Hating You, Loving You (Inked Hearts 4)

I bite my lip. There's still a huge part of me that hates stroking his ego, but this is the truth. "You're a great teacher."

He beams. It's different than his usual bragging. There's no posturing to it. Just pride. "I must be good if you can admit that."

"You are. Ryan, Brendon, and Walker are friendly enough. But they just ask me to sit there and watch. You try to teach me things. Even if some of them are sexual harassment."

He chuckles. "I did stop."

"You did."

"But I can change that anytime." He takes a long sip of his water. "Balls in your court there."

"And it's staying there."

His laugh is loud. Hearty.

It warms me somewhere that's usually cold.

It makes every part of me feel good. It's the same as it used to be with Alex.

No, it’s better.

I… I really like him.

"I have an offer for you," he says.

"I'm not wearing panties. I can't tell you what color they are."

"Your swimsuit is black. Like all your panties."

"They are not." They are too. But I'm not admitting that.

"Prove it."

"I will."

"You do realize you'll have to show me your underwear to do that?"

"Yes." I walked right into that. But… ugh, I just want to prove him wrong so badly. He stokes something in me. Desire. Need. Competitive fire. "What's the offer?"

"You can apprentice under me. Just me."

"In exchange for?"

"Your Saturday mornings."

"My Saturday mornings?"

"You do what I say."

"Extra lessons?"

"Yeah, but not about ink."

My brow furrows. What? "You want to teach me about…"

"There's more to tattoos than putting ink to people's skin. There's a philosophy."

"Which is?"