Page 125 of Goodbye Note

“You said you liked it. Do you want me to stop?” I stilled the marker.

“No, but I want to know what you’re writing.”

“You’ll see in a minute.” I finished the word on his forearm and then went over again to make it thicker.

He twisted around in his seat to crane his neck and make out the words. “You win? What’s this for?” He wasn’t mad.

“Your subliminal messages worked. Would you rather have a gold star?”

He grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me. “You asshole.”

“Don’t you mean Stardust?”

“Of course I do.” Varian stayed there, leaning into me.

“Good thing I got you to make out with me.” I circled my arms around him, keeping him there.

“Proud of yourself over that one, are you?”

“A little.” I dragged my teeth over my lip.

“I’m pretty sure I seduced you, not the other way around.”

“Does that make me the easy one?” I don’t know why this amused me as much as it did, but it still felt like a flirtatious game.

“Not quite as easy as I’d like you.”

My brows rose. “Do you want me giving it up to just any guy?”

He glared, biting my lip. “Don’t even tease me.”

“Don’t worry. There never will be.” I exhaled. “We need to go play. You coming to watch?”

“You know I am.”

“Let me just change my shirt.” I walked back out, patting my chest like I was feeling for something. “I’ve lost my dopamine supply. Can you help me out?”

“You rat bastard. You told me you’d give that shirt back.”

“I like wearing it.”

“You’re wearing my shirt onstage?”

“If I can’t claim you publicly, I’m going to do it the ways I can.”I wanted to mark every inch of him, let the entire world know who he belonged to.

* * *

We didn’t hide in our bunk after the show. We stayed in the front lounge while the guys played video games. It felt good to be out in the open. Varian fit right in, and he kept smiling with his arm around me.

I took a photo from the show and uploaded it to my journal with the caption: my best friend gave me a little dopamine for whenever I need it.

“What are you doing?” Varian asked, like he could tell I was up to something.

“Looking at tattoos. I think I want to get some stars.”

“Get them in the shape of a galaxy. That would be sick.”

“Which one?” I searched them on my phone.

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