Page 1 of Tattooed Love

Chapter 1

There were very few moments in my life when I could definitely say that I had hit rock bottom. Right now, in this moment, I could definitely say I had hit rock bottom. I was stoned, drunk, and high on emotion, gripping a half-drunk beer; sitting in a gutter outside some pub. I had no one to call, and no one would be wondering where I was, so there was nothing stopping me from throwing back the remaining alcohol in the bottle.

I suppose that is the benefit of hitting rock bottom… you can’t fall any lower.

I was wiping my mouth when someone tapped on my shoulder.

“Leave me alone.” I grunted. I was at the point where I just didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care about the looks I was getting, or that I was interrupting the flow of the taxi rank.

“This goes against my better judgment, but you look like a rape case waiting to happen. Would you like a lift?”

It was his husky voice that made me turn my head around to look up at him. Tall, dark, handsome and screaming dangerous; yet he looked familiar.

“Do I know you?” I asked, frowning at him as he lowered himself to kneel in front of me.

“The name is Jackson.” He spoke slowly and immediately seemed to realize that I hadn’t made a connection, so he added “We go to the same high school.”

I nodded, but still couldn’t make a connection; hell, at this point of the night, I was lucky to be recalling my own name, which was…

“Amber, you alright?” Jackson placed a hand on my shoulder and my eyes snapped back open, stopping me from slipping into unconsciousness.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a few too many.” I took the hand he now lowered to offer me; when did he stand up?

I pulled myself up on to my bare feet; I had managed to lose my heels at some point during the night. “Thanks.” I smiled. Even in my drunken haze, I could tell that Jackson was dangerously good looking.

“Do you want me to take you home?” He spoke slowly again, as if I wouldn’t be able to understand him otherwise.

“Nope.” I waved my hand dismissing the idea. “I’m fine, and I will have you know I’m not as drunk as I might look.”

“Really?” He cocked his head to one side. From the expression on his face, he clearly didn’t believe me. “Because the smell from you makes me think you drank the bar dry.”

My expression changed as soon as I heard the judgment in his tone. “I had a bad day,” I snapped. He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand. I pressed a finger into his chest. “Don’t judge me handsome.”

“Handsome?” He chuckled at that. “Didn’t think you were capable of compliments, Amber.”

I suppose he had a point, but it wasn’t one I was going to confirm. “Go away, John.”

“It’s Jackson.”

“Then go away Jackson,” I corrected with a dry smile.

“You have a bad attitude.”

“And you’re not the first person to point that out.” He was far from it. People seemed to make it their personal mission to remind me of my bad attitude; it wasn’t my fault the world sucked. My attitude was simply a side effect of this miserable thing called life.

I waved down a taxi, but Jackson wrapped his hand around my wrist, stopping me from walking towards it.

“I’ll take you home.” His tone was soft, gentle… and was that slight concern I was sensing?

“Why?”

“Don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone.”

“Wise thing to do.” He tilted his head to the side again, looking down at me. “I’m not going to hurt you Amber, and if I did I’m sure you could handle me.”

“You seem to know more about me than I do you.”

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