Page 4 of Under the Ink

“Look…I’m not your dad or a cop, but I’m not going to party with someone too young. You can tell me and then we can party—or we can go sit on Jimmy’s couch and watch a movie. Your call.”

“God. You don’t have to be a dick about it.”

Yeah, actually, he did—because girls were able to look way older, and ashegrew older, he found it harder and harder to tell.

And Jimmy had gotten in deep shit for that very thing. Only because Sage had helped him get a good lawyer had he managed to not have to register as a sex offender. Girls at fifteen felt like they were mature and some of them were but Jimmy didn’t think about consequences beyond having a good time in the moment.

Of course, Jimmy’s philosophy on the road had always been “rock and roll was made for sex and drugs, so party like the world’s on fire.” And the guy did just that—any drug he could try, sex with anyone willing, he was there for the full experience.

At least he’d seemed to learn a lesson after the underage sex charge. All the gals he slept with nowadays wereclearlyolder.

“Look—I just don’t want to be traumatizing some kid.”

“Kid?Do I look like a kid to you?”

Sage let out a soft sigh between two slightly upturned lips. As he looked her over again, he told her the complete truth. “Nope. Not a bit. You look like a fully formed delicious specimen of female—which is why I need confirmation first.”

At that, she smiled, no longer taking offense, and she slinked close to him, resting her hands on his chest. “I’m twenty-one.”

Hmm. Although he wasn’t going to demand to see her ID, he wasn’t just going to take her word for it, either. “When did you graduate high school?”

Her dark brows furrowed. “A couple of years ago.”

Vague answer—but he wasn’t about to give away why he was asking. Details would make her story believable.

And he wasn’t above carding her. She just didn’t know that yet.

“Okay. Where?”

“WHS. I was a bulldog, too.”

That was too easy. “Where do you work?”

“At Shooters. I’m a bartender. But I’m planning to move to Colorado Springs so I can work at a strip club. I have a friend there who makes wicked money even when she doesn’t take all her clothes off.”

Stripping? Bartending?Yeah…that was more like it and definitely put her in a safe age range.

Meaning Sage was thawing.

Then she added, “I just have to talk my boyfriend into moving there.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah. I have a boyfriend. Is that so shocking?”

Sage cocked his head, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. It never ceased to amaze him how these girls didn’t seem to give a shit about monogamy when it came to rock bands. “No…but is he okay with all this?”

He’d expected the usual response, something likeWhat he doesn’t know won’t hurt himorIt’s a once in a lifetime opportunityorI wouldn’t stophimfrom fucking a cute pop star. Or any other sort of justification.

But this young woman managed to surprise him.

“I was gonna invite him, ‘cause he swings both ways—but I changed my mind. I want you all to myself.”

Good thing, because Sage only swung one way—not that he had any problems with people who did, but looking at a guy’s cock did nothing for him. But who knew? Maybe if she’d brought him along, he would have tried it.

You only live once…so why fucking not?

He’d done his due diligence, more than a lot of other guys might have done. By now, his cock was throbbing with need and he was grateful the jeans would keep that from being obvious. Taking two steps closer to her, he said, “How you wanna do this?”

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