Page 9 of Smudged Lines (Tattooed Hearts Duet 2)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore my problems any longer. Not when they slapped me in the face with reality.

“What’s the deal with Thane? Your text sounded like something might’ve finally happened,” she asked, her voice jolting me back to the present.

“Oh, well.” I fidgeted, not sure how to explain. “Somethinghappened, but not what you’re thinking.”

“Okaaaay. Quit being cagey and spill the beans already!” She laughed, making a face at me.

“You’re so impatient, Darce,” I chided, but found myself smiling. Her infectious personality had already begun to ease some of my stress. Rolling my eyes at her this time, I straightened my shoulders as I prepared myself to share.

“Ugh, okay. I’d asked him to come over afterward, you know, thinking about seeing if things could develop more between us. I know he’s been wanting it too, waiting for me to be ready.” She sat on the edge of the booth, eagerly listening, encouraging me to share. “Butttt… before anything could happen, Slade and Simon showed up.”

“Shut the front door!” Darcie slapped the table, sloshing the cold coffee onto the surface.

“Yep.” I nodded, wiping up the splatter. It was an excuse to drop my eyes from hers really, hiding my emotions again.

“Well, and? Was it epic? I bet it was epic. Did they sweep in and lay claim? Was there a fight? Are they all in jail? Is that why you’re here and not shacked up in bed? What did Thane do?”

“Slow your roll, Darce. I swear you’re like a freakin puppy.”

She held her hands up, backing away from the excited stance she’d taken, after practically leaping across the table at me.

“Andnoneof that happened. You watch too many movies,” I huffed before continuing. “Slade sang a heartbreaking song, Thane left before it was over, and then I sang an anthem letting them know I wasn’t the same ol’ Lennox, and they couldn’t just come in with their big dick energy and hypnotize me into forgetting how they broke my heart.”

“Mmhm.” She nodded, pressing her lips together to keep her words in. Sighing, I waved my hand in front of her face to tell her to go on. She popped like a balloon with too much air as it rushed out and she began her rapid firing of questions at me.

“That sounds soooo romantic. Did they look hot? I bet they did. Did you want to lick them? Why did Thane leave? What did they say? Are you seeing them again? How can you not see how in love with you they are? I haven’t even met them and I know that! They can hypnotize me with their dicks any day.”

She finally quieted, swooning in her spot at the notion, missing the waiter who brought our food drooling over her. He placed her coffee and pancakes in front of her as he waited for her to notice.She did not notice.This wasn’t an uncommon thing. Darcie tended to like the guys who were unavailable. She’d yet to tell me why, despite me spilling all my secrets one night over ice cream. There was a story there, I just hoped she felt comfortable enough to tell me one day.

“Yeah, all yours.” I waved, but my stomach turned inside at the thought of them with anyone else. I didn’t even know if Ilikedthem, or if I could even be with both of them. Not to mention, if I evenwantedto be with both of them. However, the thought of them being with someone else,even Darcie, made me want to listen to angry music and thrash around a bit. Yeah, not a fan of that idea either. How was I supposed to figure this out if my own mind couldn’t figure out what the fudge it wanted?

“Uh-huh, sure. Yourfacesays otherwise.” She chuckled before digging into her pancakes, a loud moan leaving her at the bite. Every male within hearing distance watched her with hungry eyes, and my beautiful friend ate on, clueless to the hearts she broke daily.

“Soooooo,” she prodded, waving her syrup covered fork in my direction when I didn’t answer her insane questions. Sighing, I gave in, knowing she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted and began to tick them off with my fingers.

“It wasnotromantic. Unfortunately, they did look hot, but no, I don’t want to lick them. Thane had a vet emergency. Simon said he missed me, Slade yelled a bunch, andnothey’re not in love with me. I think that covers it.”

Lowering my hand, I hadn’t paid attention to Darcie, so focused on dismissing her probes, I’d missed her reaction. So when I met her eyes, I found them huge, focused on something behind me. Confused, I tilted my head, preparing to ask her a question, but before I could open my mouth, a deep, sexy timber I knew all too well, breathed into my ear.

“I think you’re leaving out a few details there,Peach.”

My breath caught, my face flaming as Slade appeared to the side of the booth with Simon in tow a few feet behind him. Slade crowded me, squeezing into the booth, not caring there wasn’t enough space for his large frame. His body pressed into mine, the heat of his touch searing into me. Slade ignored my stare, and reached across the table, offering his hand to Darcie. She was still frozen, her fork halfway to her mouth, the syrup dripping onto the table.

Despite the reason for her mishap being heartbreaker 1 and 2, it was quite humorous to see my usually unflappable friend stunned.

“Hello, I’m Slade, it’s nice to meet a friend of Peach’s.”

Darcie went to shake his hand, forgetting it was the one holding the fork, and managed to shove her pancake into his outstretched palm.

Sputtering, I couldn’t stop OJ from going up my nose at her reaction to him. In some ways, it was rewarding to see her just as affected by his alpha-male hotness. In others, I wanted to stab his hand with the fork and smush her face in syrup for the mere fact he was nicer to her than he’d ever been to me. Perhaps, I still had some aggression to work out where Slade was concerned. The angry music thrash-a-thon looked imminent for my future.

A napkin appeared under my nose, and I turned to see it belonged to Slade, as he looked right at me. There was a slight tilt to his lips as he waited for me to take it. This whole personality shift toward me was hard to reconcile. I mean, he was still a cranky buttmunch, but he no longer seethed hatred toward me. It was a slap to the face when I comprehended how much hehadhated me in order to treat me like he did. It was sobering to think someone could despise youthatmuch.

Snatching it, I wiped my nose, fighting the urge in me to say thanks. The laughter had died down in the meantime, and Darcie slid over, allowing Simon to sit next to her. I couldn’t take Slade’s body touching me any longer, so I picked up my purse against the wall and moved it between us. It gave my body some much-needed separation. However, the smirk he wore didn’t go unnoticed from the corner of my eye. I hated he knew how affected by his body I was. Dagnabit!

“You were saying,Peach?”

“Nope. I said everything.”

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