“Don’t use her and then discard her, breaking her heart into a million little pieces like you’ve done to every other woman you’ve tempted into your bed.”
Her words hit me, cutting a little too close to the quick. “You make me sound horrible.”
“You’re an unapologetic player, Mello. You never make promises, but the girls go stupid around you. And while Arlo is one of the smartest and savviest women I’ve ever met in my life, I also know you have the ability to destroy her.”
I finally turn my face, looking straight at my cousin. “Maybe she’ll destroy me. Ever think of that?”
Gigi studies me for a second, and then she rolls her eyes. “You’d need to have a heart for that to happen.”
“I’m out,” I announce, pushing back and out of my chair. “I got shit to do. You guys can stay out here, talking about me and my shitty behavior the rest of the day, but let’s not forget, you all were every bit like me before you found your other half.”
“I don’t count,” Trace adds. “You’re my pussy hero, and I’m still single.”
“Fuck you,” I tell him, pointing my finger at him as I stalk by. “You’ll never be as great as me.”
He laughs, throwing a pen at me and hitting me in the middle of the back. “Go get her, bro,” he says.
“He’ll lock it down within two weeks,” Pike says, getting my middle finger high in the air with my back to him and the rest of the jerk-offs I call family.
I knock lightly. “Arlo, you ready?”
“Yeah, Mello. Come on in,” she says, her voice soft and sweet.
I turn the knob, not one bit prepared for what I see when the door opens. I stop dead with one foot inside and everything else still in the hallway.
Arlo’s sitting on top of my table, perched with her back against the wall, holding her book, and wearing only a lacy black bra, leaving very little to the imagination.
She looks like a Greek goddess with her dark hair, olive skin, piercing green eyes, and long legs stretched out across my table.
Any other time, any other girl, and I’d totally be putting the moves on her, probably taking her back to my place for a one-and-done.
She peers up, pushing her black-rimmed glasses up her nose, and smiles at me.
Swear to Christ, my heart stopped along with the entire world. I’ve never seen a girl wearing glasses look so sexy before, and it’s doing all kinds of wicked shit to my body and is totally fucking with my mind.
“Hey,” she says, her eyes raking over me and not just my face.
“Ready?” I walk in, trying not to stare at her tits, which is super hard because they’re fucking fantastic. “You can totally change your mind, and I won’t think any differently of you. This is a big commitment. There’s no turning back on a piece like this.”
She sets her book on top of her legs, giving me a full view of her upper body. It’s like a one-two punch to the face, but somehow, I don’t swallow my own tongue or start to drool. “It’s nice to see you again and not when you need to save me,” she says.
“Yeah.”
“I never got to thank you enough for helping me out.”
“There’s no need to thank me, Arlo. How have you been? You seemed—”
“I’m great,” she says, not letting me finish my statement. “I was in a bad place back then, but I’m so much better now.”
“We all have shitty times in our lives, but I’m glad you’re doing better. You deserve to have better.”
“You too, Mello,” she says with a small smile. “That’s why I told Lily I wanted to help when she said you wanted to find your forever.”
“Well, I appreciate your input. I swear I’m not broken.”
“Never thought you were. A guy who’s broken wouldn’t have stopped to help me twice and been nothing but a great guy about it.”
I clear my throat, feeling uncomfortable with the conversation. “You sure you want to do this?” My gaze dips to her exposed ribs and her perfect, blemish-free skin. “We can still fake date without the pain and permanent reminder of me etched on your skin.”
“I want this,” she tells me, never breaking eye contact. “I’ve wanted a dragon for as long as I can remember, and when I saw your drawing, I knew it was the one.”
“I can make it smaller, less intricate, and put it somewhere a little less