Born of Ice (Reborn #1)

20. Fine, I guess I’ll keep you

20

Fine, I guess I’ll keep you

Electra

There’s a knock on our front door and I start toward it but hear Exton beats me to it. “Well, hello there,” he greets whomever it is.

“H-hey,” my friend’s voice stutters as I round the corner and she shoots her eyes from Exton’s intimidating and half naked form to me, the relief visible on her face but it’s short lived.

“Hey,” I call out, smiling when I see her.

Aurora was someone I considered my best—and only—friend back in the day. We went to the same school as everyone else in this small town did, but it wasn’t until I joined Stella’s center that we really bonded. She was already a proficient skater at that time and had great potential. So, it really surprised me to see her working everywhere but in figure skating, but then again, a lot has changed since I left Iris Lake without looking back.

My heart soared when she embraced me that night at Blade’s. I didn’t deserve her warm welcome, not after the way I left, yet this was the Rory I remember. Kind, loving, compassionate and forgiving.

But then I got to see the new her. The guarded one, protective and too beat up with life.

I wish I was there for her to lean on. I wish I didn’t leave that day when she wanted to talk to me. I’m ashamed to say I forgot about it until she showed me the picture of her son on her phone and the memory slammed into me like a brick of ice.

I was supposed to meet her at the park in the morning. She called me late at night, asking to talk to me, that it was urgent, and I remember thinking “what could possibly be so important?”

But looking at a small bundle of excitement jumping up and down next to her, tugging on her coat and quietly asking, “Mommy, can I? Please, please, Mommy, can I?” I can assume what that conversation was about and the bottom of my stomach sinks.

I left her. I left her when she needed me the most. When we were the only people besides Stella that each of us had. But I left because a week prior to that—Filip Masso showed up, shined a future golden medal in front of my eyes and blinded me with it. And then with Erik. So, when that same morning he told me we were leaving now, I didn’t question it. I packed and without a single goodbye left Iris Lake in the dust.

I left everyone and everything. I ruined everything. I did so much damage out of pure selfishness.

“Electra.” Exton’s stern voice breaks through my haze as his hand clamps around my shoulder. “Breathe,” he says, and I suck in a deep breath, as if I needed his command to do that, to pull out of the panic attack that was quickly coming over me.

I take a deep breath, concentrating on Exton’s voice and presence, on his scent, and feel. I must look like a lunatic to Aurora and her son. Oh, God, the little boy doesn’t need to see any of this.

That thought alone sobers me up and I open my eyes, tentative smile gracing my lips that fools only one person here. “This must be Emett?” I ask, swallowing the huge ball in my throat and the little boy jumps up, looking at me with huge, green eyes.

“That’s me! That’s me! I’m Emett,” he says, proudly pointing to his chest and something warms in mine.

He’s full of light and hope and it’s infectious because the crippling chill I felt a second ago, dissipates at the sight of him.

“And you’re Electra Monroe, my mommy’s best friend, and the best figure skater in the whole wide world,” the boy proclaims excitedly, unaware of the tiny blow he dealt to the ice around my heart. I look up to Rory, but she’s looking anywhere but me, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

She still thinks that? After everything? After all the times I’ve let her down, she still thinks that?

However, before I can say anything, Emett adds in a whispered tone, “And that’s Exton Quinn.” There is so much awe and trepidation in his voice as if we are standing in the presence of something holy and I can just feel Exton’s ego grow tenfold right now.

Great, just what we need.

I only hope he doesn’t crush this sweet boy’s heart with his assholeness, but to my surprise, Exton lowers himself to a squat in front of Emett and shakes the boy’s little hand. “That’s me and you must be the new superstar everyone is talking about.”

“No, they’re not.” Emett wrinkles his nose, but stares at his hand with that same awe.

Aurora sighs. “Great, now he won’t wash that hand for weeks.”

“Are you kidding me, Mommy? I’m not washing it ever!” he says, and Exton bursts out laughing.

