72 - The chapter with all the tattoos - part I

CHRISTIAN

" Finally you guys are here, we thought about calling, but it would probably get in the way of some hot moments between you," Liam teased as I sat down in the free chair next to Theo.

" Very funny, you would probably interrupt while I was yelling at Chris what a jerk he was to me," Rose sneered, wasting no time in grabbing a piece of pizza from the box.

" Actually we were delayed because a rare event happened, something bordering on a miracle," I commented with a cocky smile, leaning my arm on the back of her chair, receiving a cross look in return.

" Do you survive her anger? " Camille asked shyly, making me laugh as she picked up one of the pieces of pizza.

" Oh no, you'll be surprised…”

" Chris, you promised to be nice about this," Rose forced a smile.

" No, you asked me to be nice about it, but deep down you know I'm an asshole," I winked at her before turning my attention back to everyone else. “Miss Rosemarie Miller-Campbell today admitted that she was wrong, that she overreacted, and apologized to me.”

The reactions of everyone at the table were forced and exaggerated, Liam covered his mouth with wide eyes, Sky brought his hand to his chest with a surprised expression and Cam laughed openly.

" No way! " Theo let out with a haunted expression.

"That's why it took us so long, I had a hard time believing it myself when I heard, ouch.” I cringed as Rose took advantage of our position to elbow me.

" Ha Ha Ha. Very funny. That's the stuff I shouldn't have apologized for, you're an asshole," she rolled her eyes.

" But you can't stay away from him," Cam stated naturally, to everyone's surprise.

Silence filled the table for a few seconds before everyone exploded in their reactions.

" Wow, cutie, you've got it going on today! " Liam teased her.

" This girl doesn't waste any time," Theo smiled as he watched her.

Skyller still didn't feel so comfortable interacting with her, so she just laughed.

" My God, Camille. And to think I threatened to break noses for you," Rose let out in horror.

" She was only telling the truth, Rose. You pursued me from the very beginning," I winked at her, then pushed away.

" You better be quiet before I give you a soda shower, Davis," she murmured, "and you didn't answer me about the schedule.”

" What schedule? " Theo asked.

" Rose is getting another tattoo and is trying to convince me to get one too," I explained.

" He already said he wanted to get one with something to do with chemistry, I don't want to do it alone.” Rose pouted.

That subject seemed to interest Camille, who soon got into it.

" Really? I really want to do one, but my parents would never authorize it, so I'll have to wait until my birthday in February," she sighed.

" I'm curious, cutie. What would you do? A barbed wire around your arm? " Liam joked.

" No, I would tattoo the serotonin molecule, but I don't know where yet," she explained.

" Interesting choice, suits you. I'd go for endorphin. Here," I returned, placing my hand on a spot between my pectoral and collarbone on the right side of my body.

Rose alternated her gaze between us before speaking up.

" Can you translate it for me?”

" Serotonin is the happiness hormone," Cam simplified.

" Endorphin is responsible for stress reduction, the feeling of well-being, satisfaction, pleasure..." I explained, looking at Rose.

Her face flushed a little and she looked away, making me smile. Theo was the next to speak up.

" If I were to tattoo something that reminded me of architecture, I would tattoo the golden ratio on my forearm.” He put his hand on the spot.

" Sky? " I looked at the girl who was already sporting a beautiful flower behind her ear.

" I think I would do the silhouettes of buildings on my heel " She thought for a moment " What about you, Rose?”

" A brush surrounded by watercolor blotches on the back of my head," she returned without hesitation as she fiddled with her cell phone.

I brought my hand up to her hair, pulling it away so that I could see her neck, wondering what it looked like, and received a skewed look amidst a small smile in return.

" And you, Liam? " Camille asked, getting a laugh in return.

" The day Liam willingly lets a needle near him, the world ends," Theo scoffed.

Rose, who was still fiddling with her cell phone, raised her face and looked excited.

" We should do it!”

" What? " I frowned.

" We should all get tattoos," she pleaded, "I talked to the studio and they can take us today if we leave now! And they will even give us a discount because there are so many of us!”

" I'd love to, Rose. But I'm broke. I can't," Theo denied.

" Me too, unfortunately," Sky sighed with a pout, which caught Liam's attention.

"I will pay for your tattoo," he said without any hesitation.

I exchanged a complicit look with the rest of the group, knowing that Liam was desperate for any chance to please Skyller.

" What? I couldn't accept this, Liam.”

" Why not? I pay you guys for stuff all the time. It's no big deal," he insisted, "I'm even paying for pizzas and you haven't complained!”

" It's different," her face flushed.

" Sky, if he wants to pay, enjoy it, as he said, it's no different than when he pays for our drinks or pizza," Theo encouraged, receiving a cross look in return.

Everyone was silent as the two of them settled this little dispute. Skyller looked torn for a second, but soon spoke again.

" No, I'll take a rain check.”

" Skyller, everyone will do it, you don't want to be left out, do you? " He insisted.

" Dude, I just said…”

" I'm paying, if the studio accepts, I'll even pay a little extra to ignore the cutie’s age," Liam cut him off.

Free tattoo? I'm not going to say no and stand in the way of a guy trying to impress his girl.

" A tattoo? Are you guys serious? " Cam's eyes widened.

" You're going to pay for five tattoos? " Skyller scowled at him.

