Page 5 of Claimed By my Best Friend

Darrell

Nine years. That’s how long I have been out of jail. That is the part of my life that Paula has no idea about. The past that I have kept hidden from her.

As a teen, I ran with the wrong crowd, the kids parents warned their kids about. I was bad news, and I thought I was untouchable until I was arrested and locked up for four years. A couple of my delinquent friends dared me to break into a liquor store to prove that I could, and I did.

I was convicted of misdemeanor breaking and entering. Of all the things I was doing back then to cause trouble, I never quite thought that the thing that would get me arrested was a dare. It’s almost comical, really. But that dare and the prison stint that followed was enough to turn my delinquent ass around.

Prison was rough, so I had to toughen up, and it made a hard man out of me. When I finally got out, I was no longer that reckless kid that went in. I came out a changed man, with edges so jagged no one dared get too close.

After my release, I kept my head down, did an apprenticeship at a tattoo shop a few towns over, and when I’d saved enough money, I opened my own place here in Valor Springs. It was a lonely existence, but it was what I wanted. Then I saw Paula.

I was grabbing a coffee from the local bakery that doubles as the town’s only coffee shop when I saw her pass by the windows. She was walking down the street in a white dress, her long blond hair falling past her shoulders, and she looked like a fucking angel. She captivated me, and before I knew what I was doing I’d followed her.

I knew it was creepy and weird, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

I shadowed Paula to the local fair. A loud, chaotic scene with a nauseating crowd, but I pushed it all down, eyes focused on only her. Slowly I gravitated toward her until we were both standing outside the same booth. I watched her try over and over again to win a large teddy bear with no success. I could tell she was frustrated and about to give up. Unable to stand the look of disappointment on her face, I stepped in and won her the bear. It was easy, having grown up in Valor Springs playing these same games every year at the fair as a kid. The joy on Paula’s face told me I’d made the right decision, and before I knew it, we were walking side by side through the fair, talking as if we’d known each other our entire lives.

That day, Paula became the most important person in my life. She…softened me. Of course, I wanted her since the day we met, but Paula was so young, only nineteen at the time, and she’d recently suffered a tragic loss.

Still, I vowed to love and protect her with everything inside me. For her, I would cross lines I swore never to cross. Lines thatwould land me back in jail. She means that much to me, and I will always do everything in my power to preserve what she and I share.

I can’t risk this.Her.

Giving her the tattoo she so craves and putting my hands on her bare skin would only chip at the control I have worked so hard to build. Touching her, even with gloves on, would tip that scale, and there is no telling where it would land. She might fall for me, or she could run away. I can’t handle the latter, and she deserves better than the former.

Paula is everything.

There is no fucking way in hell I could keep my focus long enough to tattoo a spot so close to her tit and not want to caress it, fondle it in my hand, or lean in for a taste. Christ, I bet she tastes amazing too. No, there will be no tattooing if she lets me so close.

God, even now, I want to kiss that pouty mouth of hers, bury my tongue deep in her mouth, and sample her taste. I want to knock everything off the table and lay her down on it before stripping her and kissing every inch of her perfect body.

I told her no to protect what we have, but the thought of her going to another man and letting someone else put their hands on her and permanently mark that perfect skin has me seeing red.

Control yourself!

“Okay,” I tell her reluctantly, reading the displeasure on her face. She’s clearly hurt and frustrated that I am unwilling to give in to her, but I can’t risk it. “I’ll tattoo something simple on your wrist or ankle, like a heart or something. Shouldn’t hurt much.”

“Seriously? If I’m going to permanently ink something on my skin, it’s going to mean something.”

I sigh, folding my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall. “A teddy bear will take longer to ink, and you want it on a spot that’s going to hurt like hell. It’s not an ideal first tattoo, especially for someone who cries when she gets her flu shot.”

Reminding her of her fear of needles was clearly the wrong thing to do because her frustration quickly shifts to anger.

“I already said to forget it” she snaps. “I’ve changed my mind about the whole thing. I don’t want it anymore.” She turns around as if to leave, and I quickly push away from the wall, grabbing her wrist before she can.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home,” she says, avoiding my eyes. “Or are you going to say no to that too since you’re set on making my decisions for me today?”

“Paula…”

She whips her head toward me, and I am taken by surprise by the pain in her eyes. “I’ve been thinking about getting this tattoo for a long time, Darrell. It’s special because it representsus, you and me. I finally worked up the courage to ask for it, only for you to turn me down. You’re the only person I want to do it, so if you won’t, then it’s not happening.”

I stare at her, trying to make sense of her words. Her wanting a tattoo that reminds her of us is like a punch to the gut, but something tells me that we are not talking about just the tattoo anymore, and yet, I can’t piece it together to make sense of it all. It’s clear to me that I’m missing something here.

“Paula, what’s this really about?”

“Nothing,” she hisses, wiping angrily at her cheeks. “Let go of me so I can go home.”

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