Page 17 of Rejected Pretend Mate

Weslie had always been fit, but this was another level. He was no longer a teenage boy in shape but a full-grown man built to go into fires and save lives.

Focus April. You are just staying with him until this situation is resolved. You don't need to stare at him.

I decided to focus my attention on Weslie's sleeve tattoo. It was a pack of wolves that wrapped around his arm. The detailing was amazing. It was made in black and white, with shading. There were trees around the wolves, and the scene was outstanding.

He looked down at his arm and then up at me. "I started it when I moved here. It's all of the guys."

My eyebrows went up. "Really? Like all the guys at the fire station?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He pulled his hand up, pointing at each of the wolves. "Ayden, Owen, and Miles are in the front. Thomas, Cayden, and Lucas are in the back."

I stared at the tattoos, taking each of them in. "You didn't want to add yourself?"

He shook his head. "No need."

"It's beautiful," I said. "I didn't know you wanted tattoos."

"I wanted ones that had a good meaning behind them. I never had the need for them growing up. It wasn't until I was here that I wanted one."

"So, what changed?"

He gave me a half smile. "It was my second time out with them. There was a fire in an abandoned building. We didn't think it was serious until we discovered some kids were playing there. I'd watched the guys get into action before, but this was different. It hit all of us differently, and I realized I never wanted to do anything else. I was where I needed to be."

He turned and showed me his back tattoo, which was a compass with fire all around it. It was intricate, and the fire station logo was intertwined with the fire.

"Which is when I got this one."

My eyes stared at it, and I reached a hand up, running my fingers over one of the hands on the compass. "It's stunning."

He smiled. "Thank you. Though, I must say your back tattoo was pretty amazing. I only saw it briefly, but it looked like it had taken a while. Did it take a couple of sessions?"

I blushed and nodded my head. "Thank you. And yeah, it was about ten hours in total. The shading took the longest." I pulled my hand back, thinking of when I got the tattoo. It was my newest one.

I got it when my grandmother died two years ago. She had been a sweet woman. Her views on things were much like the packs, but she was open-minded and wanted me to be happy. She had a love for flowers and their meaning, so I ordered her boutique for her funeral and had it tattooed onto my back.

"When did you get yours?" he asked. "I never thought you'd be the type to get a tattoo, much less one that large."

I laughed. "I've always been rebellious. It started with piercing my ears and getting my belly button done. It then led to tattoos, which I found I enjoy. Actually, Ivan is the one that convinced me."

I thought of when Ivan took me to get my first tattoo. I got a small flower on my ankle. I loved it and loved him so much for paying for it. I had never thought I would end up here.

"Really? Ivan convinced you." His eyebrows went up on that.

I nodded. "Yeah, he convinced me to do a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have done. Like smoking."

His eyes widened. "You smoked?"

I nodded. "Yeah, started smoking and then stopped smoking. I then started again and stopped about a year ago. Riley said she was going to sign me up for some online program if I didn't."

He started to laugh. "I bet your folks enjoyed that. Your mother almost killed your brother when he had a friend's pack of cigars in his pants."

I snorted, remembering how angry they had gotten when they found me smoking. That was nothing to how angry they were when they found out about my back tattoo. I was pretty sure my mother wanted to skin me alive.

It was unladylike. No man would want me when I was marked up like that. They didn't know that Ivan had opened me up to that world. I had wanted one but was too chicken shit to get one. He just nudged me.

"They were not impressed, and considering you know my folks pretty well, you can imagine how that all went down."

I watched as Weslie moved around on the island, looking uncomfortable. I frowned, wondering if it was my own doing. We were both trying to make this as comfortable as we could. But I had moved into his space so quickly without warning.

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