Hating You, Loving You (Inked Hearts 4)

I need her naked in my bed.

"Hey." The side door slides open and Kaylee steps outside. Her steps aren't soft the way they normally are.

They're messy. Quick.

Her eyes are brighter than normal.

Bolder.

She plants on the lounge chair, next to me. Her thigh presses against mine. Her fingers skim the edges of my sketchbook.

She leans over my shoulder, pressing her chest against my arm, looking up at me with those doe eyes. "Can I see?"

Not the sketchbook. The shit I have in here, of her, will terrify her. Kaylee is sweet. Innocent. I haven't asked, but I'd bet—I have bet Dean—she's a virgin.

My cock rouses at the thought of being the first inside her. Fuck, my lips, my tongue, my fingers—every part of me wants to be her first.

Not happening.

"You looking for a nautical tattoo?" I shoot back.

Her smile spreads over her cheeks. "Maybe. What do you suggest?"

I drag my fingertips over her shoulder, drawing the shape that best suits her. It's a bad idea, touching her like this. It's doing shit to me.

And from the way her eyelids are pressing together and her lips are parting with a sigh, I'm pretty sure it's doing shit to her.

Fuck, I need a thousand cold showers.

Even if Kaylee wasn't Em's best friend, she's a sweet girl. Someone who deserves a nice guy. A guy who can give her a normal life. Not an asshole who destroys everything he touches.

Even so, I trace the outline of a would-be tattoo u

p to the tip of her shoulder. "A mermaid."

"I like it."

"I know. You've seen The Little Mermaid a thousand times."

"At least two thousand." She looks up at me. "What do you say? Right now? I'm finally old enough to sign the form."

"Okay." I take her hand and pull her to her feet. "Let's walk to the shop. One topless mermaid."

Her eyes go wide. She stammers, presses her toes together. The plastic of her heels clicks. Her teeth sink into her lip. "I, uh..."

"Hate having your bluff called?"

"No, I just... I need to think about it a little more."

"Bullshit." I can't help but smile. She's adorable flustered.

"No, just regular... uh... that isn't why I came out here."

I arch a brow.

She scoots toward me. It's a tiny movement. Soft. More like the Kaylee I know. The sober one.

"Well, it's my birthday." Her fingers curl around my wrist. "And I want a birthday kiss."