Page 33 of Revelation

Josh shakes his head. “Surprisingly, not on the list. Too horrible to even mention, I suppose. Right, Kat? Some tattoos are too stupid to make the list?”

My face is hot. “Please make it stop,” I say.

Josh squeezes my hand and kisses the side of my head. “All in good fun, baby,” he whispers to me. “This is how we show we like you.” He squeezes my hand again.

“Well, dude, aren’t you gonna show me?” Will says.

“Show him,” Reed says.

Josh shrugs, unbuttons his shirt, and pulls it down off his shoulders, revealing his muscled, tattooed chest and the tops of his gorgeous arms—and the sight of him makes my crotch instantly start filling with blood.

Josh bends his arms behind his head and flexes and everyone at the table bursts into laughter at the sight of the tattoos on the undersides of his biceps.

“Welcome to... the Gun Show,” Reed says, pointing out Josh’s tattoos like he’s Vanna White onWheel of Fortune. “That was the night I learned Josh Faraday will do literallyanythingto get a laugh.”

I’ve gone back into hiding behind my hands, partly because the sight of Josh baring his body in this restaurant is making me want to jump his bones and partly because I feel like I’m gonna barf.

“Hell yeah, I will. Life’s too short. Hey, Kat. Are you gonna come out from hiding any time soon?” Josh asks. “Come on, babe, join the party. We’re all friends here. Nobody’s mad at you. It’s all in good fun. It’s just what friendsdowith friends—they torture them.”

I slowly come out from under my arms like a turtle. “You guys, when I said all that stuff about prohibited tattoos and social suicide, I was just being a total and complete smart-ass. I just pulled that stuff out of thin air. I take it all back.”

“Ha! Don’t backtrack now, PG. Go big or go home, babe.”

“No, I was totally wrong. Please, God, just let me reverse time and take it all back.” I take a huge gulp of my martini.

“Come on, Stubborn Kat,” Reed says. “Don’t let Josh bully you into backing down from your closely held beliefs. Stay true to yourself.”

I shake my head. “He’s not bullying me. I don’t believe any of what I said.” I move my arm like I’m blessing them all. “You’re all supremely cool. Forget I ever said any of it.”

“How the hell did you survive with four brothers, Kat?” Josh says, spearing a vegetable on his plate. “A little bit of teasing and you back down? I expected so much more from Stubborn Kat.”

“You havefourbrothers?” Will asks.

“And no sisters,” Josh adds.

“Wow. That must have been fun growing up,” Will says.

I nod. “Fun and hell, simultaneously—kind of like right now. Two older, two younger. They taught me to have a thick skin, for sure.”

“The girl might as well have grown up in a frat house,” Josh says. “She’s an honorary dude. Well, usually. She’s definitely acting like a girl right now.” He takes a huge bite of food and grins.

I smile thinly at him.

Josh grabs my hand and kisses it again. “Well, young lady, let this be a lesson to you. I’m not only wise and powerful, I’m super cool, too—right down to my stupid tattoos.” He addresses the group. “See, the thing Kat doesn’t realize, is that it’s the ‘stupid’ tattoos that are the best ones. Because mistakes, big and small, are what teach us to learn and grow.”

“Exactly,” Will says emphatically. “Even the stupid tattoos wind up being profound if you think about them like that.”

“I was just being a smart-ass, Will. Please don’t be offended,” I offer.

“I’m not offended at all,” Will says gently. “My dragon tattooiskinda stupid—but the cool thing is that it’s camouflage for a huge mistake.” He smiles broadly at me. “That’s why I love it. Every time I look at the damned thing, I’m reminded I got my heart broken into a million pieces and came out the other side a dragon.” He takes a bite of his food.

Josh throws up his hands, totally enthralled. “Now see, that’s what I’m talking about, bro. Every tattoo, even if it’s a mistake, is a reminder of who youwereversus who you are now. A map of your evolution as a man.” He swigs his drink.

“Amen,” Will says. “The body is a living canvas. It’s all there: victory, failure, mistakes, lessons learned—all there for the world to see.”

“You know what we should do?” Josh says to Will, slamming down his fork with sudden excitement. “We should both complete our lame-ass trifectas tonight. Together.”

“Fuck yeah. Barbed wire, it is, baby,” Will says. They clink drinks.

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