Page 117 of After All This Time

"She getting creative again?"

"Yeah, she comes at me with all kinds of wild shit. I'm down for most of it, but pegging? Hard pass."

"Jesus Christ." I set my stencil down, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I really didn't need to picture Jen railing you. No hate to guys who are into that, but you bent over is something I never needed in my brain."

"Dude, she wanted me face-up."

"You vanilla motherfuckers don't know what you're missing. If a woman wants to destroy my ass, I'm putting a ring on it." Levi's got that shit-eating grin, and we all freeze like we've witnessed a murder. "Well, that got uncomfortable real quick."

"Harry, sit down. Levi, I genuinely don't know how to respond to that." I shake my head, laughing.

"I'm going to treat myself to breakfast.I'll leave you guys to it."

"Have fun, princess. Buy yourself something pretty while you're at it."

He flips me off as he heads out, the bell chiming behind him.

"Levi's got a date?"

"Yeah, and she's not a stripper this time."

I start cleaning Harry's wrist, my eyes tracing the lines of ink I've marked him with before. "You're sure about this?"

I have to ask. Getting someone's name tattooed is like tempting fate to fuck with you.

"Positive."

"What ifit all goes to shit?"

"Not gonna happen. I knew Jen wasthe onethe moment I saw her."

I'm tracing the lines of the "J" on his wrist when he asks about the girl who's currently living in my head rent-free.

"How's it going with Amelia? You fixed your little problem?"

I haven't told him yet. We've both been swamped, and this is the first I've seen him. Besides, it's not exactly the kind of thing you text about. Not that I owe him an explanation, but these feelings are eating me alive. I'm not ready to talk to Mills about them—fuck, I can barely admit them to myself—but if I keep them locked up any longer, I might lose my goddamn mind.

"If by fixed you mean am I sleeping with her, the answer would be yes," I say without looking up, focusing on the ink bleeding into his skin. I can feel Harry's silence, but his thoughts are practically screaming. "I'll give you a minute to process that."

"Dude, what the hell?"

"Yeah, I'm not even gonna touch that reaction."I set the gun down, needing a second. "It happened. It keeps happening. And right now, I need less shock and more actual advice."

"Okay…"Harry drags the word out like he's trying to wrap his brain around it.

"It's more than just sex. A lot more."

"No shit. You two go back forever."

"It's like…"I drag my fingers through my hair, trying to wrestle the chaos in my head into something that resembles actual sense. "I've got this incredible woman in my bed. Someone who knows every piece of me. She's also the same girl who walked in on Stacey Wright going down on me sophomore year and laughed it off because we were just friends."The machine buzzes back to life as I work on the curve of the J. "But now I don't know how I'm ever going to not look at her like this again. If it ends, how do we go back? And the worst part is, she raised all these concerns, and I was the dumbass who told her it would all be fine.What if itisn't?"

Harry shifts in the chair, watching me closely. "Do you wanna be with her? Like, out in the open, labels and everything?"

"Fuck."My shoulders tense. "Our parents would lose their shit."

"Not what I asked. I'm asking what you want."

I pause, staring down at his wrist like it's suddenly the most complicated thing in the world. "I feel like if I ever see Amelia in another guy's arms, I'd rip them off and shove them up his ass."

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