Page 1 of Chasing Ink
Chapter One
I Hate Weddings
Alistair
I stare at Luke and Abigail as they dance together for the first time as husband and wife.They look sickeningly happy and I throw up in my mouth just a little.
Don’t get me wrong, I am happy for them, but I know I will never have this.
Since I can remember I have only wanted one girl, and she is so far off limits it’s laughable.She is also walking toward me with a smile I know means nothing but trouble.
“Why are you frowning?”she asks, staring up at me.“This is a happy occasion, and you look like you want to smash someone’s skull in.”
“Your brother put me in a monkey suit and this tie is strangling me.”
I pull at the offensive piece of silk and she laughs.Standing on her toes, she loosens the knot and lifts it over my head before undoing the top button of my shirt.
“What are you doing, Skye?”I ask, my voice a low rumble.
“Helping a friend,” she says back.“Does that feel better?”
I nod, unable to form any words.People think I’m quiet and stoic, but the truth is I’m terrified of saying anything because I may not be able to stop.If I allow any words to fall from my lips I just might let every thought I have ever had follow.
“Will you dance with me?”Skye asks softly.“My date stood me up.”
“Date?”
“Yes, Ali.People generally bring dates to weddings.”
“I don’t dance,” I say instead of asking who this person was.I already want to pummel him into the ground.
“You’ve danced with me,” she counters.“At my senior prom.”
I smile, remembering that night.“That’s because you looked so sad, all alone.”
Her face changes and I know I’ve said something wrong.Somehow, I always say the wrong thing to her.She turns to walk away and I grab her wrist.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean it like?Alistair?”She’s pissed.She only uses my full name when she’s angry.“Why don’t you explain to me, again, how you only spend time with me because I’m your best friend’s little sister.Or how we’re not really friends.”
Shit.I pull her away from the dance floor and out of the reception hall.I don’t want her brother seeing her this upset, not today.
“What do you want from me, Skye?”I ask once we are away from everyone else.
She glares, her chest heaving behind her grey silk dress.I can’t keep my eyes off her, haven’t been able to all day.The damn dress accentuates every curve of her body, and the fitted bodice lifts her full breasts even higher, making her cleavage more prominent.
“I want you to be a fucking man,” she says angrily.“Either we are friends and you stop treating me like a little girl.Or I am just Luke’s little sister and you stop eye fucking me.”
“What?”
“I’m not an idiot, Ali,” she says softly.“I know you’re not in love with me.This is real life, not a damn romance novel.But you want me.”
“I don’t...”
She cuts me off with a wave of her hand.“Since I came back from New York, you’ve been weird around me.So either make a move or back the fuck off.”
I stare at her in disbelief.This is not how I thought this day would go at all.“Luke would kill me.”The words are soft, but she hears them.
