The Lucky Five - By Arow Jones Page 0,44
I did I know I would be eye level with his crotch. I don’t know if I could handle that kind of temptation. My body perks up whenever we’re near each other. His nearness sends my body into a frozen tizzy then melts with his touch. JT speaks up.
“I’ve never gotten a tattoo.” Everyone takes a drink.
“Okay, show and tell. I’ll go first. Grayson yanks off his shirt to reveal one of his many tattoos. One, in particular is a feather on his chest where pieces are flying across and up to his shoulder where two birds are flying together.
“Why two birds?” Kenny asks.
“One for me and one for the girl I’m going to fly off with.” He laughs. “Show me yours.” She stiffens. No, wait, let me guess.” He taps his finger to his lips. “Tramp stamp?” Chase sits forward now. “Ankle? No, hip. Yeah, cherry blossoms on a branch on your left hip.” She smiles and throws a pillow at him. “Okay, I confess. Skye’s cousin did mine too and happen to let some info slip on his cousin and her friends visiting her. We were close.”
“How close?” Skye sits up this time. Grayson waggles hi eye brows. “Slut.”
“Perv. You asked!”
“Ugh! Well since you started it…” she turns her back to Grayson and slowly lifts her dress up. Her cheeks are bare except the thin straps of her white g string. I cough to get her attention. “What? It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.” Grayson actually blushes until she lifts the dress even higher to reveal a tropical colored sparrow on the lower right side of her back. His fingers lightly touch the bird.
“Sparrow. When did you get this?”
“Um.” She pulls her dress back down. “It’s not the one I got with the girls. You’ve already seen that one.” This time she blushes. I’m definitely not the only one with a secret, though not so secret, crush. “We’ve all seen JT’s. Your turn Lily.”
“Okay, um, mine’s really not that big of a deal. I turn my back to Grayson. It’s the Lucky Five symbol on the back of my neck.”
“Yes, but why?” Skye is pushing me. The night we got our tattoos we decided to choose things that reminded us of something of lasting importance.
“No, I get. The ranch is important to you. JT did the same thing. It’s kind of like remembering a legacy, right?”
“Yeah, something like that.” I resume sitting with my back to the recliner and legs stretched out. I don’t bother to move my hair back to cover the tattoo. Somehow letting it show to JT feels right. His hand rests on my shoulder. I feel him moving until his breath is at my ear.
“I get it.” His lips press gently on the tattoo. I involuntarily shiver.
We keep taking turns until we’ve exhausted the liquor in front of us. At some point in the night my hair was at my back again. I could feel JT’s fingers playing with the strands. I’d thought about cutting it this summer but now I’m glad I haven’t. I like that he likes to touch me. His touch is comforting.
Just before dawn JT picks up a blanket. He takes my hand and leads me to the back porch of the house. I’m too tired to protest and too giddy about our hands joined. When we get to the porch he unfolds the blanket and wraps it around me. I’m glad for it. I can see my breath in the cold air. He sits down on a rocking chair and pulls me onto his lap. I lay my head on his chest. He doesn’t say anything. We just sit, rocking, watching the sun rise.
Twenty
Having Lily in my arms feels so right. She laid her head down on me. I rub her back with on hand and hold her on my lap with the other. After a few minutes I feel her body completely relax. Her eyes close. Her pink lips slightly parted as she sleeps. My eyes close shortly after.
The next time I open my eyes the sun is bright. I’ve probably only had a few hours of sleep but it’s the best sleep I’ve had in a while. I get up and stretch. I hear her clearing her throat. She’s looking at where my shirt rode up when I stretched my arms above my head. Even though my shirt is already back down I tug it down anyway. She looks away and blushes.
“So…”
“Oh, here, coffee.” She hands me