Page 85 of Tattoo My Heart
“But I don’t regret it at all,” I continue. “I told you the truth when I said that I didn’t want anyone else to bring you to this party. I wanted it to be me.”
Evie takes a step forward, but I stop her.
“I just need to get all this out, baby.”
She stops and just stares.
“I guess the smart thing to do would’ve been to justtell you from the beginning.” I stop and let out a long breath of air. “I was having fun with it,” I admit. “It also made me jealous as fuck,” I continue. “It’s the stupidest thing, but every time you’d send a message through the app, I’d see red. You were asking another man to take you out, and I almost couldn’t deal with the thought of it.”
“Cal.”
A soft sob escapes her chest. She bites on her bottom lip to the point where I want to reach out and make her stop.
“The reason I continued with the app, even after you and I started seeing each other,” she explains, “is because I didn’t believe you were serious about me. I thought we were just messing around, and…”
She hangs her head down in shame, and I can’t take it anymore. I reach out and pull her into my chest, squeezing her tight and kissing her on the top of her head, over and over again.
“I’m sorry I gave you the impression that I wasn’t serious about us,” I whisper into her ear.
“And I’m sorry I tried to get a date for this stupid party,” she sobs into my shirt. “I just wanted to make you jealous.”
“It was very effective,” I admit cheerfully, making us both laugh.
I let Evie push herself away from me when I feel her applying pressure to my chest to let her go. She looks adorable when she wipes her hands over her eyes, then wipes them off on the tight jeans she has on.
All of a sudden, she whips the hat off my head.
“What happened to your hair? It’s all gone!”
“You said you hated it,” I shrug, then rub a hand over the stubble I am currently sporting.
My statement gets her all emotional. “I- I didn’t mean it.”
The white tank top she is wearing distracts me for a second. Her small breasts look perfect in it, showing just the right amount of cleavage.
“I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your first message. But I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” she says after a few moments of complete silence.
“I know.”
Now I’m thinking it wasn’t a good idea to completely ignore her for the past couple of days. Once again, I had a plan in my head, and it sort of backfired. But I sure hope it is not too late for me to salvage it.
“I wanted it to be here the next time we saw each other.” Her eyes get big at hearing my words. “I had some work to do, I was hoping to surprise you.”
She finally takes the time to look around and see the state of the yard. She gives me a tentative smile.
“It looks nice.”
I decide to help her a little.
“Do you remember that night eight years ago when…”
“Oh my gosh, Cale Prentice, you better not bring up what I think you are about to.” She sounds as angry as a little kitten. Blotches of red start covering her skin, spreading from her cheeks and down the elegant column of her throat, then onto her chest.
“You don’t even know what I want to tell you,” I laugh.
She covers her face with both hands. “I think I do,” she mumbles.
I reach out and grab both of her writs, yanking gently when she fights me on it, until I can finally see her face.