“I’m sorry to just barge in on you guys like this but I made the mistake of telling him about the lessons Exton Quinn is going to give him and he hasn’t shut up about it for even a minute. In fact, I woke this morning with his little face hoovering over mine.”

“Why?” I ask her with a smile, trying to picture how would my own mornings look with my own child, but just as quickly I squash that thought. Not gonna happen.

“I was waiting for Mommy to wake up. It’s her day off so I didn’t want to wake her but it’s also the only day she could take me to see Exton, and I was using my Superman powers to wake her without touching her,” Emett says proudly, and Aurora sighs again.

“And my little boy is really a Superman because here we are.”

She messes with his hat and he scrunches his nose, swatting her hand away lightly and whisper-yelling, “ Moooom , you can’t call me little in front of Axe!” He then straightens up and looks at Exton with solemn expression way too old for his age, and I have the hardest time keeping my laugh to myself.

“Mr. Axe, I promise I’m all grown up.”

“Well, that makes one of you,” I snicker as Exton shoots me a playful glare and mocks me, sticking his tongue out. “Case in point.”

I know it before it happens and grip my wheels to ride for my life, but Exton is on me before I can blink, hauling me out of my chair and throwing me over his shoulder. “I’ll show you a kid,” he tells me planting a slap on my butt, and I yelp, smacking his back in return.

“Exton!” I hiss. “There is a child here! What are you doing?”

“That’s why your pretty ass is turned away from the door, angry elf,” he says casually and then turns around to face Aurora and Emett who are still standing at the door, their mouths open in a same manner only with different expressions.

Where Rory is blushing and trying to avert her eyes from us, little Emett is looking at Exton like he just fell in love with him a bit more.

Great, she is never bringing him here again.

“Please come in,” Exton says to them. “We were just going to have breakfast.” He carries me to the dining table, sitting me on one of the chairs and when he stands up, his cheek brushes mine, setting off a million fireworks from that brief, platonic touch, and I’m once again short of breath.

Aurora refuses at first, telling us they can wait outside, that they don’t want to encroach on our time and space, apologizing for coming at a bad time and not calling beforehand, but Emett has no such issues, the little bundle just walks straight up to the table, planting himself on one of the free chairs with huge effort which looks quite hilarious because he’s in full winter get up—shoes, huge parka, scarf and all that—and by the time he’s sitting straight in it, he’s all red, breathing heavy and pulls at his scarf with his tiny finger.

“I need a good breakfast after that,” he announces innocently but very much seriously, and as Exton and I burst out laughing we hear Rory let out a loud exasperated groan as she slaps her face.

“I swear, I teach him manners, I just don’t know where they escaped to this morning.”

Exton wipes underneath his eyes from laughing so hard and brings over a stack of French toast along with fresh berries, jams, and maple syrup.

“I have manners, Mommy,” Emett protests.

“Mm-hmm.” She grunts, walking up to us and removes his coat and shoes before taking the last chair which is the one Exton usually occupies and that means he’ll have to sit right next to me.

“I think he’s quite perfect,” Axe says just as Emett’s small hand reaches into the bowl of blueberries, snatching a few and stuffing them into his mouth.

Aurora watches him with an open mouth and then groans again. “I did not see that. That was a figment of my imagination right, Emett? Or did I miss you using your manners again.”

“Mr. Axe, do you have some chamile tea?” Emett asks in all seriousness.

“You mean chamomile?”

“That’s what I said, chamile tea.” Exton looks at me, quirking his eyebrow in a silent question and I nod through my silent laughter that just gets worse when the boy adds, “Can you make that for Mommy? She seems stressed today.”

“You little…” Rory stops herself, pursing her lips and I really don’t know how much more laughing my stomach can take. “You just wait till we get to the store later today. I’ll show you stressed.”

“Mr. Axe, can you make her two chamile teas?”

Exton and I are on the floor dying from laughter, and even Aurora’s shoulders shake with one too.

