AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Amber.” Ev pushes off Micah, throws her arms around me and drags me into their little group. “I want you to meet everyone.”
So I do, nodding and smiling.
First is Micah, of course. He knows who I am and seems interested in the fact I’m into art, which reminds me he’s a tattoo artist, and how cool is that? Thumbs up for Ev.
Then, just as I start to relax into the conversation, talking about tattoos, scarification and jewelry as ways of body modification with Micah, she hauls me away to meet her other friends and Micah’s co-workers.
Now, isn’t it weird that she’s the one introducing me to them, instead of her boyfriend? Though, it seems they’ve become good buddies with her, too.
Lucky girl. Seriously.
The guy with the Mohawk is Zane, the blond guy standing next to him Dylan. Then there’s Rafe, who has rakish golden hair and eyes like a cat, his big hand wrapped securely around his girlfriend’s smaller one. The girl’s name is Megan, and after giving me a blinding smile, she gently disengages her hand from her boyfriend’s—with some difficulty, I note with amusement and a bit of unease, as he doesn’t seem inclined to let go—and wanders off in search of someone.
Next in line are some of Micah’s closest friends—the blue-haired Ocean, who’s also a tattoo artist, and Seth, who’s one of the three apprentices at the tattoo shop and works in the evenings at a nearby movie theater.
Her voice fades into background noise as I take these boys in. Jeez… Ocean’s hair is the hue of his eyes, and Seth is all dark exotic eyes and broad cheekbones, a light scruff dusting his jaw, and... holy crap. Hot boy overload. I hope I’m not drooling. I check my mouth to make sure it isn’t hanging open, and find Seth’s eyes on me.
He nods and smiles, probably trying not to laugh as he catches me in the act of discreetly wiping my chin.
Dammit!
“So you’re the friend Ev mentioned,” he says. “Any friend of Ev’s is a friend of mine, and same goes for my cranky cousin Shane, if you happen to see him hiding in some corner. He’s the long-haired, grumpy one in the family.” Seth’s eyes crinkle at the corners. His teeth are white but slightly crooked, and one of the incisors is chipped, I notice. Cute. “We both owe Ev a lot.”
Ev and Seth share a look I can’t decipher. There’s history in that look, history I don’t have a clue about—but never mind. Somehow I like this guy. His affection for Ev shines through his eyes, and his smile is kind.
The black studs and silver bars that shine in his ears are interesting, too, as are the tattoos visible on his neck and arms. One cool boy.
Then he turns to say something to Ocean, and I notice a stiffness in his movements. That reminds me of something Ev mentioned, about one of Micah’s friends getting beaten up by her crazy ex. I wonder if it was Seth. He has a pinkish scar on his jaw, now that I’m looking more closely, and his nose is slightly crooked, as if it was broken at some point in the past.
Before I can get a better look at his tats or ask Ev about him, she steers me away.
“I want you to meet Cassie,” she says, and Cassie turns out to be a fairytale-pretty girl Ev used to work with, at a sports store downtown. Cassie is here with her best friend, a long-legged brunette with the most amazing dark, long-lashed eyes I’ve ever seen, and jeez Louise, is everyone picture perfect in here? I’m starting to feel like the ugly duckling.
They both smile p
olitely – two porcelain dolls, one fair, the other dark. They ask if I’ve been to Madison before and how I like it here—
—and by the time they turn away to talk to someone else, the living room has turned into a porn movie.
Or what I imagine a porn movie to be like, anyway.
Bodies writhing on the sofa. Bodies writhing against the walls. Bodies humping and grinding in corners, leaving a few odd ones out who are uneasily swaying to the music in the middle of the room.
Crap.
But Ev doesn’t even bat an eye at the mess. She drags me inside, past a threesome on the coffee table, and keeps moving.
“So if Micah and you are moving in together, who is Seth moving in with?” I ask as she tugs me along.
“He isn’t. He’s getting a new roommate.” She stops, glances around. “Man, can’t see Jesse, but there’s Shane. Let’s go say hi. Don’t let him scare you off. He’s your typical tall, dark, silent type.”
She links her arm through mine and pulls me across the living room as if the porn scene unfolding around us is perfectly normal.
Maybe it is, and the hot, dark current zipping under my skin and sending an ache through my core only makes me more uneasy by the minute. I feel like a voyeur, and it makes me wish for something I’m too scared to chase after anymore.
How sad is that?
“Hey there, Shane,” Ev trills. “Glad you could make it.”
