Page 194 of Treacherous
“The end of senior year of high school, after that night at the beach.”
It was one of my first tattoos, and I didn’t even hesitate. The willow tree makes up part of my sleeve, while jasmine flowers blooming on a vine intertwine with the tree, weaving up my collarbone and down to my heart.
The rest of my sleeve is filled with various symbols that correlate to an important person.
A surfboard for my dad because surfing was the first love of his life.
A sunflowers for my mum because it was the plant I dug out of our garden when I was seven years and trying to bring a smile to her face.
And finally on my pulse point is pink rose–the only tattoo with colour–because I needed a reminder that Allison will always be with me. Even when I move forward.
I glance to Willow’s quivering lips, a smile forming. She rests her head on my arm, against the tattoo. “I can’t believe I didn’t fall in love with you sooner.”
“That’s okay. My love for you was strong enough to wait until you were ready.” I pause. “Until we were both ready.”
Eventually, we make our way downstairs because even though I would love to stay in bed with her all day, we agreed to meet up with Theo and Jaz to inform them of the good news. I’m surethey already know because our post-win kiss was all over social media.
We enter the lounge room, where some of our teammates are trying to watch a film, while the rest are arguing.
“Hand over the winnings right this instant,” Aiden says, his hand moving in a ‘give me’ motion.
Willow and I look at each other, confusion written on our faces. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Everyone and I meaneveryone, replies simultaneously. “Nothing.”
Willow narrows her eyes. “Yes, because that is not suspicious at all.”
I watch her gaze drift to Cooper, a smirk forming on her lips. “Coops, do you have something to tell me?”
I laugh as he tries to fight his instinctive honesty, while receiving glares from our teammates. “All of us put bets on when you and Jayden would get together,” Cooper blurts out. He takes a deep breath. “Holy shit, that feels good to get off my chest.” Cooper smiles, his shoulders dropping.
“Seriously, Cooper? I swear you can’t keep a secret to save your life.” Conner says.
“Hey, don’t insult me. I won the bet anyway,”
“So did I, Cooper. We are splitting that money,” Aiden adds.
“Right. Oh, Jazmine picked the same dates as us, so it’s actually a three-way split.”
My jaw drops. “So, not only were my teammates betting on me, but my sister was too. Unbelievable.”
Aiden laughs. “It was obvious you both wanted to fuck each other, so it wasn’t the biggest leap to say you would fall in love.”
Willow rolls her eyes. “Speaking of Jazmine, we should get going before she spams my phone even more.”
I laugh as Willow hands me her phone.
Jazmine Allen:
Are you coming?
Hurry up!!!
Seriously, I’m bored out of my mind.
Wait, are you not answering because you’re having…
No. I can’t even think about it.