“You have the most amazing son, Rory,” I tell her, and she smiles softly, her loving gaze trained on the scene in front of us where Exton is running Emett through warmups.

After the best breakfast I’ve ever had, Exton sat Emett on the couch, asking him what he knows about hockey and all the other gibberish I don’t understand as they waited for food to settle and then they both changed and hit the ice as Aurora and I made ourselves comfortable at the front of the house with me in my wheelchair and her on a camping chair that Exton pulled out of the garage for her, both wrapped in thick blankets.

“Yeah, I do,” she agrees. “Even if he’s a small menace at times who is determined to embarrass me into the ground.”

After a few beats of tense silence, I say, “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about that day, wasn’t it?”

Aurora is still for a second and then she nods without looking at me.

“Yeah, I was going crazy in my own head and needed to talk to someone.” Now her eyes find mine and I take in a shuddering breath. “You were that someone for me.”

“I’m sorry.” My voice may sound quiet and tentative but what it is, is ashamed. “I’ve let down a lot of people I loved.”

I can feel Aurora’s gaze on me but this time it’s I who can’t look at her.

“By doing what? Going after your dreams? That’s not something you need to apologize for, least of all, to me.” My eyes snap to hers. That was not what I expected.

“We all have our own storms to chase or chase away, Electra, and I’ll never blame you for that.” There is an earie chill to her words. “You are the best of the best, so I’d say the gamble paid off.”

“Was. I was the best of the best.”

“No, you are .”

“God, you sound just like Exton. Did he give you a list of sentences to repeat to me?”

Rory chuckles softly.

“No, but since that’s the truth, maybe you should start listening to the two people who love you.”

My whole body goes stiff at her words. And I have to blink a few times before my brain catches up to what she must’ve meant as friends. They both love me as friends, because that’s what they are; albeit, Exton is very fresh in that role and I’m not sure how much of what our jabs and taunts could be described as love, but there is no other explanation for what she could have meant. And Aurora doesn’t elaborate on it either.

“He’s great with him,” she speaks up, nodding toward Exton and Emett as he runs him through drills, correcting him when it needs be and praising him for the smallest accomplishments.

He is great with him. Better than great, even. Exton looks like a natural and I wonder what kind of father he would be. From the story he told me about his childhood, it didn’t sound like he had a great example to follow, but maybe that’s what would make him be amazing at it.

A sudden vision of a curly, dark-haired boy with icy blue eyes that are more than familiar to me as he skates with a stick along Iris Lake, flashes in front of my eyes, and I suck in a sharp breath. Where did that come from?

I never once considered having kids of my own. Maybe it was due to my profession and the fact that it was the most important baby of all to me. Maybe the thought was inspired by Stella’s lifestyle and watching her live it for the majority of my life now. Or maybe it’s the fear coursing through my blood every time I think about hearing the same diagnosis mom had and leaving my child all alone, clinging to my dying body in an empty hospital room.

No, I’ve never considered it or had any desire for kids yet now I see it as clear as a day and a piece of me—one I didn’t know existed—dies when my eyes fall upon my useless legs and the cage they are in.

Shaking my head to clear that hallucination—because that’s what it was—I pick up a different subject to talk about, asking Aurora about her life here and what she’s been doing these past years.

The conversation flows as easily as it used to five years ago, but that’s just who Aurora is. She doesn’t hold grudges. Even when she should.

But she’s an angel who’s been through her own storm.

Out of nowhere we hear a deep rumble, and both our heads turn at the sound of an approaching vehicle as a huge forest-green truck comes into view, prowling through the snow terrain like a mean panther through its domain.

Severin.

I smile, remembering how nice it was to talk to Exton’s friend. I’m glad he was able to make it out here again, knowing how busy they are with their games.

At the back of my mind a funny thought trickles in, I haven’t seen Exton watch a single hockey game while he’s been here all this time—and it’s been weeks now. I’ve never even heard him talk about his team apart from his explanations that he will be back with them as soon as I stand up. But that’s it. Even now as he watches his friend approach, he frowns, and I find that weird.

