Page 72 of Devilish Ink

He stood over me, arms crossed, eyes dark and assessing. I pressed the corner of the towel against the cut.

“Hospital?” Darren asked, his voice betraying just the tiniest concern beneath its typical crunch of gravel.

I inhaled to steady myself and lifted the corner of the soaked towel to peek under. Fresh blood filled the cut that stretched from the base of my thumb to my wrist, but I could see that it was shallow. I’d injured myself enough on the farm to know it didn’t need stitches.

I shook my head. Darren let out a small exhale before sinking down onto the corner of the desk, arms still crossed tightly over his chest.

“I fucked up,” I said, calm enough now to flip over the first aid kit and rummage for the disinfectant.

Darren grunted. “You’ve been clumsy all morning.”

I sent him a quick glare. Kayleigh wasn’t in, which meant the radiator wasn’t on. The garage was as cold as it was outside. Colder even, given Darren’s black hole of charm. No one could be expected to get a good grip on a wrench while fighting frostbite.

But it wasn’t Darren’s stoicism that got me sliced open. I was more than used to frozen fingertips and bone-deep cold out on the farm.

I sighed, rubbing my upper arm across my face, because I knew what had really caused my accident.

“I don’t mean I fucked up my hand—”

“It sure looks like you fucked up your hand,” Darren said.

He didn’t move to help me undo the cap of the disinfectant. I was forced to use my teeth instead. I spit the cap at his feet. This earned me a grin. I still had one unhurt hand and its middle finger lifted just fine. Darren’s grin got wider.

“What I mean is that I fucked up with this girl,” I said, hissing as I wiped a disinfectant-soaked pad along my cut.

“The one who you let tattoo half your body already?” Darren asked.

I laughed darkly. “It’s not like she forced me.”

“Would that have made things easier?” Darren asked.

“She’s my brother’s best friend,” I told him, eyes fixed on the washed-out wound, the pink flesh so easily ripped apart. “My estranged brother. The brother who hates me. The brother who I came to Dublin to make amends with after years of not doing what was right for him. She ishisbest friend. And now he’s back.”

The office fell into silence as I pushed around different sized bandages, only half focused on finding the right one.

“And you want to…end things with her?” Darren asked.

I looked over at his sharp green eyes, narrowed at me.

“I love her,” I said.

Darren exhaled. “That’s worse.”

The cut continued to bleed as I ignored it. Could I just be selfish and greedy for Ry? Could I be uncaring about what Rian thought? Getting Ry—keepingher—no matter what?

“Does he know?” Darren asked.

I shook my head.

“Doessheknow?”

My chin fell to my chest defeated.

He let out a curse. “And the bad blood between you and your brother—”

“Bad,” I answered. “Wouldn’t piss on me if I was on fire kinda bad.”

Darren uncrossed his arms and rubbed the back of his neck. “You have to tell her.”

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