Inked Boy: The All American Boy Series Read online

  "That is something you will never know." Aurora has no idea that she is baiting him, but I can see the light in his eyes the moment the words leave her lips. When you tell someone, they can't have something, it tends to make them want it more. In this case, Aurora is the, it, and he seems to have every intention of conquering the task.

  "Is that a challenge," he asks, and I know without a doubt this is going to get interesting.

  "No," she wrinkles her nose at him, but I know my friend well enough to pick up on the way she leans toward him, and her cheeks redden. She is intrigued though she doesn't want him to know that. "That is a fact." Playing hard to get works for her. Me, I feel like a fool. I cannot pull off alluring; it makes me feel ridiculous.

  "I'm Luna," The gorgeous dark-haired girl introduces herself to Aurora and then to me. "Are you ladies interested in a tattoo?"

  "Her," I point to Aurora. This entire visit is her idea.

  "The princess doesn't strike me as a Tatt's kind of girl." He finally speaks, and my shoulders grow instantly tense. Then, of course, he uses the opportunity to call me Princess again, which makes me want to nut-punch him.

  "And how in the hell would you know what kind of girl I am?" I finally look at him, and he is now leaning against the door frame wearing a cocky smirk. His arms crossed over his chest, looking all calm and relaxed. It irritates me because I feel like my skin is on fire from embarrassment and who knows what else. So why does he get to me so much?

  Another guy walks out from a small room in the back with two girls, both grinning happily. I ignore the way his attention immediately finds its way to me and then Aurora.

  "What do we have here?" He nudges the two girls forward, practically dismissing them even as they pout and attempt to regain his focus. "Looks like a couple of virgins."

  "Um, no," Aurora leans in, and the pervert's eyes follow her forward. I'm sure he, too, is getting an even better view down her shirt. "I can assure you I am not a virgin."

  She is openly flirting, which is a shift from how she was with the blond guy.

  "I'm Zac," Mr. Green-eyes says, eating up Aurora's attention. "And you are?"

  "Aurora," she coos, and then I see her look at the pervert to see if he's paying attention. Of course, she is interested, but she is letting him wonder in the coy Aurora way. Or making him work for it, probably both. "Do you give tattoos?"

  "I do," Zac leans in, "and piercings. Do you have any piercings?"

  "Just my ears," she bites her lip, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Now she's going for seductive, and I'm standing here feeling so out of place and frumpy.

  "Oh baby, you've been living a sheltered life," he taunts her, then looks over at me. "How about you, Princess?"

  "Really," I look at the asshole, and he tries to hide his smile. Then I shift my irritation back to Zac. "Princess? You too?" I arch my brow and shoot a glare toward Mr. Asshole himself, who seems to have started a nickname I hate.

  "Yeah," Zac shrugs as if the reason behind it is apparent, and he doesn't understand how anyone doesn't see it. "You look all sweet and innocent. The kind of girl who drinks tea on Sundays, with your pinky in the air." He doesn't even wait for me to respond before he waggles his brows suggestively and continues. "You want me to dirty you up?"

  "Enough, Zac," again the broody ass decides to chime in.

  "Sorry, Dax, but you gotta admit, it'd be damn fun."

  So, it's Dax? The name seems to fit him, unique, maybe a little dangerous, and mysterious.

  "Luna, take Aurora to your station and give her what she wants." Dax directs, and she listens. Luna guides Aurora away, and I stand in the center of the lobby feeling my face heat as they all turn their attentions back to me. "Since Princess here isn't interested—,"

  "Who says I'm not?" I challenge him crossing my arms over my chest. His eyes remain locked with mine, and I refuse to feel intimidated. I could do this; I could be assertive.

  "You want some ink?" He asks, arching his brow as he waits. I know he expects me to shy away and back down, but screw that.

  "I think I'll have a look at those piercings Zac is talking about?" Dax's jaw flexes, and his nostrils flare.

  "Luna does piercings too," he does not look away from me, and I refuse to take my eyes from his.