Looks like I’m not the only one keeping a few more secrets here.

“Electra!” Severin shouts wearing a beaming smile as he climbs out of his car, his caramel-blonde hair perfectly styled, his black puffer jacket looks as expensive as it probably is and a few neck tattoos are visible from the neckline, giving him that bad boy aura when he doesn’t possess a single bad boy bone in his body. His well-worn dark wash jeans mold his goalie ass as well as I remember from the last time.

I smile and wave to him as he rounds the car to the passenger side and pulls out a huge box with a big, red bow on top of it.

I’m vaguely aware of how stiff Aurora’s body has gone and how I barely see any condensation coming from her mouth as if she’s not breathing much. I want to ask if she’s okay, but Sava is right in front of us now, standing in all of his six foot something large glory.

“Hey,” I greet him with a smile of my own at the same time as a splash of cold ice hits my face, making me aware of Exton’s presence here as well. “Asshole,” I grumble, wiping at the icy water. “What was that for?”

“You looked like you needed to cool off,” he tells me with his narrowed eyes going between me and his best friend.

Now what is his problem?

“Exton.” Sava greets him with that chin tilt the men do and he gives him one of his own, but much cooler. “I see everything is as it was here? You are still your charming self?” he asks with light humor, but my hulk doesn’t take it as such.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have a game…sometime soon.” It’s my turn to narrow my eyes.

Does he not even know the schedule of the games?

“We do, tomorrow, but it’s against New York and I had some free time today to make it out here to see you guys.”

“Mm-hmm, okay, you saw us, now you can go back.”

“Exton!” I smack his thigh, and he frowns at me. “That’s not nice.”

“Since when did you think I was?”

“Apologize,” I say tightly, and he looks like he wants to strangle me but then he grits out, “Sorry.”

“Like you mean it, Exton.”

“Fuck no, he came here to flirt with you. The fuck am I supposed to be nice to him for?” Well, that comment shuts me up real quick, and I look between them, my mouth opening and closing without anything coming out of it.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Severin muses to himself, shaking his head as an amused smile plays on his lips. “Oh, man, I didn’t think I’d see the day.”

“Shut up, asshole, and drive away,” Exton snarks back but there is no bite behind it this time.

Sava still shakes with silent laughter, setting that big box on the ground at my feet but the laughter dies out as soon as he lifts up and finally notices someone sitting next to me.

That someone who was doing a good job at impersonating an unmovable, stiff doll up until now.

Until Severin’s eyes find her and she shudders. I swear, I see that same shudder run through him as if the same bolt of lightning slashed through them both at the same time.

“Oh, um…” He clears his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously and his easy attitude from a minute ago, long gone. “Will you introduce us?” he asks but doesn’t tear his eyes off hers.

“This is my friend, Aurora. Aurora, this is Exton’s friend and goalie for Outlaws, Sever—” but I don’t get to finish as a shrill shriek of excitement echoes through the lake.

“Mr. Brick!” We all hear a small voice skate around Exton and all but plant face first into the bit of snow in front of us in his excitement to see yet another famous NHL player.

“Easy there, kid, we still need you in one piece.” Exton helps him up, chuckling. “I see you know Mr. Brick here as well?”

I can only assume that Mr. Brick is Severin’s hockey nickname.

“Are you kidding me? Who doesn’t?”

“Hey, little man.” Sava drops to his hunches in front of Emett. “It seems a little unfair that you know my name, but I don’t know yours,” he says with a smile.

“I’m Emett!” he proclaims excitedly. “And I’m gonna be the best hockey player when I grow up!”

“Are you now?” Sava asks, amused.

“Mm-hmm, that’s why Mommy brought me here today. So, I can train with The Axe.” I will never stop being amused by the way he makes Exton sound like a god. Never.

At the word “Mommy” Severin shoots a look Aurora’s way, staring at her in shock. “That pretty girl is your mommy?” he asks Emett who is giggling now.

