Page 21 of Smudged Lines (Tattooed Hearts Duet 2)

“No,” Simon answered, “because after having to lie to you about where I was going or who I was with, I couldn't do it anymore.”

“It hurts that you guys kept it from me,” I admitted, biting my lip. “I guess y'all kept a bunch of stuff from each other though.” I sounded even bitter to myself with that comment, and I reigned in the passive-aggressiveness and focused on moving forward.

“I think it would be a good idea to set some ground rules if we're going to be friends, to even have the opportunity or chance to be more than that. We have to put everything out on the table and be honest. There can't be any more lies, no more secrets. I want to learn to trust y'all again, and I need to learn to trust myself. In order to do that, I need to know we're all working to be honest with each other if I’m ever going to get past it.”

“I'm on board. I hated keeping secrets from you, Lenn, and it hurt keeping this one. I was miserable, and it only made it worse not telling you my real feelings.”

“So, what do we do now? How do we move past it all?”

I looked at both of them, hoping they had the magic answer. Slade hadn't said anything in a while, so I assumed he was standing by his earlier proclamation that he was all in. When neither of them offered a solution, I resigned myself to being the planner of the bunch.

“Well, we have about ten minutes until Darcie's class starts. So, we might as well go and get a good spot. She's looking forward to teaching you guys the dance.”

I wasn't surprised when Slade huffed, crossing his arms as he fixed his eyes at me. “You really expectmeto line dance, Peach?”

“Yeah, I do, actually. I think it'd be fun.” I lifted my chin in defiance, not backing down from the stare-off.

“Fine. I'll dance foryou, Peach.” He stalked forward, leaning down over me. “But I'm not gonna like it.”

“I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Tatzilla.” He smiled, almost killing me on the spot, effectively destroying my panties. Cheese on toast! It would be hard ignoring him if he kept that up.

“I've missed your sass, Peach,” he rumbled.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped back, trying to alleviate the temptation and give my hormones a break, and probably why my response came out sounding juvenile. “I'm sure, probably about as much as I missed your face.”

“Ah, I knew you liked me, James.”

Sighing, I ignored him and his too-cute smile and was thankful when Simon walked closer, wrapping me in his arms. I held him close, breathing his clean scent in again, needing to fill up my Simon bucket after missing him for months. Slade moved closer to us both, his body heat announcing his presence.

It still felt odd having him this close and acting friendly. My body responded to him, but my heart reminded me what was at stake—itself. So with great strength, I pulled back from both of them and crossed my arms, needing the protection.

Slade cocked a smug grin, his crooked smile becoming my new favorite thing until he leaned his arm on Simon's shoulder, and the two of them side by side became my favorite thing. Wowzers! The familiarity and comfortableness between them was evident, making my mind wander into naughty land.

“Before we participate in the torture, we really need to discuss Thane. I don't trust whoever this dude is pretending to be my brother.”

“Why do you think he's pretending? Likewho? What?” I jerked my head in confusion. “What's the purpose of impersonating someone? I don't understand why he’d do that and lie to my face.”

“Obviously, to get closer to you.”

“Why would they want to get closer to me?” I scoffed, not buying Slade's reasoning. Simon didn't say anything but didn't disagree either. “They could come up to me and be themselves. It's not like I'm scary. Thane isn’t pretending. There’s no purpose.”

“You’re right, you’re not scary, Peach, you’re intimidating as fuck. You’re crazy beautiful and don't even realize it. You’re dude kryptonite.”

“Pfft,” I rolled my eyes. “Don't try to sweet-talk me now, Slade.”

“Oh, is that what you think sweet talk is? How about I show you what sweet talk really is, Peach.”

He stalked closer, and my breath caught from the mere look in his eyes. I had to remind myself I didn't trust him for the millionth time, that I was still mad at him, and that I wanted more for myself. Now was not the time to be thinking with my vajayjay, so I pushed him back before he could touch me.

“Friends, Slade. Boundaries.”

“Sure, sure, Peach. I'll show you boundaries.”

Changing the subject, I focused back on what we’d been talking about. “Well, I guess Thane's not showing up,” I acknowledged, sadly. I’d really hoped to settle this tonight.

“Why would he show up? He can't. He’s not the real Thane. My brother is abroad, and faker knows he can't face me or he'd be outed. Think about it, Peach. Did he know I was going to be here?” He had one of his self-satisfied smiles on his face, thinking he was right and I was the dumb one. I wanted to wipe it off so bad.

“No. I just told him to meet me here. I sent the same text I did to you guys. I didn't say anything about who would be here.”

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