Page 153

The map almost seemed to fade into the water underneath that she’d done in light toned greys. There was a gorgeous pirate ship where the water got darker again, like it was coming out of her arm, and the lighter areas were further in the distance. The ship came complete with shredded sails and the Jolly Roger flag. The detail she’d added was incredible.
Coming out of the ship, starting small and growing larger as it “popped out” at the viewer, was a three-dimensional rope. It coiled around her forearm to come down into an anchor that would rest over her hand, the bottom point almost touching her middle knuckle.
“Holy shit, Tempe. This is fucking stunning. You want a whole sleeve?”
She nodded. “Yes. Everything in there means something. I think it would be the perfect way to honor the life I had, the life I have, and to erase the bullshit that was done a few weeks ago.”
“I can’t believe you did all this. Did it take you the whole three weeks?”
She smiled. “It sure as hell did. I thought I’d never finish it. Honestly, I thought I’d give up before I did. The more I did to it though, the more I liked it. I think it’s probably my favorite thing I’ve ever drawn.”
“I’ve never seen your other work, but it’s unbelievable. I’m inclined to say it would be my favorite, too. Hell, now I don’t know if I want to get a tattoo yet. Now I wonder if I should let you design me one.”
Her smile grew. “Look through my other stuff. Maybe you’ll find something you like. I do skulls a lot. Donotpick anything with skulls. It’s so cliché.”
I laughed. She wasn’t wrong. Most of the guys at school either had some form of tribal or skulls. Nothing else. I browsed through her expansive library of art she’d done herself, amazed by her talent. Like I needed anything else to make me fall in love with this girl.
“Oh, I like this one,” I said. It was a detailed clockwork piece with cracks and gouges out of it. “This is something I could turn into a sleeve later if I wanted.”
“I think that one would look good on you!” I said.
The thought of having something on me that she designed tugged at my heart. It felt like an honor, like she was a part of me. It had been harder lately to deny what I felt for her. Especially with her successfully avoiding Damian and Asher.
Asher had taken my advice. For now, at least, he was staying away from her until he could figure things out. He stopped me one day and told me it was too hard to navigate his feelings for her while being around her. Instead, he opted to avoid her. It was an approach I approved of. He wasn’t treating her like shit, and he wasn’t leading her on. It was certainly better than what he’d been doing before.
Damian, however, hadn’t been quite as thoughtful.
He backed off for a few days after the tattoo incident, and he’d even cut Harper off. Banning anyone in his circle from talking to her. Outside of that, he seemed just as determined to complete his goal of getting Temperance out of Crestview.
Even with him not on speaking terms with Harper, he continued. If he’d disowned her, why the hell would he continue with the bet? It made no sense.
Rumors spread of a big thing Damian had planned. Something that would end her for good, and it made me nervous. Temperance had refused to allow me to intervene, though, and even if I thought it was the wrong thing to do, I obeyed her wishes.
Her life was her life, and enough choices had been taken from her. I wasn’t about to take more choices from her, but I couldn’t help but worry whatever Damian was planning would be bad. After all, now that I knew her big secret, I knew just how much she had to lose.
With worrying about all of that, my ability to block her out became almost non-existent. And with the drama kings out of the way, the ideahadoccurred to me that we could be together. If she were truly done with them, I could tell her how I truly feel and see if she felt the same. The thought of truly being with her made my stomach want to leap into my mouth.
It was hard to keep myself focused through shopping. She looked so happy, and her smile was contagious. I wanted to kiss her more than anything, and she caught me staring a few times. Every time she did, she’d bite her lip, which only made me want to do it more.
“Temperance, you need to stop doing that,” I said. I’d only meant to think it, but it popped out.
Recognition flashed in her eyes, causing her to bite her lip again. “Temperance, huh?”
My nose scrunched up. “Sorry. That popped out before I could stop it.”
She smirked and ran a flirty finger down the center of my chest before turning and walking away to look at more black fabric.
“That girl is going to be the death of me,” I murmured to myself as she walked away.
An hour later, we had all the fabric for her and Luna to make twocostumes as well as all the other things they’d need to complete their projects. I still had yet to decide what I wanted to be, so I just grabbed some decorations for my apartment.
When we got to the parlor, Temperance was invited back right away, and I realized no one was there. “How the hell did you pull this off?”
She shrugged. “Rick might have made a call to reserve the parlor for me when I told him what I was doing, and I called ahead and told the guys I’d tip well.”
I laughed. “Well, well, well. For someone who wasn’t sure if she wanted or needed another dad, you sure took advantage of that perk.”
“Hey, shut up! They have far less work to do now, and they’ll make just as much money. Rick was just trying to do me a favor.”