since I’d dropped Fallon off at her apartment, I needed the calmness that she brought to me.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” I whispered as I kissed her cheek before letting her into my apartment.
“You seemed distressed, like a wounded puppy. I came to play nurse.” She giggled, holding up a bottle of wine and some tattoo cream.
She was wearing loose black sweatpants and a white long-sleeved cotton shirt. Her hair was up in a wet bun, no makeup on at all, and she was wearing her black-rimmed glasses. She probably thought she looked like a train wreck, but she had never been more beautiful to me. There was a lightness to her eyes, a calmness in her voice, a truth behind the happiness in her smile; it was magnificent.
“Dane?”
Shit, I was staring and zoning out—not a good combination!
“Yeah?” I grabbed the wine from her, nodding toward the kitchen. She followed and I started to open the bottle of wine.
“I think it’s time to finally talk about all the skeletons.” She hopped up onto the counter, holding her wine glass for me to fill up.
“Getting right to the point, aren’t you?”
She nodded and bit her lip. “I’ve never been great at beating around the bush.”
“Yeah, me either.”
Without thinking, I gripped the tops of her thighs, pressing her lips to mine. Slowly we started to move our lips together, awkwardly falling into a smooth rhythm that was catalyzing the heat between us. Claiming her lips, I crushed her body to mine as her fingers gripped at the back of my shirt.
I picked her up as she wrapped her long legs around my waist. I half carried, half stumbled her into my living room to lie down on the couch with her on top of me. Our lips locked while I knotted her hair in between my fingers.
“I just don’t get you, Fallon.” I twisted my fingers farther into her damp, messy locks, jerking her head back to make her look into my eyes.
“What is there to not get?” I watched her lick her lips as my bulge started to press uncomfortably against my zipper. Her tongue, those piercings, her lips—they were all mesmerizingly sexy.
“You’re just too sweet for rock and roll.”
She smirked and bit her lip softly. “Sweet?” she growled, gripping my zipper. “I’ll show you how far from sweet I can be.”
I unclasped her bra as she yanked my zipper open. We rapidly undressed each other while we kissed, nipped, and grabbed at one another. All the pent-up frustration and lust that had been building between us was finally at its boiling point.
Pulling my body slowly onto hers, I traced from her lips down her neck, lightly sinking my teeth into the soft flesh on her shoulder. The gentle moans that escaped her lips made my dick twitch and my heart pound.
Kissing down to her hard, sweet nipples, Fallon’s fingers ran through my short hair. Her breath caught as I slowly sucked and licked her buds.
Continuing all the way to her belly button, I rested my chin on her stomach.
“What?” she giggled as she grabbed my head, trying to force me just a little farther south. A growl came from the back of my throat—it was incredibly hot how forceful she was.
“The chemistry between us will blow this place apart and make it better through the destruction.”
Fallon stared at me for a few seconds, frozen in her lustful position, letting the words sink in. She knew I could see that she knew exactly what those words meant. I watched her swallow a lump in her throat while she nodded. “Yeah. Wreckage always looked better than clean cut.” She winked and pulled on my shoulder. “Come here, Romeo. I need to kiss that wrecked, beautiful mouth of yours.”
I reached up to her lips, pressing their softness to mine, pulling down her sweatpants at the same time. She moaned into my mouth as she slowly spread my lips, letting her tongue search mine. I slid off the couch, putting her legs on my shoulders. There was no way I could go another minute without tasting her.
“Dane,” she cooed softly while I kissed the inside of her thighs.
Gripping my hair in one hand, she gently led me right where I wanted to go. My tongue moved over her pussy, taking in her sweetness. The way her body shook and bucked from my licking and sucking on her clit was intoxicating. I could barely stand it. Her knees pressed harder onto my shoulders as she cried out, “I’m going to fucking come!”
Her body flexed and pulsed as she reached her climax, moaning with delight. My heart raced, I was sweating, and I must have had the goofiest freaking grin plastered on my face because when I shoved up from my knees, Fallon was laughing. Straight up laughing.
“What?” My cheeks flamed as I helped her get dressed.
“That was fucking amazing.” She was out of breath as she pulled me on top of her, wrapping her arms and legs around me. “I’ve never had a guy do that.”
“Eat you out?” I was floored. Yeah fucking right.
She laughed and kissed me. “No, get me to come while doing it.”
Well, right there was the biggest ego booster I could have ever asked for.
We shifted to sit up and sip our wine. “Don’t worry, Romeo, I won’t forget about you.” She winked and chugged out of her glass.
FALLON
“Are you hungry?” Dane shifted on the couch in the dense, awkward air. I was a little taken aback by how forward he was and how fucking fantastic he was with his tongue.
I nodded as my stomach started to rumble. I grabbed the tattoo cream off his coffee table, desperately needing relief from the burning that was starting to settle in. Dane took the bottle, put a little dab on his fingertip, and lifted my shirt.
His voice was honey coated while he rubbed gentle circles on my aching skin, cooling the fire. “I know this amazing place just down the block. Wanna give it a try?”
I pointed at myself, a disheveled mess. “Like this?” I laughed, “Yeah right, fuck that!”
He smirked at me, putting my shirt back down. “I knew you’d say that. I know the owner, we’ll get a booth in the back right by the bathrooms and no one will be the wiser to our appearance. Give me a second.”
Dane dipped into his room and emerged in an outfit that mirrored mine: a white long-sleeved cotton shirt and dark gray drawstring pants. He ran his fingers through his short hair, messing it up perfectly.
“I’m ready.” He grabbed his sneakers and pulled them on, then grabbed two jackets from the coat closet next to the front door. “It’s supposed to get chilly tonight. This one should fit you.” He handed me a black zip-up hoodie that was three sizes too small for him.
“Whose is this?”
Dane just shook his head, grabbed his keys, and
opened the door for me.
“Alrighty then.” I followed Dane down to The Judge and slid into the opened car door that Dane shut behind me.
“Are you sure I am not totally underdressed for this place?”
Dane was busy rattling off a text to someone, not looking up to answer my question until the sent sound swooshed from his phone. “We’re utterly underdressed, but I let the owner know I’m coming in and we have a table next to the bathrooms like I promised.”
The server poured our wine and took our orders.
I sipped slowly from my glass. The full aroma of the Malbec was intoxicating. Adding in the low lighting and white tablecloths, I felt like I was on a real date for the first time in as long as I could remember.
“This is nice,” I murmured as my eyes wandered around the room, across the dark wood beams on the ceiling, down to the rich cream marbling on the floor.
“Yeah, Mav used to work here in high school and we still know the owners. They’re pretty nice.” Dane was relaxed in his seat, leaning back and just gazing at me, a small smirk playing on his lips.
“So, Fallon, tell me about you.”
I fiddled with the piece of bread on my plate and shrugged. “There’s not a lot to know.”
“That’s a load of bull and you know it. Come on, something, anything. I just want to get to know you better.”
Dane shifted in his seat across from me, waiting for me to start talking, but I had nothing. “Like, what do you want to know?”
“What about your mom and dad? Tell me about them.”
“Oh, them. Well…” I felt backed into a weird corner. I knew I didn’t have to tell Dane what was about to fall off my tongue, but I felt like it was time to talk about it with someone. As I spoke, my mind played the scenes in my head, like a movie reel forcing me to recount that awful day.
“Mom! He promised!”
Mom sat across from me at the dinner table, staring at the ten unlit candles on the purple and pink masterpiece of a birthday cake she had spent the better part of the afternoon baking and decorating.
“I know, sweetie, but I’m sure he just got a late call and will be on his way soon.”
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