Page 129 of When Kings Fall

“Something ace!” Colt exclaimed in his usual no-holds-barred excited way.

“Ready?” Mason asked us.

“Shit, yeah,” Colt cried.

“Fuck, it’s on,” I said.

He nodded, and then Mason turned around and lifted up the back of his Inked Zoners t-shirt with the bold zigzagging black and gold design to reveal a special tattoo across his upper back.

Colt pulled down his leather pants to reveal the same on his upper left thigh.

And I raised my crimson tee to reveal mine on my ribs.

We now all shared the same tattoo.

Mason had taken inspiration from Brianna’s watercolor butterfly tattoo on her arm. He’d actually used the same butterfly like I had with the nightlight in the design. And he’d incorporated several other elements meaningful and special to our foursome. Wildflowers were interspersed throughout the design to represent her—dandelions, daffodils, lavender—and a Les Paul guitar for Colt, a tattoo gun for Mason, and a keyboard for me. Across the different elements was the word Brianna in a striking script font.

He'd designed something so intricate and edgy that really spoke to our love for her.

“Oh my God,” Brianna breathed.

She came to each of us in turn and traced her fingers over our tattoos.

“I can’t believe it. This is amazing. The best present I’ve ever gotten. You guys are so sweet! So incredible! Thank you!”

“Of course,” Mason said, as we all fixed our clothes. “You deserve nothing less, dark angel.”

It wasn’t over yet, though.

He pulled a piece of paper from the back pocket of his distressed gray jeans and unfolded it, holding it up for her to see. It was the same design, except with our names scrawled across it in a script font.

“If you want,” I told her.

She didn’t even need to think about it, didn’t even hesitate. She grabbed the paper and pressed it to her chest. “I’d love to! No question!”

“We’ll set an appointment after vacation then,” Mason said, grinning from ear-to-ear like Colt and me were.

“Speaking of vacation, let’s get to the fucking, then we’ll head out,” Colt said. “I can’t wait any longer.”

“Me neither,” I said, my words coming out as a growl.

In the next moment, I lunged at Brianna and threw her over my shoulder.

She squealed as I carried her toward the mansion, Mason and Colt chuckling as they followed over.

I smiled to myself.

This was it.

Our lives.

Our amazing lives.

Our spectacular foursome.

Things had come a long way.

We had as a unit.

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