Page 3 of Tattoo My Heart
“Yeah, but he was twenty-one, right? He didn’t really know you because it’d been only a year since your mom married his dad, not to mention…” She now stops for dramatic effect. “You were underage.”
She is right, I know she is. The fact that I’ve been pining over someone who never wanted to give me the time of the day is just ridiculous now.
“You’re right,” I agree with her. “I need to find a hot guy who thinks the world of me, relieves me of my virginity, then wants to marry me. And I don’t have a lot of time to get it done.”
“Evie…” Carrie is now laughing in earnest. “You’re crazy, girl.”
There’s some shuffling on her end of the line, and then I hear James’ deep voice talking about me.
“How in the hell is she still a virgin?”
“Oh my god, Carrie,” I hyperventilate into the phone, “do you have me on speaker?”
I am about to drop to the ground, hopefully pass out, then someone better take me home, because I don’t want to make eye contact with anyone ever again. I just want to wake up at my house. And then, I will never meet with my best friend and her boyfriend again. I can’t see them. Especially him.
“Aww, Evie,” James calls out to me. “It’s okay, girl. It’s a very admirable quality to have, and you’ll learn…”
“For your information,” I snap at him, “I can give a blowjob with the best of them.”
I gasp in shock when I realize what I just said. A few other people are pushing their carts around, staring at me like I landed from another planet.
“Send me theHolidatesthing,” I order Carrie through clenched teeth right before I hang up on her.
With my head held high, I stick the cell phone into the back pocket of my jeans, then place both hands on the handle of the shopping cart and push. I walk slowly, like I have no care in the world, until I reach the end of the aisle. I turn the cart to go around the corner when I run dead smack into another cart.
“I’m so sorry,” I mumble without actually lifting my eyes to the person I ran into.
“Well, well, well,” a deep rumble that I know so well comes out of a mouth I wish I knew better. “If it isn’t little Evie Moore in the flesh. The queen of blowjobs.”
Cal Prentice is standing right in front of me, grinning from ear to ear.
This would be a very good time for me to drop dead.
TWO
The first timeI met Evelyn Moore, I was twenty years old to her sixteen. Her crush on me was obvious, and I did take a bit of an advantage of it in the beginning. She was like a little mouse, always jumping to do my bidding, regardless of what the task was.
It was all fun and games until my father informed me that he was going to ask Evelyn’s mother’s hand in marriage. I blew up at him and them. Evie probably suffered the most of my wrath at the time.
In hindsight, I realize how out of control my reaction had been. Liz Moore has proven to be the perfect companion for my father. He is the happiest I have ever seen him, and it is obvious that it is because of his wife.
By the time I realized my mistake, instead of repenting for my rush in judgement, I just let it go and pretended like I never had an issue with anything. Coincidentally, my new stepmother agreed with me, and now we get along just fine. Things with her daughter didn’t go as smoothly. The girl is still holding a grudge against me after all these years.
“Ugh, look what dragged to this part of town,” she now rolls her eyes toward the ceiling. I take my time scanning her body from head to toe and loving what I’m seeing.
I give her an exaggerated wink and don’t move out of the way when she attempts to push her shopping cart around me. “So good to see you, Evie.”
“I wish I could say the same, Cal,” she spits at me, looking as cute as a newborn kitten.
The girl does not have a vicious bone in her body, and I regret being such an ass to her eight years ago.
“What caused you having to come hang out with us commoners on this fine Friday morning?”
I smile at her jab. This is payback. Eight years ago, I accused her and her mother of trying to climb up in the society ranks by using my father and his wealth.
“Well, Evie.” I lean forward and rest my elbows on the shopping cart. The move puts me more at eye level with her. “Sometimes, us royalty do need to come down and hang out with the common folk.”
“Figures.” She rolls her eyes again.
