Page 23 of Through the Flames
She giggled. “Oh, Ella. That’s tragic. And hilarious.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not funny. Well,maybea little. But mostly it’s humiliating.”
Hailey grinned knowingly. “Sooo anyone worth mentioning? Or someone who didn’t make you want to fling your drink across the room?”
Against all reason, Hunter’s name kept popping into my head. It was totally unrealistic. Totally ridiculous. Hailey didn’t need to know that part.
“Uhh … maybe,” I said vaguely. “Mostly it’s been a lot of failed dates and getting ghosted. I mean, to be honest, there might be a little obsession with someone I probably shouldn’t even be thinking about, but–”
Hailey leaned closer, her face lighting up with curiosity. “Wait, what do you mean? Who?”
I laughed a little too nervously and shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just someone at the party. Totally random.”
Her brows rose. “Random, huh? You realize we know everyone who was there, right? Come on, spill.”
I smirked, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. “Some things are better left as secrets. It’s not even a thing.”
Of course, it was a thing.
“You’re lying. You never say ‘it’s not a thing’ unless it’s the biggest thing ever,” Hailey scoffed.
The corners of my mouth curled into a smirk. “Well. Then I guess it’s nothing and everything.”
She groaned in annoyance, even throwing her head back. “I hate when you do this.”
“Oh, yeah?” I raised a brow. “Says Miss ‘We’re not actually dating’?”
“Oooooh. Low blow! Fuck you.” She giggled, and I could make out Colt’s deep rumbling laugh in the background.
The buzzing of the tattoo machine was just background noise at this point. Laying back on the padded bench as the needle etched into my skin, I was holding my phone like I was taking a selfie.
“Okay,” Hailey was saying, squinting at the screen. “But you have to stop making it look fun. You make me want to get inked every time you do this.”
“You should,” I shot back, watching my own reflection as the artist worked on the design near my inner thigh. “Something small. Sexy. Maybe Colt’s name, right above your pussy.”
The sound Hailey made was half shriek, half laugh. “Hard pass. He’d lose his fucking mind. He’s already territorial enough.”
Colt’s voice cut in offscreen on her end. “Damn right, I would.”
I grinned even wider. “Colt, back me up. Wouldn’t that be romantic? Real ride-or-die branding.”
“Romantic is not the word I’d use.” He grunted.
Hailey covered her face with her hands. “I hate both of you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Girl, please. I’m the one half-naked in a stranger’s chair right now. You think I’ve got shame left?”
Savannah snorted from above my thigh again. “Seen worse. I once had a dude propose mid-sleeve. She said no. He cried. We finished the shading anyway.”
“Iconic behavior.” I cackled.
Hailey groaned, dragging a hand down her face.
“You’re gonna be banned from polite society.” She paused, then cocked her head to the side. “Okay, but real talk. If you had it your way, would you ever put a tattoo on a guy? Like, your dream man, inked exactly how you want?”
I blinked. “Tattoos on guys?Abso-fucking-lutely.I have a whole Pinterest board.”
“Oh, my God,” Hailey muttered.