" Yes, you're not going to deprive our friends of this happiness, are you? " He grinned.

" No, she won't," Rose said in advance, "I've already made an appointment, so we'd better go.”

But the girl was far from giving up. She crossed her arms, staring into Liam's green eyes without being intimidated.

" I accept... if you make one too.”

The boy's eyes widened, being taken aback by this proposal, Skyller's smile widened, looking certain that she had managed to reject the boy's gift.

" Well, we can try to watch some movies, and…”

" Rose, is your car parked nearby? You better send me the address of the studio and we'll meet you there, okay? " Liam replied, giving Skyller a petulant look, and he stared at her dumbfounded.

" I could kiss you, but you're no longer available, so," Rose jumped up, kissing him on the cheek, then satisfied that she had gotten what she wanted.

He laughed at her excitement, and I myself stared at her with a small smile on my lips, feeling pleased to see her so excited. My smile died when I noticed that Theodore and Liam were looking at me with an amused expression on their faces.

" What's wrong?”

" Nothing," Theo remarked.

" Baker, give the key to Theo, let's do it differently this time, you girls go to Brigitte's and we'll go in your car," Liam suggested.

The girl frowned, but didn't deny it, handing her keys and car papers to her friend before Rose dragged her and Camille out. The boy kept a lazy smile on his face until the three of them disappeared into the street.

" You have to help me. There's no way I'm letting anyone near me with a motorized needle! " His smile died immediately, making us all laugh.

" I'm sorry, man. You'll have to do it for her. Consider it a token of your love," Theo teased, getting up.

" Pick a small one, and when you least expect it to be over," I advised him, getting up and preparing to leave, "she's sure to be impressed by your courage.”

" Will she be impressed if I faint? Because that's what happened the last time I had to take an injection," he returned, causing Theodore and me to turn in his direction.

" Are you serious? " Theo stared at him.

" You have to get me out of this, I'll pay for an extra tattoo for you! " he pleaded, walking us out of the pizzeria.

I shook my head in the negative, walking the two of them to the car that was parked on the opposite side of the street.

" You can say that you chose an private area to get the tattoo," Theo suggested, "I wouldn't be surprised at all, and Sky would be too embarrassed to ask any more questions.”

" Bad choice " I retorted " The main point of this is that he plans to show Sky the private area at some point, so at best case she would think him a lying coward.”

" And in the Worst Case? " Liam seemed to ponder that hypothesis.

" You would end up with a tattoo in your private area," I completed as I reached the car, heading straight for the back door.

We settled into the car and quickly drove off to the address Rose had sent to Liam, who was still looking for a magical escape from his problem.

" The best thing is to just accept it, man. Put on a headset with loud music so that you don't hear the machine and look the other way.” Theo advised.

" You two are useless," he muttered grumpily.

" Liam, enough of your drama, now what I'm dying to know is what's going on between Rose and Christian.” Theo watched me in the rearview mirror.

I knew that at some point they would bring up the subject, especially after seeing the way they were looking at me in the pizza place, but I still tried to ignore it.

" You know exactly what happens, why are you asking? " I returned.

" Don't play dumb, Davis," Liam chimed in.

" And why do you think I'm playing dumb? You already know we're having sex, what more do you want to know? " I replied petulantly.

" First of all, I saw the way you looked at her on Halloween, when you were just having sex, and it was very different from the way you looked at her today," Liam began.

" Besides, you came in holding hands today, don't think that anyone noticed.” Theodore added.

" You spent months pestering me to be honest about how I felt about Skyller. And don't think that I've forgotten that it was you who introduced the British asshole to her, I could return the favor.” Liam turned to look at me.

I rolled my eyes, even though I knew deep down that both of them were right.

" Look, Rose is beautiful, hot, and you have no idea how amazing she is, our arrangement was perfect, she doesn't want a boyfriend, I didn't want a girlfriend, so there was the whole sex part and I could be with whoever I wanted.” I sighed.

" And what went wrong with that? " Liam appraised me.

" I would bet that he stopped wanting to be with other girls," Theo laughed.

" It's not funny, I have to listen to Ashford talk about her all the time," I muttered.

" You have the option to talk to her about it, maybe she's changed her mind about your arrangement too, because I swear I stand ready to take her away from any girl that comes near you lately," Liam encouraged me.

Yes, Rose sometimes liked to mark her territory, especially when it came to Alícia, that was for sure. But still I didn't feel so sure.

" I'm trying to probe her a little," I shrugged.

" If I were you, I'd get it over with, it doesn't have to be that complicated," Theo warned.

" He was right. Don't make the same mistake I did. You introduced a Brit to Sky. I can introduce a Russian to Rose," Liam turned away once more.

I frowned, holding up both hands in a confused gesture while Theo looked as lost as I did.

" Why a Russian?"

" I kicked that little half-assed Englishman's ass, I doubt you'll do the same to my Russian cousin," he returned with amusement.

" Liam," Theo murmured.

" I'm serious, the guy owns a fight academy, and…”

" The big issue is that you all make things too complicated. The situation with Thompson wouldn't have happened if you had told Skyller how you felt from the start, just like she did. I wouldn't have gotten into that failed relationship if I had talked to you about Audrey," Theo returned, "and you are about to do the same, Davis. So just talk to her.”