“Yeah! The prettiest mommy in all the world,” Emett says as Rory tucks in a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, her cheeks taking on a new shade of pink that has nothing to do with the cold air.

The tension floods the air as suddenly as Severin’s appearance, and I look around to see if I’m the only one who’s noticed it, but when my eyes snatch to Exton’s he looks oblivious to all but the box at his friend’s feet.

“Are you planning to reveal the big mystery behind the huge box with a f—” Exton stops himself, casting a glance at Emett’s curious face and clears his throat. “Fabulous bow on top?” he amends, and both Rory and I are barely suppressing our chuckles.

At least she seems to be out of the stupor.

“Oh,” Sava says, looking down to the said box as if he’d forgotten it was there. “Um, this is for Electra. It’s a helmet. You know for when you decide to play hockey together again,” he adds sheepishly, and I smile, feeling genuinely excited for probably the weirdest gift I’ve ever received but then again, I’ve never had hockey gods as friends before, so there’s that.

“How considerate of you,” Exton states drily.

“Are you also dating Miss Electra?” Emett suddenly speaks up and we all freeze and then turn to his inquisitive eyes. “Because I think Mr. Axe already is, and if you’re not, can you date my mommy? You think she’s pretty, right?”

“Jesus Christ! Emett!” Aurora hisses, followed by a long groan before she covers her face with both hands.

“What? I’m just looking for you,” he says like he’s at least a fully-grown teenager and not the smartest four-year-old I’ve ever met, and I’m pretty sure he meant he’s looking out for her but he is still a four-year-old and everything he comes up with sounds infinitely better. “Everyone in kindergarten would die,” he says with extra exaggeration.

Aurora’s voice seems to have left the building and she only shakes her head.

Exton can no longer help himself and bursts out laughing. “Kid, have I told you that you are my favorite yet? When we have a son, I want him to be just like you.” He pats the top of his helmet.

Is it just me or did I hear him say we? Who, we? Who is he referring to? I guess he does have a girlfriend then.

But just then that weird hallucination of a dark-haired boy with icy eyes flashes in front of my eyes again and for some reason, this time I can’t blink it away as fast. And it’s as if Exton can sense exactly what picture my mind has conjured up, in which puddle I’m sinking anew because he gives me a quick glance with the most promising wink.

Now, what’s that supposed to mean?

“Come on, champ, let’s go practice some more before you marry off your mom to some stranger.” Exton claps his shoulder and steers him away, winking toward Aurora’s grateful gaze.

“I’m so sorry. Please don’t mind my son, Mr. Minaev. He’s been out of it today. I think all the excitement from meeting Exton Quinn—and now you—gotten to him,” my friend says apologetically.

Severin chuckles, flashing his cute dimple her way. “There’s nothing wrong with him wanting to look out for his pretty mom.”

I did not think it was possible for Rory to blush even deeper, yet here we are. She bites her bottom lip, quickly hiding her reaction. “More like looking out for himself, didn’t you hear him? Everyone is going to die in kindergarten.” She clucks her tongue. “Mind you he doesn’t even go to kindergarten yet.”

“He’s thinking ahead, and I kinda like it,” Sava muses and gets interrupted by his friend.

“Hey, pretty boy, get your skates on and your ass out here. Emett is gonna hand it to you,” Exton calls out to him, making the little boy in question sparkle with glee, and feeling so, so special.

The ice around my heart thaws a little more.

Yeah, he’d be great with kids…

“My man, Axe, you need to keep up with practices if you want to be back on the real ice,” Severin jokes, but I don’t miss the pointed way Exton ignores his comment.

And apparently, Severin doesn’t either because he adds, “We miss you. The team is not the same without you.”

I only notice his hands tighten on the handle of his hockey stick because my eyes are tracking him like my own shadow. “Spare me the bullshit, Minaev,” he bites out, and I get a sense Exton didn’t mean to let that slip—yet it did. Along with a look of anger I’ve only seen in his eyes back when my physical therapist was here. And when he punches that wall.

