Tempting (Inked Hearts 1)

Ethan's eyes light up as they meet mine. "Maybe it's just me. I do have a thing for redheads who don't take shit from anyone."

Kit steps up to Ethan's mic. "Or maybe just one redhead in particular." He nods to me. "He's miserable without you."

"It's true," Ethan says. "I am miserable without you."

"Seriously, he's intolerable," Joel adds. "But I won't blame you if you want to get rid of his intolerable ass."

"You're supposed to be helping," Kit says.

"Who says I'm helping Ethan?" Joel winks at me. "I like Valentine better. Any chance you can play guitar, Valentine?"

I shake my head.

"I can teach you," Ethan says.

Athena screams.

God, this is mortifying. My cheeks are burning.

It's sweet too… but mostly mortifying.

"There's a special birthday here today. One Ms. Violet Valentine. Now, I know she hates attention, but it's her birthday. We have to embarrass her. It's tradition." He smiles. "Want to help get her up here, Athena?"

I glare at my clearly traitorous roommate.

She mouths sorry, I had to.

Ethan moves closer to the edge of the stage. His cheeks flush. He's sweating too.

He's nervous.

More nervous than before he filled in for Drew in front of four thousand people.

"Fuck, Violet, you coming up here? I don't mind going down." He stays confident despite the blush. "Joel's gonna ask if you used the sex toys he bought you soon."

Now I'm blushing. I shake my head. "Not yet."

"You've got ten seconds till I come down there," he says.

I stay put. "Aren't you playing in Baltimore tonight?"

"Dangerous Noise is, yeah. These guys have to leave in about twenty minutes, but I'll be here playing Garbage songs until I get kicked off the stage."

"You know enough?"

"I know enough to play all night."

"You're skipping the show?"

Ethan nods. "Turns out there's some place I'd rather be."

My heart melts. He's skipping the show for me. I want to jump into his arms. I want to jump into his arms hard enough to knock him on stage then I want to order him to go down until I am coming up there.

But it's just one show. It doesn't necessarily mean anything.

He plants his Converse-clad foot on the edge of the stage. "The New York City bug bit me. I've got a hotel around the corner."

Athena screams, "Yeah, baby."