Page 98 of Pin-up Girl

“We need to talk. Can you sit up?” I didn’t wait for her to answer, I merely started to lift her shoulders until she came the rest of the way on her own.

“What the fuck, Milo? I was taking a nap.” Elise rubbed her eyes under the sunglasses.

“The tattoo, the one under your tit. What does it say when it’s upside down?”

She raised her sunglasses to the top of her head as she squinted at me. “Why?”

Like I’d ask if I didn’t know what it said. “Because it looks likeSave meupside down, butI’m finewhen it’s right side up.”

The wind blew a lock of her hair across her mouth, and she took her time pulling it away, biding her time.

“It does say that.” That was it. Nothing else.

“And?”

“And what?”

“What the fuck does that mean? Are you depressed? Suicidal?” I wanted to shake her, but more, I wanted to shake myself for not seeing it sooner. This could have changed how we approached our relationship if we had seen this the first night we had sex.

“Relax, Milo. Remember I said I went off the rails after I found out about my virginity?” As if it would calm my ass down, she placed her hand over mine on my knee.

All I could do was grind my teeth and grit out a short, “Yes.”

“I was depressed and angry, and trapped. This tattoo was an outlet. You already know I have a thing for double meanings. This was the first one I got, when I wanted to be fine, but I needed someone to save me.”

“You didn’t need someone to save you. You saved yourself, Elise.”

She smiled. It was bright and free of shadows, so different than before. We hadn’t even noticed it until they were gone. “Yeah, maybe, but you saved me, too. You and Emmett and Jules.”

I was the one that made the hard decisions, the one who did the dirty work. I never felt like the hero, but she believed it. We were her heroes. The weight of emotions on my shoulders was too much. That was the only explanation for the next words out of my mouth.

“I love you so fucking much.”

With the sensual grace of a true pin-up, she climbed in my lap and locked her legs around my waist. “I love you too.”

Elise

One month later

Life was this new thing,where I had hopes, dreams, desires. Something I’d never really allowed myself to have before. Infinity was a distant reality, where it didn’t have the power to touch me or Ellie anymore.

The Kings of Alpha Delta Omega made that happen. And they brought me along with them. Of course, they wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without me. Or maybe they would have. Either way, I wouldn’t change anything for the world.

Not even how I stumbled into their lives, how they found out about my affiliation with Infinity, or the final secret Emmett felt the need to collect. That twisted bumpy journey brought us to the present.

Now we were all moving on. We’d even caught up from where we missed about two weeks of school, which had been a bitch between assignments and research papers. But damn it, I was finishing my degree.

“This smells delicious. Like something else I love so much.” Emmett buried his nose behind my ear and inhaled while tickling my ribs.

“Stop it, you dickass! I’m going to burn myself.” I had the pot of spaghetti on the stove with one hand on the handle and the other on the noodle spoon.

“Emmett, you’re like a twelve-year-old.” Milo took the garlic bread to the table.

He left me alone long enough so I could get the spaghetti in the colander. Steam billowed toward the ceiling as the noodles drained. Then I found myself plastered to a different person.

Gentle hands took the pot and mitten from my hand, setting them on the stove. Well, not the mitten, that went on the counter. Then he pressed me into the cabinet with his body and kissed the shit out of me.

“This is so weird. I’m not sure if you know or not, but the human race is supposed to be monogamous.” Ellie breezed into the room, her snotty attitude on full blast.

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