Page 121 of Revival

“I know. Somedays, I just miss the baby stage where he stayed where I put him. It’s hard to let go. Next year is senior year, then he’s off to college or whatever he chooses to do.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t decide to dabble in some bad decisions.”

She cuts me a glare I can feel even without looking over.

“What?” I laugh. “You can’t pretend around me, Cort. I was there for your bad decisions.”

“Yes, and as a parent, it’s my job to hope, wish, and pray he doesn’t follow in my footsteps.”

I squeeze her thigh. “You turned out all right.”

The question is,Did I?

With the way Sheriff Perry was always on my ass, it leaves the question about how different our lives would have turned out if I didn’t make myself a target for that vindictive little man.

“We’ve done all right so far. I’ve only caught him sneaking out once, and he hasn’t attended any field parties as far as I know.”

The nostalgia hits hard, bringing forth the smell of bonfires and cheap beer. Cortney sitting beside me as we played drinking games with all our friends, waiting until we were just drunk enough before calling Sutton or Lee to come pick us up and sneak us into the house.

“How about this? You let him go off on his weekend, and I’ll come keep you busy until it’s time for him to come home.”

She presses her thighs together.

“You’re offering to be my distraction for an entire weekend?”

“You should know I plan to stick around much longer than that,” I rasp.

I plan to be her distraction for the rest of her life if she’ll have me, but I keep that to myself.

I direct the truck to the curb in front of a squat brick building and kill the engine.

“What are we doing at a tattoo shop?”

My shoulder twitches in a shrug. “I thought you could come with me to get a tattoo.” Reaching over, I brush the hair away from her neck, my thumb sliding over the mark behind her ear. “And if you wanted to get this covered up, I’d pay for that too.”

Surprise swirls in her beautiful eyes. “You aren’t going to pay to cover my mistakes.”

“I’d drop a million bucks if that’s what it takes to get his mark off you.” Neutrality steals over my face. I just need to get her in that chair since the deposit I paid is more than enough to cover her ink. “Let’s just go see if there’s anything you like.”

28

Cortney

“Spencer! How’s it going?”the familiar voice greets us as soon as we step inside.

“Dante. Good to see you, man.” The two perform some sort of male hugging ritual, slapping backs and shaking hands.

Growing up, we ran in the same circles as Dante, but I haven’t seen him since before Ollie was born. I assumed he moved away like most people who grew up in our small town.

“And Cortney Powell? The two of you are still fucking around together?”

I nearly choke on my next breath. “We actually haven’t seen each other since high school.”

“I just got back into town.” Spencer slides his hands into his pockets and shrugs.

Since we’re twenty minutes away in the next town, it’s not unusual that Dante wouldn’t have followed the saga of life in Fairview Valley over the past two decades.

“Ah. It’s good to see you. Getting a couple of tattoos today, I hear?” Dante makes a few clicks on his computer.

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