It’s the kind you go for a kill with and the simple talk about his beloved team brought it out.

“Axe…” Sava tries, but Exton is already off, wearing a familiar fake smile as he shows Emett something else.

“Sava?” I ask him, not really knowing what I’m asking about but I guess Severin does because he looks at me with a sad smile.

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure what’s going on. At first, I thought he took this babysitting job—no offence.” I wave him off, urging him to continue. “Well, I thought he took it to clear his head. He had some issues with the team. But now…” He exhales a tired breath. “Now, I’m not sure he actually wants to be in the game anymore. You know he didn’t have to come here. He didn’t have to take that ultimatum. Exton is one of the best defensemen the league. Any team would snatch him up as soon as he was let go from Outlaws. Yet he came here. And he’s stayed. And he doesn’t want to come back.” Sava takes a long look at me, one laced with questions and concerns but I’m not sure what those are.

Before I get the chance to ask them, he leaves to join the guys.

“What was that about?” Rory asks.

“I have no idea.” But I plan to find out.

“I think I want to go see one of your games,” I utter into the dead silence of the night that instantly fills with tension.

Exton just carried me back into our room after we watched another Marvel movie, proclaiming that he’s not spending another night sleeping on that awful couch and we got ready for bed, but I can’t put to rest the questions swirling in my mind from a few days ago.

“You mean a hockey game?”

“No, I mean an Outlaws game.”

“Why?” Well, there’s a way to make one-worded question feel that loaded.

“It’s your team, why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s not my team. It’s a team I play on.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it.”

“Nothing interesting about it,” he bites. “The team hates my guts.”

“Why not switch teams then?”

I feel the mattress shake underneath me as Exton suddenly moves and before I know it, he’s no longer facing the wall, but is turned my way with his long arms reaching for my helpless body and maneuvering us until he’s spooning me from the back like that first night he slept here.

“Wha—” I start to ask but he speaks over me, killing my question with a pin dropping statement.

“They don’t need me.” His voice is barely more than a whisper of cold air, yet it freezes me to the bone and suddenly I understand his need to be close. To hold me. “They don’t need me, and I keep trying to prove to everyone that they are wrong, only to make an even bigger mess of things. Why do I do that?”

The raw vulnerability in it. The desperation and hurt. It’s all there and it’s so familiar to my own soul. I feel it. I feel it with every molecule of my being because no one needs me either. Not anymore. And I ache to take that away from him. To rip that feeling out of his chest.

Is that why he’s here? He feels like I need him?

But do I need Exton?

More than air… my soul whispers into my ear but I shake it off.

“Fine, I guess I’ll keep you.” I sigh, feigning hardship and he sees right through me because his chest shakes with silent relief behind me, drawing me deeper into his body.

“You guess?” I can hear the smirk in his voice, and I nod, knowing he can feel my head moving against his bare, hot chest. “How very altruistic of you, Electra Monroe.”

“No, not really. I’m being opportunistic here.”

“Oh, yeah?” His smile grazes my back, and I can almost feel his teeth against my skin. “And what do you plan to do with me, Miss Monroe?” I don’t miss the innuendo in his husky voice and neither do my nipples that turn into pebbles, jealous of my back and his touch there, but Exton’s arm across my belly starts moving up and my breath hitches, making me breathless.

“Well, since you are hell bent on making me walk again, I will need a new dancing partner.” I break the tense moment, and Exton laughs. The sweet melody of the bright sound, filling the darkness and chasing off whatever chill was in here and I smile to myself, feeling infinitely proud that I was the one who did that.

I’m the one who made him happy in the time of darkness.

“Oh man, angry elf, won’t that be a sight?”

“At least we’ll sell out of all tickets. See, opportunistic.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll stay here with you. At least I’ll be good for something.”

There is that raw note in his voice again that he tries to hide with humor this time, and I feel the need to lose mine.

“You are good for so much more than that, Exton.”

