Hating You, Loving You (Inked Hearts 4)

"Still. They exist." She nods to my pointer finger. "Drop it, dick face."

"You ever gonna realize I take that as a compliment?"

"You know, you're right."

"I am?"

"I can't call you a dick face anymore. Your dick is special enough to have jewelry. Your face on the other hand…"

"I need to get a nose ring?"

She laughs. "Eyebrow maybe."

"Lip?"

"Tongue."

"Never have I ever fucked someone with a tongue ring," I say.

"Bull."

"It's true."

"Whatever." She drops her finger. "How did you know—"

"Everybody knew about you and—what was his name?"

"Kurt."

"That was after you left."

"I kept up on gossip." Even though we're essentially alone out here—there are another half a dozen surfers, but they're spread out, focused on the waves—I lean in to whisper. "Is it true what they say?"

"What is it they say?"

"Tongue rings blow your mind?"

"Oh, when they're—" She motions to her crotch.

Fuck, it's adorable. "Yeah."

"No… not in his case. But I'm not ruling it out as a possibility."

"Scientific."

She does her best Dean impression. "Should have stuck with me, sunshine. I would have blown your mind every night, three times a night."

"Sixty-nine times a night."

Her cheeks flush. "I've never."

"Really?"

"Drop it, Maddox."

Fuck, the way she says my last name… it's not burning hate or irritation or even raw desire. It's something softer. Something that hits me everywhere.

I drop my finger. "I'm sad for you."