Page 52 of Sins and Secrets

Waverly bounces up. “That’s what I liked!” she says and lifts her hand. “High five, we’re a match!”

When I don’t give her the demanded high five, she grabs my hand and slaps it against hers. Her excitement is fucking adorable. The couch squeaks with her bouncing. “Does this happen a lot, people sync up like this?”

“I’m sure it does for other people, but this is the first time for me.” The confession hurts. She’s been most of my firsts, and anyone else was a waste of time. She should’ve been my only. It’s like my guilt and regret were thrown in a blender and now I’m forced to drink an emotional smoothie. Reaching out for her hands, I give them a squeeze. “This could get messy.”

“Could getmessy? We are a trash dump organized by kindergarteners who were playing with toxic waste. Messy in an understatement.” She counts on her fingers. “One, you’re my best friend’s brother. A best friend who is getting married in two weeks. You’re my ex’s brother. Who, may I add, will also be at the wedding.”

Shit, how did I forget about the wedding?

“Then there's my family… Well, that’s a whole thing in itself. And I’m homeless, until my cousin tells me it’s safe to go back. Who knows how long that will be? And I’m in a weird place mentally right now. Plus, there’s our past no one else knows about, so it’s not like I can go running to Angie to ask her advice.”

She did it. She said the forbidden words:Our past.“Yeah, we should talk about that.”

Waverly pinches her lips together. “Here’s the thing, I’m not ready to talk about our past. It hurts too much.”

“When you’re ready we can talk about it.” I confess way too fast. “But we will need to discuss it before this”—I wave my hand in a huge circle around us—“gets too serious.”

“Which probably means we should have a mature conversation,” she adds.

Wait, does this mean she’s going to fall for me again? Are we really ready for that sort of relationship? Maybe I should pump the brakes before we both crash. “Yeah, or we could watchTheKnights of the Night.” I motion with my chin to the TV.

She’s back to the excited smiles again. “See, this is why we’re so good together. What was your last episode?”

“Um, I stopped watching after the wolf pack was brought in.”

Waverly poofs out her cheeks and blows out all the air. “Oh. You’re gonna be very confused.”

“I’ll watch it and see if it’s worth my time to go back.”

About ten minutes into the show and I am one hundred percent lost. She’s right, I need to go back and rewatch the whole thing. I guess it will give me something to do when I fly out to LA in a few days. It’s about to be my whole personality. And so many of the tats I’ve done in the last three years make more sense now.

When the credits roll, her warm, little body is pressed against mine. It feels so fucking perfect I don’t want it to end.

“So, no sexy time?” she asks with a sleepy tone in her voice.

I press my lips to her forehead. “Not tonight, love. I leave for LA on Wednesday for a week or so.”

My chest tightens. Why does it hurt to think about LA? I have clients I need to see, I have to approve some merch before it goes live, plus I’ve got to film twenty episodes ofDry Ink, a YouTube show about the best tattoo artists in the country. Most episodes are reacting to someone’s ink or figuring out how you would cover up someone’s shitty tats. Though it would be a perfect example, I vowed that Waverly’s monstrosity will never be spoken of, ever.

I used to look forward to these trips, but now it means I’m leaving her alone. Here. Unprotected. For a week. And there’s tons of wedding stuff happening, plus my brother is still out there. There are too many unknowns, and I hate it.

I pull her closer to me, and her soft breath on my neck heats me to my core. It would be easy. I could have her naked and screaming my name in minutes. Instead, I keep her close, listening to her inhaling and exhaling as she lazily draws little circles on my thigh.

It’s a perfect moment.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Waverly

When the shop opened,I got a text from Jade: Grump Level Ten.

Today will be rough for Lukas, and I’m annoyed with myself for not putting it together sooner. He’s flying today, so of course he’s going to be a wreck. Once he gets to LA he’ll be fine, but he’s never enjoyed airports.

I wave at Jade as I come in with a tote. Ugh, am I really turning into this girl? Pop in for random surprises. I was never like this for anyone else.

Jade puts down her phone and shakes her head. “It’s so freaking bad.”

“How’s he doing?”