Page 50 of Surge of Heat

He and Evander are suddenly in a stare down. “Your bond is pretty fascinating to me. I mean, I knew I wanted Sam fromthe first time I saw her, but it took you, what, twenty something years to figure it out.”

I set a hand on Aydan’s knees as he stiffens, looking like he’s ready for a fight. “That’s none of your business.”

“You think so?” Evander asks with a smirk.

A waitress stops by. My heart’s hammering in my chest. “How about a bottle of tequila?”

“Tequila?” Granger repeats, lifting a brow.

“It always puts us in a good mood,” I say, flashing a smile.

The bottle comes out with shot glasses. We start toasting. At first it’s to things like kicking the green dragon’s butt, but then our toasts get stupid. Granger toasts to my ass. Aydan toasts to the newest version of Space Dorks Unleashed. Evander toasts to dogs. Literally, just dogs. We’re all laughing our asses off when we decide to call it a night and head out.

It’s cool outside, but not uncomfortably so. Evander pulls out his phone to call his driver, but freezes and says, “Just a minute.”

He dodges cars as he goes across the street, and I realize he’s headed for a tattoo parlor. It’s probably a bad idea, but I’m laughing so hard nothing seems all that bad right now. He pushes open the door, which jingles, and says he wants a tattoo. The place is empty, with three employees just watching the TV replaying the green dragon’s earlier chaos.

Evander lays in a chair and starts talking to one of the tattooers while the three of us walk around the shop, looking at the tattoos on the walls and giggling. There are space aliens. Women with giant knockers. Lots and lots of flowers. And it’s all pretty funny to us, for reasons I’m unsure of.

We hear the sound of the tattoo gun and head over and watch as they begin to work on Evander’s bicep. His arm is lifted over his head as they work on small lines. It takes me a minute to figure out what it is, and when I do, I gasp.

“Evander!”

He grins.

“Are you tattooing my name?” I ask, shocked.

His grin widens, and I see him glance at Aydan. “I thought of a way to link us together forever.”

I sigh, shaking my head, but I know it’s already too late. “You’re crazy. We were already linked forever.”

Aydan turns and marches away. My heart aches. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling. I’d never want to see him with another woman, yet he’d accepted that this is the way things are. I can’t change that. Evander is just as much a part of me as Aydan. He’s making that very clear by tattooing my name on him.My name. It should be absolutely ridiculous, but I like it. I like knowing I’ve branded him in some way.

There’s movement to my side, and I turn to see Aydan removing his shirt and climbing into the tattooing chair. My heart does a little flip, and I look at Granger. His silly smile says he finds this far too amusing.

“What are you doing, Aydan? Get out of that chair.”

He shakes his head, looking stubborn.

The girl cleans up his chest, just over his heart, and there’s a nervous thunder in my veins. “You’ve never had a tattoo. This is silly. A drunk mistake. You’re going to regret it tomorrow.”

His gaze finds mind. “I’ll never regret this.”

She gets to work, and my name is scrawled across his heart. My head says this is a stupid idea that he’ll regret in the morning, but I also like it. Like with Evander, I love having my name on his chest. I love knowing no girl will ever see these men shirtless without knowing who they belong to.

“Fuck it!” Granger says, going up to the front.

I groan. “Don’t get a tattoo, Granger! Don’t do it!” But he’s already chatting with the final employee.

Sitting beside my two men, I watch as their tattoos are completed. Neither man reacts to the pain of the tattoo gun, butI’m thinking that’s because they’re competing with each other more than anything else.

Granger ends up in a chair across from them. They’re tattooing his wrist, and I might be afraid to find out what kind of tattoo he chose. Evander and Aydan finish. Their tattoos get wrapped, and then our group heads over to see what Granger has done.

I stare. And stare. On his wrist is a tiny dragon with the words, “Dragon Pack.”

My heart aches. “Granger.”

He smiles. “It just felt right.”

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