Page 66 of Forbidden

“What the fuck?” Lane coughs through his sip of wine.

I narrow my eyes at Aldo as my skin heats. “You’re a dick.”

He laughs. “I mean, the team is pretty incestuous this year.”

“Eww,” I wrinkle my nose. “Please don’t use that word.”

Lane holds up his drink in agreement. “Seconded. But did you really think that, Joy?”

I don’t miss the hurt in his eyes—disappointment that I would doubt him. Even so, I shoot him a withering look. “I mean, you were seconds away from getting your dicks out when Doug and I found you, so . . .”

Lane’s cheeks turn pink, his eyes widening as they flit to Aldo. “Joy. I—”

“No.” I hold up my hands. “We’re not doing this again. This weird loyalty, preference thing.”

Lane frowns at me and I take a large gulp of my wine, grateful that it’s strong enough that I’m already feeling a little buzzed.

“Aldo and I both know you still have feelings for me,” I say, forcing myself to look him in the eyes. “But I know you also think Aldo is hot.”

Lane opens his mouth to protest, but I shake my head. “This is what I mean. It’s fine. You can like us both. I like you both, too.”

The emotions that flit over Lane’s face would be comical if I wasn’t drowning in anxiety over what I just admitted. His blue eyes latch onto mine, as though asking for confirmation of what I just said—that I like him. It’s stupid, because of course I do. I more than like him. I might have spent the last four years hating him, but since he stepped back into my life, my heart seems to be all too eager to forget that fact.

“Is it weird if I say I like you both, too,” Aldo says, causing me to break away from Lane’s stare.

I exhale, sinking into the sofa and taking another deep sip of wine. “No. If anything, it’s less awkward. We all like each other. That can only be a good thing, right?”

Silence settles over us and I focus on my glass of wine, suffocating in sexual tension. I go to take another sip and groan when I realize it’s empty. I reach for the bottle Lane placed on the table and turn to the others, glad to see their glasses are also empty.Hooray for using alcohol as a coping mechanism!

I refill their glasses, the room feeling a thousand degrees.

“Can you open a window or something?” I ask Lane. “It’s hot as hell in here.”

Lane laughs. “The heat is on, but it’s low. If I open a window, we’ll freeze. Just take your sweatshirt off.”

Scowling at him, I pull my dark green FWU sweatshirt off and toss it to the empty chair on the other side of the coffee table. I’m wearing a black camisole top underneath with a built in bra, and I hate that he’s right, and I feel more comfortable now. I comb my fingers through my hair a few times, pulling it over my shoulder, before reaching for my glass of wine.

Before I can sit back, Lane’s fingers touch my spine, and I freeze.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you about this,” he says softly.

The hairs on my arms stand on end as he traces his fingers over the ink. “What did you want to know?”

He takes his hand away and I sit back.

“Is it a water dragon?”

It might seem like an innocent question, and I glance at Aldo, who looks confused as hell. I give him a small smile. “When Lane and I were kids, we got into an argument over which creature would be faster in the water. Most of the other kids at the competition were talking about being sharks and crap like that. Lane and I decided we were water dragons. I mean, we were ten. But it kind of stuck. It was our thing.”

Aldo’s eyes soften as he realizes what I’m saying. “You started that tattoo in freshman year as soon as the season finished. I remember Doug giving you shit, saying it better have healed by September.”

I smile, remembering how pissed he’d been. I’d only had the outline done, with plans to start the detailing over the summer. It took years to finish.

When I look at Lane, he’s staring at his wine. I know what he’s thinking. He broke my heart, but I still got the memory of us tattooed on my skin.

“Why?” he asks, his gaze still fixed on his glass.

My heart drops into my stomach as I war with whether I should be honest or not. I take a shaky breath. “Two reasons. Because I wanted a reminder. Dragons are fierce. Strong. You hurt me, but I wanted to remind myself that I was more than my broken heart.”

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