  "Maybe she does, but she's busy right now." I have no idea why this man seems to dislike me so much. "Where's your room?" I ask Zac and step toward him, feeling my heart rate spike as the nerves kick in.

  "Right this way," holding out his hand, motioning toward the back of the shop, I move around him and start in that direction. I ignore the quiet talk behind me, hearing angry whispers being exchanged. Once I reach the last room on the left, I peek inside and see displays of jewelry lining the back wall in a glass case.

  Moving closer, I scan over the jewels, seeing so many different styles. Okay, fine, I may be a little too sheltered to know what purpose they all serve.

  "Those may be a little too much for your first piercing." I jump in reaction to someone speaking near my right ear. Zac smirks, "I also may lose my leg if I ask you to drop your jeans and panties."

  "Excuse me," drop my panties?

  "Those are clit piercings, Princess." I know my eyes grow wide, and my mouth drops open in surprise. He chuckles, "Maybe we should go with a navel stud or possibly your nose?"

  I nod because I’m still reeling from the whole clit thing. I could never imagine walking into a place, getting up on a bed like at the gynecologist, and spreading my legs, then allowing some stranger to shove a needle through my…wow, just wow!

  "It seems you've got boss man all frustrated." Finally, Zac breaks through my moment of freaking out with a surprising statement that regains my full attention.

  “Boss man?"

  "Dax," he clarifies, and I glance toward the open door, half expecting to find him standing guard there. But, instead, the doorway is empty, and I feel slightly disappointed by that fact.

  "I have no idea why he hates me so much. I accidentally dumped my drink on him, and you'd think I murdered his dearest friend."

  "That was you?" he chuckles.

  "Yeah," Great, not only would I be Princess to this group but graceless too. Maybe they'd call me, Stumbelina.

  "He stewed about that all night and has been a fucking bear to deal with since."

  "Well, he needs to get over it. It's not like I did it on purpose."

  "I don't think it's about the drink Princess." He pats the table and tells me to have a seat.

  "Will you stop calling me that?" His smile grows wider. "And what do you mean? What else did I do?"

  "Nothing," he takes a seat and rolls his chair in closer to me, holding out a wooden box with the lid open. “So, what will it be, navel or nose?"

  I want to push and interrogate him. I want to know what he means, but instead, I lean over the box and make a choice.

  Chapter Seven

  Daxton

  * * *

  “What the hell has got you all worked up?” Oliver sits down next to me and turns his chair, facing the same direction as mine. Directly toward the back of the store, where she is, with Zac.

  “Nothing,” I respond much too quickly. Oliver knows me better than anyone here.

  “You got a thing for blondie?”

  I shift my focus to him and feel my jaw tense as I glare at him.

  The asshole chuckles and slaps me on the shoulder. “Well, damn,” he adds, and all it makes me want to do is punch him. “I gotta say I didn’t see that one coming. After Autumn and the games, she played—,”

  “I don’t have a thing for anyone. I’m not into any blonde.”

  “But you want to be,” he snickers at himself, and I shake my head, wondering when in the hell Olly turned into another version of Jace. Everything with them has some hidden meaning.

  A shuffling sound of feet against the hardwood floor of the shop has me holding back my response. I don’t even have to look to know it’s her. It honestly pisses me off
that my body reacts the way it does to this woman. A woman I don’t know and don’t want to know.

  “You did good, girl,” Zac places his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the front. “Real good,” he adds. Irritation fills me, and when the fucker looks at me and smirks, I stand before I have the chance to think it through.

  It’s almost like I can’t control my actions when she’s nearby. I’m usually so calm and collected, show no emotion, the unreadable guy they all refer to me as. But now, I seem to be falling all over myself. I’m either moody and pissed or vibrating with uncontrollable energy.

  “The princess now has some sparkle,” he glides his thumb over her jaw, her head shifting enough for the light to catch the small diamond in her nose.

  “Zac,” she says to him in a warning tone, and he hangs his head and laughs.

