On His Face - Tabatha Kiss Page 0,60
right?”
Another deep breath. Another wave of adrenaline. I look at my best friend and smile, reacting to her contagious grin.
“Sounds perfect,” I say.
Chapter 32
Heidi
“Ow,” I say, wincing. “Ow, ow, ow...”
Drew chuckles behind me on the bed. “You’re the one who wanted me to do this slowly...”
“And I instantly regret it. Ouch!”
He yanks the rest of the bandage off the back of my left shoulder. “There,” he says. “It’s off.”
I crane my neck to try to see it. “What does it look like?” I ask.
“It looks really cool.”
“It does?”
“Yeah, here.”
He takes a quick picture with his phone and hands it to me. I stare at the shiny, new tattoo on my back. It’s just two inches large and only half a whole butterfly, but it somehow makes me feel like an entirely new person. I instantly smile when I think of the other half permanently etched into Jenna’s right shoulder. Drew was right. We made a memory, and a damn good one at that.
Get a tattoo. Check!
“Damn,” I say, admiring the orange butterfly wing. “It does look cool.”
Drew opens the bottle of ointment. “Hold still,” he says as he squirts a little onto his hand.
I face forward and he slathers it on the tattoo. It’s cold and sends a chill down my spine. Then again, that’s just how my body has always reacted to Drew’s touch.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod. “Uh-huh.”
“Doesn’t burn?”
“Not really,” I say, smiling.
He adds another layer, softly rubbing it in. Then, he leans over and kisses a dry piece of skin near it. “Kenny said to do this once every hour for the first day, so keep the bottle handy.”
“I will.”
“You don’t want it to scab.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Do it less as it heals.”
“All right.”
“Will you go to the mask ball with me?”
My breath catches.
“What?” I ask.
“Will you...” he kisses the same dry spot again, “go to the masquerade ball with me tomorrow night?”
For a second, I don’t move. I assume that I just misheard him — but how could I have misheard him twice?
The masquerade ball? The Greek masquerade ball?
I pivot to look at him over my shoulder again. “No,” I answer.
Drew smiles with a raised finger. “Now, before you say no again—”
“No.”
“—consider saying yes instead.”
I chortle. “What? No, Drew. The mask ball is for the Greek system.”
“Which I’m a part of, so you can go. I invited you.”
I pause. I scratch my forehead. I don’t understand why he’s evading the actual point.
“It’s... very public,” I say. “Not to mention a lot of those people know Seth. My brother.”
“I know,” Drew says with a shrug.
I bite down. “So... no. No, Drew. I won’t go with you.”
Still, he keeps his smile as he wraps his arms around my waist. “You let me worry about all of that,” he says.
“Wow, you don’t spend a lot of time with people with anxiety, do you?”
“I’ll take care of the logistics,” he says, leaning close. “All I want you to worry about is getting all dressed up and having a good night with me... as a friend.”
“As a friend?”
“As far as anyone else is concerned, that’s what we are. We just have to act like it for a few hours.”
“Friends or not, Seth made me promise not to go.”
He waves a hand. “He’ll pout at first, but Seth will not let that ruin his night. Believe me. After five minutes, he’ll be yanking you into the mosh pit with everybody else.”
I go quiet for a moment. “I don’t...”
“Just say yes,” he whispers.
Just say yes.
Just say yes to the pretty boy asking you to the dance.
Been there, done that.
“No,” I say again.
“Heidi—”
“I don’t want to go, Drew.”
His smile slips a bit. “Heidi, you know that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?”
The words bring warmth and comfort. I would like nothing more than to curl up in them forever. I would love to forget about all the reasons we’re hiding out in my bedroom right now and enjoy a night out with him under shining lights, but I don’t see how that’s possible. Not unless we came clean.
“Are you going to tell Seth about us?” I ask.
Drew shakes his head. “No. It’s not the right time yet.”
“When is the right time?”
“Soon.”
I raise a brow. He sighs.
“I promise,” he says. “Soon, we will tell him, but I want to enjoy this night with you first. Okay?”
I inhale sharply to answer, but my words fail me again.
Drew shifts a little closer. “Do you trust me?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Then, would you trust me on