Page 115 of Hyde and Seek

“It’s your birthday dinner, we gotta celebrate.”

“It’s not even my birthday yet. I thought we were going out to dinner tomorrow?”

“We are.” He smiled wide. “This is a pre-birthday dinner.”

“So you lied to make people sing to me.”

“All I did was mention it was your birthday, which it basically is. Don’t control how the restaurant operates, Piper.”

“They put a candle in my baked potato. That poor candle was probably looking forward to one day being in a delicious cake. Instead, it ended up in a spud.”

“Sweets,” Jake said through his laughter. Putting his forearms on the table, he leaned closer. “Tattoo?”

“What about it?”

“What’s the deal?”

“Just a tattoo I liked.”

“Liar.”

I shrugged.

He was right, there was a lot more to my tattoo. I’d always wanted all of my ink to have meaning. Sometimes, though, the meaning conveyed more about me than I was comfortable sharing.

“It’s interestin’, a heart and an anarchy symbol intertwined. Why?”

Drop the walls, Piper.

Inhaling deeply, I avoided his eyes as I focused on cutting my steak. “Love’s anarchy. There are no rules, no rhyme or reason. You can’t control it. You can fight to keep it and lose. Or fight to keep it away and lose. Or win, depending. Love’s chaos. It’s mayhem.”

Jake’s lip quirked up.

“So, yup, that’s it.”

“When’d you get it?”

“On my eighteenth birthday.”

“Most chicks get a butterfly or some Chinese symbol that they think means ‘peace and love’ but really means ‘parkin’ in the rear’. Why’d you pick that?”

“My mom grew up on the wrong side of town. Her parents weren’t shining members of society and she suffered the consequences. When she was old enough to realize how that life was, she swore she’d have better. And eventually she did. But before that happened, she hooked up with my dad. Nine months later, I was born.”

“Were they married?”

“Nope. He wanted to marry her, but she always turned him down. Eventually, he stopped even bringing it up. And when I was seven, he left her.”

“He left?”

“Yeah. It was heartbreakingly romantic.” At Jake’s inquisitive and sexy as hell eyebrow raise, I elaborated. “She wanted more. Dad is fantastic. I can’t wait for you to meet him when he comes up next month. But, as kickass as he is, he wasn’t the image in her head. She loved him but not the way either of them deserved. Though she would’ve stayed, he told her he couldn’t be selfish and let her settle.”

“Is she happier now?”

“She’s with Thomas. She loves him in her own way, which is pretty much the opposite of how she loved my dad. There’s no worrying about the bills or people looking down on her. But there’s no passion.”

“What about your dad?”

“That’s the funny thing. My dad’s loaded. He lives out in California, shacked up with his longtime girlfriend, Natalie. He owns a bar that’s insanely popular since he’s a skilled chef. Even in a biker bar, his stuff is gourmet.”

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