  “Sorry, Bree now has some sparkle.”

  So, the princess has a name.

  “I tried talking her into letting me pierce her hood, but she’s shy.” He attempts to lay his head on her shoulder, and Bree shoves him away. Again, I feel angry by their familiarity. “The kitty would look pretty with a—,”

  “You done yet?” I bark a little too loud, and all attention reverts back to me. Hiding my frustration is too hard. My hands are already shaking.

  “Damn Boss Man, what’s got you so—”

  “Me,” Bree interrupts us both, and we look toward her. “For some reason, he has an issue with me, and I’m not sure why.”

  “I don’t even know you.”

  “Exactly,” she states, “You don’t. So why the hell are you being such an ass?”

  Silence falls over the shop; the only words that can be heard are the distant conversation of Luna and Aurora from Luna’s station. Zac and Oliver are both watching me closely, waiting for my reaction, and I’m not sure where Jace is.

  “Are you always a prick, or is it just me that brings out the best in you?”

  “Damn, girl?” Zac pushes his fist to his lips and bites his knuckle. “She’s got some balls for a chick.” He adds with a pleasing smile.

  “I’m always a prick, don’t think you’re special.” Bree narrows her eyes at me, and her lips part as if she is about to cut loose and tell me what she really thinks, when her friend calls out her name.

  “Bree, look at this,” Aurora emerges, with Luna following closely behind. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Bree walks toward her friend, but I can’t manage to look away from her. The way her jeans form to her perfect ass, and the tiny sliver of skin that shows at her waistline when she shifts. It all has my head spinning in too many different directions.

  “What’s going on with you?” Olly asks, but I don’t respond. Instead, I turn and walk out the back door of the shop. I need a fucking minute to calm my ass down, before getting back to shading Amber’s angel wings.

  Chapter Eight

  Breanna

  * * *

  “I have to go back for the color because it was getting a little tender, but I love it.” Aurora lifts her hair to show off the tattoo on her left shoulder. Apparently, she plans to have it wrapped up and over her shoulder and around her side too.

  Sitting at the bar, just down the street from Deranged Ink, I am still reeling from the way Dax acted. I've never had someone so openly dislike me without even knowing me.

  Zac’s words are playing in my head over and over like they did the moment, he said them and worse now that I've got some alcohol in me. Alcohol makes me want to do and say things I normally wouldn’t.

  What in the hell is that supposed to mean?

  “Don’t take offense to Dax; he’s a difficult guy to get to know. But I can tell you one thing, sweetness; he doesn’t hate you. In fact, I’d say you got our boy all tied up, and that is what is pissing him off.”

  “Can we buy you, ladies, a drink?” Two men step up to Aurora’s side and lean forward on the bar to look over at us. Both are a little too put together for my taste, looking like they just stepped out of an Old Navy photo shoot. Button up shirts, tucked in with belts and loafers. The whole nine yards of preppy, but I’m intoxicated, and free drinks sound good.

  “Sure," I say, lifting my hand high to gain the attention of the bartender.

  “What can I get ya?” she asks as she stops in front of me.

  “These two gentleman would like to buy my friend and I a drink.” She looks to them, the dark-haired one of the two nods, and she begins making Aurora and myself another round. By now, she's got us all figured out and doesn't even have to ask what it will be.

  Just as she places the glasses on the bar top in front, a hand slips in between Aurora and I holding out a twenty. "I've got it," I shift too quickly, wobble on my chair, and suddenly there is a hand on my back to stable me.

  As if that is not bad enough, I glance up and find I am much too close to none other than the ass that has been nothing but rude to me since the moment I drenched him with my vodka and cranberry.

  “Well, if it isn't Mr. Grump himself, come to add a little more glares and insults.” I look away quickly and ignore the cute little way his lips tilt upward at my comment.

  “I got their drinks," he insists, and when I glance over to where Abercrombie and Fitch were just standing, I find Jace and Zac have now replaced them.

  “Missing your boyfriends?” Dax asks to my left, and I roll my eyes. "I think Zac scared them off."

