I finish up the tattoo, adding a little white ink to highlight it in all the right places. By the time that I’m done and turn off the machine, she sighs in relief. I help her up and she goes over to the full-length mirror on my door. In a way that I didn’t know was possible, she looks even hotter with ink embedded into her skin. Her face lights up as she checks it out and then turns to me.
“What do you think?”
Pulling off the gloves and chucking them into the garbage can, I pin her against the wall. “I think you’re the best thing in my life, and you’re fucking gorgeous.”
THE NEXT DAY, I’M just stepping out of the shower when Delaney comes back from her run to the store. I had insisted on going with her, but she refused. Something about not wanting me to stop her from whatever she was planning on doing. It didn’t sound very safe, and her words did nothing to put me at ease, but I let it go. Hearing her walk back through the door, however, all the tension leaves my body.
“Have fun?” I ask.
She looks me up and down, noticing I’m only in a towel. “I’m having much more fun now.”
I chuckle softly. There’s no secret that I’ve turned her into a sex-addicted little monster. She’s completely insatiable, not that I’m complaining. I’d spend every second of my life inside of her if I could. Unfortunately, she swears that having a life that only ever consists of each other is unhealthy. I disagree.
Delaney pulls a pill bottle from her pocket and hands it to me. “They’re sleeping pills. My doctor said to take one every night, but to make sure you have a full eight hours to sleep. After about two weeks, your body should get back into the routine of sleeping on a normal schedule.”
“How did you get these?”
She shrugs. “I may have lied and told him I have insomnia. He did a couple tests but there’s really no way for him to tell. He just has to take my word for it.”
“You…” I look down at the pills in disbelief. “You did all that, for me?”
She rolls her eyes, coming closer and wrapping her arms around my waist. “When are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours? I’d do anything for you."
20
DELANEY
Walking into the boutique with Tessa, I’ve never been more excited, yet more nervous, for one of these galas. I had hoped Knox would agree to come with me, but I honestly thought he was going to tell me no. A high-class soiree like that is the bane of his existence. While I know it’s nothing like his usual scene, I’m so glad he’ll be by my side.
“I still can’t believe you got him to agree,” Tess says in disbelief.
I chuckle softly. “What can I say? I can be quite persuasive.”
“Okay, there are just some things in this world that I don’t need to know.”
Smacking her arm lightly, we walk up to the counter. Annabel, the sales rep who has been working here for years now, is too focused on her phone to notice we’re here. My sister fakes a cough to get her attention and laughs as the poor girl jumps.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.”
I give her a sweet smile. “It’s okay. We’re here for—”
“Dress fittings for the annual gala, of course,” she cuts me off. “Right this way.”
As we step into the room, the two dresses hanging on the wall are breathtaking. Every year, our parents have the stylist pick out what we’re going to wear, and she never disappoints. Unsurprisingly, it’s the exact same dress for both of us, only in different colors. Hers is a sparkly black while mine is more of a silky, pale pink. It’s an accurate play on our personalities, that’s for sure.
We both get changed and stand on the platforms, allowing the two seamstresses take their measurements and pin the places that need to be adjusted. As she has me turn, Tess glances over at me and her eyes widen.
“Is that a tattoo?” she balks.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe nothing. You got a fucking tattoo! When?”
I shrug. “Knox did it over the weekend.”
Her jaw drops. “You let that boy come near you with a needle?”
“Well, yeah.” My eyes roll. “I got him the whole set-up for his birthday, and I was the first person he used it on. You know, before he started doing touchups on himself.”