to kick her leg outwards in all different directions and then something catches my eye on her thigh just above where her denim shorts sit.
It’s a tattoo… a tattoo of a key.
Without thinking, I drop her leg, and Lana squeals loudly and Pacer curses while quickly stretching out his arms ready to catch her.
I take a step back from the window. Memories assaulting me, sending me back to a time that I desperately don’t want to be dragged back to.
“I want you to get a key to my lock. I want that and so much more with you.”
There’s a loud grunt and I blink, my eyes clearing the fog I’ve gotten lost in. Pacer is still struggling with Lana’s legs, trying to get her back inside the house.
Not even thinking I stalk toward the window and climb up onto the ledge. “Let Lana’s legs go, I’m going up to get her,” I explain to Pacer on my way out the window.
“Thank fuck,” my brother replies as he carefully places her feet on the ledge.
I grab the edge of the window on the outside and pull my body up to standing. First, I’m hit with a warm breeze and next an icy stare from a breathless and flushed Lana.
“Mackson, let me go or I’m climbing down this roof and if that ends in me with a broken leg or arm then so be it. I refuse to be a pawn in Rex and Slater’s stupid games.”
She reaches down, unstraps her sandals and throws her shoes off the roof. I don’t give a fuck about her words or her shoes. I need an answer and I need it now.
I take one hand from the window and grasp the top of her arm. I know my grip is tighter than I would normally use on a woman. And that’s confirmed when Lana’s head swings to me, and for the first time I see real fear in her eyes, panic that I may hurt her.
“You got my key,” I accuse in a harsh tone.
Her eyebrows squish together and she frowns. “Your key?”
“Tattoo,” I growl.
Lana’s whole body visually tenses. She quickly glances down to her leg and then back up to me.
“Yeah, I saw it, and now I want to know why the fuck you got my tattoo on your body.”
“It’s not what you think.” Her words are rushed and her voice is soft. The first sign of the Lana I used to know, the anxiety in her tone throws my mood off balance and my anger begins to recede.
My grip loosens on her arm and I demand, “Get back in the house, Lana. Now.”
Lana looks left to right; her hair blowing in the wind. She’s searching for an escape that isn’t there, the only way off this roof is by falling off it.
“Pacer,” I shout, and then quickly, I kick my right foot out and into the back of Lana’s calves.
She squeals as her legs are taken out from below her, but it’s enough of a shock that she finally lets go of the metal railing and I’m able to catch and lower her to Pacer. I jump through the window and land easily on my feet, finding Pacer by the closed door and Lana on the other side of the room pacing like a caged animal.
I pin Lana with a stare while talking to my brother. “Pacer give us a minute.”
“Okay.” He drags out the word and I can feel his stare on me as he leaves. Through the now closed door I hear him say, “This day is getting weirder and weirder by the fucking hour.”
“No games, Lana. I want to know why you have that specific tattoo on your body, and I want to know right fucking now.”
“Games Mack? That’s your form of entertainment, not mine.”
What the fuck?
“You know what that…” I point to her thigh, the tattoo still hidden under her denim shorts “…meant to me. It was meant for the woman I loved, the woman who stood by me, a strong woman.”
Lana pales at my words and my chest physically aches from seeing the hurt on her face, knowing it was me who put it there. All these years, all the pain I’ve felt because of her, it’s all coming to the forefront. I look to the ground and run a hand through my hair while trying to figure out a way to apologize to the woman who shattered my heart, who should be the one saying sorry to