Page 90 of A Vine Mess
“Of course it matters!” I protested. “You’re my sisters, and if I’m bringing this guy into the family, I want you and the guys to like him.”
Amara, who worked closest with him, shrugged. “He’s a great guy. And as we told you before, you could do a lot worse than Liam Danvers.”
“Actually,” I started. “I don’t think I could do any better. He’s…yeah. He’s it for me, I think.”
Brie’s voice sounded a little watery when she said, “You deserve this, sissy. After everything, more than anyone,you deserve this.”
And finally, I believed her.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Liam grumbled as we stumbled out of Dusk Valley’s only tattoo shop later that morning. Thanks to the fact that all of the Lawless brothers were heavily tattooed and frequented the place, one of the artists was willing to squeeze us in.
I was now the proud owner of a majestic purple Volkswagen van tattoo. It sat just above the crease of my right elbow, and Liam’s same arm spotted a matching one. I made him pause outside the shop with me, arms extended, so I could snap a picture and share it on my Instagram.
“You love it,” I told him as we walked hand-in-hand behind West, who had been all for the impromptu tattoo session. While we’d been getting ours, he’d added a little bird to the piece thattook up most of his back in honor of his mom.
“I loveyou,” Liam amended, dropping a kiss to my forehead.
“So much you got my name tatted on you too,” I teased, reaching out to tap the space next to the blue butterfly where he’d added my initials.
“I told you days ago not to tempt me,” he replied.
Fuck, that was sexy. To be branded on his skin as a physical representation of the way I was branded on his heart and soul.
“Just think,” I said. “One day, our grandchildren will ask us about them and we can tell them about this trip where we fell in love.”
Liam softened at that. “Well, when you put it that way…”
Raising onto the balls of my feet, I gave him a quick peck. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
“I don’t know about you guys,” West said, turning to face us but continuing to walk backward, “but I’m fucking starving. How about we swing into the deli for lunch?”
At that moment, my stomach let out a low growl, and I nodded emphatically.
West led us inside, making small talk with every single person we passed, and I almost felt like I was back home. There was nothing that beat the familiarity of small town life.
After lunch—where I consumed the best grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup I’d ever had in life, though I’d never tell Ezra that—we wandered the main drag of Dusk Valley, popping in and out of shops and letting West tell us stories about the history and growing up there.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon, before the sun went down, on a horseback ride through the rolling hills and fieldsthat made up a small portion of ranch land. I was mesmerized and deeply contented by the simplicity of it all, the mighty creature beneath me, surprisingly gentle despite its size. Minus the horses and the drastic differences in landscape, the whole vibe reminded me of home.
That night, we had another boisterous dinner at the Lawless family table before Finn and West decided they wanted to take us to the local watering hole. Once that idea was floated, the entire family decided they’d be joining us, save Birdie, who said she was too old to hang with us young guns. I kissed her on the cheek as we all filed out, thanking her for another amazing meal, and followed Liam back to our cabin.
I was in the middle of changing when a light knock came at the door, and Liam disappeared to see who it was. Voices floated back to me as I donned my dress, rushing to do up the buttons running from between my boobs all the way to the hem, which hit me at mid-calf, before Liam returned. I didn’t do up all of them, loving the way the ones I left opened at the bottom created a little slit that offered tantalizing glimpses of my thigh tattoo. With my arms exposed, the bulk of my ink was on full display, and once I put my black cowboy boots on, I felt like a badass.
I’d gone a little heavier on the makeup than I had in recent months, but still lighter than anything I’d worn when I’d been with Alfie, hooked delicate silver hoops and studs into my ears, and slipped on a few of my favorite rings.
During that time, makeup had been armor for me. Hiding the dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep when we’d gotten in yet another fight and I couldn’t relax until it was solved.
Spoiler alert: they rarely ever were. We fought about stupidshit, frequently, that never saw any sort of resolution.
That wore on a girl after a while.
I supposed, if you wanted to get technical, I started dressing and making myself up to look emo, mostly because I was so fucking depressed and, maybe, somewhere deep down, silently screaming for someone to notice and help me.
Shaking my head, I threw away those thoughts. That was all ancient history, and deserved to remain in the past.
Liam was my present—and, if I was really goddamn lucky, my future.
As though I’d conjured him, I heard Liam’s footsteps as he came back down the hall, and said, “Who was—”