I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but my head bends down to where his left arm is sneaked underneath my head, serving as my pillow and I plant my lips on the inside of his forearm, kissing him there.

Mortification washes over me when I realize what I’ve just done, and I sift through my head for some retort, comment, or excuse why I did that just now, but Exton doesn’t let me.

He sucks in a sharp breath, tugging me into him until I’m completely molded against his body and plants a kiss of his own on the back of my neck murmuring, “Thank you.”

I fall asleep with those words, that kiss and his warmth that splits my heart open.

Exton

“Where are you taking me to this time?” Electra grumbles when I load her into my G-wagon, but I can’t even muster annoyance after last night.

Nope, the grin on my face is too wide for it.

“I have another errand—or rather, an appointment to get to.” I buckle her in and round the car to my side.

Electra looks at me from underneath those low-cut bangs with her arms folded across her chest. “And what do I have to do with your appointment? The plot just twisted in my book.”

“You are helping me today.” She sighs like the cute angry elf she is and twists to look out the front window. “Geez, don’t look so excited on my account.”

“Don’t star with me. You don’t take a book away from a book girl when the enemies are just about to become lovers.”

It’s my turn to twist in my seat. “Do tell me more, little star. Just what kind of books are you reading?” My tone is curious but also a bit teasing and the suspicions I had are confirmed when her cheeks pink up. “Oh, my angry elf. You just got yourself a reading buddy. I can also volunteer to help you test out all the poses.”

“Shut up,” she grumbles while biting her lip to hide the smile there.

I have no such problem and burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long. We’ll get back to your sexy book shortly,” I tell her, and she shoots me a glare but then her eyes fix on the shop I parked in front of.

“Exton, what are we doing at a tattoo shop?” Her tone heavy with suspicion.

“Don’t worry. This is for me, not you. Unless you want one?” I quirk an eyebrow, and she halts for a second before shaking her head.

Liar.

Am not.

I let it slide though and help her out of the car.

Who would’ve thought I’d love my car even more now that I get to haul her in and out of it? So convenient to have an inconvenient car.

We walk through the front door, and I’m immediately ushered to the open chair.

“What are we doing for you today?” The pretty, spiky brunette—Luna—asks when I sit my ass down. She’s covered in gorgeous art herself. Though she doesn’t seem to have a single piercing.

“Can you give me a piece of paper?” I ask her and she hands me one from her pad along with a pen but I wave the pen away, instead, handing the blank paper to Electra.

“Um, what do you want me to do?” she asks, confused. “I can’t draw, Axe. So, if this was your plan, I’m going to be really mad that you pulled me away from my book.”

I shake my head, she’s still going on about it, and I make a mental note to read that book no matter what. It must be hot as hell to have her this pissed.

“Do you have your lipstick with you?” I ask her and she frowns.

“Huh? No, I don’t. Why?”

I purse my lips and turn to Luna. “Do you?”

“Sure.” She smiles with amusement, clearly feeling where I’m going with this and leaves to the back room, coming back holding a red lipstick in hand. “Here.” She hands it to Electra right away.

“Um, okay?” She’s still frowning. “Now what?”

“Well, I’m guessing he wants you to paint your lips and kiss that paper,” Luna muses as Electra’s jaw drops.

Well, looks like she finally got it.

“Exton.” She breathes out but before she can deny me or tell me how stupid it is or something else along the lines I interrupt her.

“Please.”

Electra’s eyes bore into me, a million silent questions tearing through her mind but in the end, she uncaps the lipstick, paints her lips and leaves the kiss mark on the paper. With flushed cheeks she hands it to Luna.

“Where do you want it?”

I roll up the sleeve of my shirt and point to the exact spot, on the inside of my upper arm where Electra kissed me last night. “Right here.”

Electra gasps as Luna nods and gets to work.

I can’t tell you if it hurt or burned or how long it took to tattoo her lips on my skin because I was lost in her eyes that were so loud.

Why?

Because I need it.

Why?

You’re not ready to hear it yet.