  “At least they don’t carry a permanent RBF everywhere they go.”

  “RBF,” Dax asks?

  “Resting Bitch Face,” again I look at him. “It’s a look you seem to have perfected.”

  “You seem to get brave with alcohol.” He doesn't move away, he actually leans in closer, and the smell of man surrounds me.

  “Is it bravery, or have I reached my limit of tolerance for assholes today?” I hold his stare, and he doesn’t appear as if he intends to back down.

  He moves in closer, I try not to show that my heart rate has spiked, and my breathing has grown a little more rapid.

  “Dance with me,” he says, and I can't stop myself from laughing. When I glance at Aurora, she is completely entranced by Zac and Jace and is no help to me. I'd have to thank her later for throwing me to the wolf. “I'm not gonna bite.”

  “I’m more worried about you slitting my throat and tossing me in a dark alley,” I mumble the words, but when I hear him chuckle, I know he’s heard me.

  “Really?” He’s amused. “I can promise you that is not gonna happen.”

  “Says every other serial killer when he's luring in his next victim.” I lift my glass to take a sip, trying to soother the dryness in my throat. I hate that he makes me so nervous and that I even care what he thinks of me.

  “Now I'm a serial killer?” I flinch when he moves the hair that has fallen away from my face. When I look up, he is right there, staring at me, scanning over me slowly. “Dance with me?" he repeats and holds out his hand.

  “Why?”

  "Because you are right, I have been an ass.” I nod, and his smile grows wider. He looks hot when he smiles. Truth be told, he looks hot when he scowls too, but I'll keep that to myself.

  Placing my hand in his, I allow him to lead me toward the small dance floor, and when his hand rests on my back just above my ass, I take in a deep breath. He pulls me closer, and I go to him without hesitation.

  Dax is taller than me by at least six to eight inches, so my head can rest perfectly to his shoulder. Breathing him in is easy, the material of his shirt brushing the tip of my nose.

  “I’m sorry I've been so mean,” he says this low near my ear, and I close my eyes, choosing not to respond. “It’s nothing you did.”

  “I know that,” he chuckles, and I pull back to look at him. “What? You expect me to be all I'm sorry you hate me, whatever did I do for you to think ill of me?”

  His lip’s part and he starts to say something, then he looks over my shoulder, and I feel his entire body tense. “Listen,” he ste
ps back abruptly and places distance between us. I notice the smile is replaced with a frown, and I know something has changed.

  Looking over my shoulder in the direction he is looking, I see nothing to explain what’s shifted his mood.

  Chapter Nine

  Daxton

  * * *

  “Let’s go back to the bar,” I cup her elbow and begin leading her back to the bar. I look toward the back once again and find that Autumn has already spotted me.

  “Fuck,” Bree stops walking, and I notice a moment too late when she tugs her arm from my hold. “I gotta go,” I tell her, and she shakes her head and laughs.

  “You are certifiably insane.”

  I find the timing of her comment humorous, and maybe I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did.

  “And now you’re laughing at me, great.” throwing her hands up in the air in frustration as she storms off, and that’s when Jace looks up. I motion with a jerk of my chin to the area where Autumn is still standing, and he follows. I see the moment he sees her, and his shoulders square up. Hitting Zac’s arm, he points, and my boys now understand why I remain so far away.

  They say something to Aurora, then excuse themselves to join me near the door.

  “I gotta go,” I say, as I head toward my boys. This is my fucking bar, and she knows it. But the bitch has a piece of paper that says I can’t be anywhere she is, so I’m left with no choice.

  “Want us to grab the girls and come back to your place?”

  “No,” I take a step back, and Jace arches his brow and me.

  “You and Bree looked pretty cozy a minute ago,” Zac adds.

  “That was just me apologizing for being a prick, nothing more.” It can’t be more. I pull out a hundred-dollar bill from my back pocket and give it to Jace. Make sure they get back to wherever it is they’re staying, so I know they’re safe..”