Tattooed Dots (The Halo Series Book 1)

by Kimberly Knight

  “Pizza should be here in forty,” she said, crawling on the bed.

  I set my phone on Brooke’s nightstand. “I just talked to Cheyenne.”

  “Oh yeah? Does she miss her daddy?”

  “She does, but she doesn’t know I’m here.”

  Brooke turned to look at me, her eyes huge. “Really?”

  “You know I’ve never brought anyone home to meet her, and I haven’t told her about you because I didn’t know where we stood.”

  She was silent for a moment. “That makes sense.”

  “I want you to meet her, though, and soon.”

  “Really?” she asked again.

  “Yes, really.” I pulled her down toward me on the bed, careful not to touch the bandage on the back of her neck. “We have forty minutes right?” I asked, giving her my panty-melting smile.

  “Uh-huh.” She smiled.

  For the next forty minutes, I enjoyed her body again. We had just come down from our high when there was a knock at the door. I threw on my jeans, went to the door and paid for the pizza.

  I’d never realized that dating someone could be like this. Brooke didn’t want me just for my body—even though I knew she enjoyed it, but we had a bond. She was so far in my veins that there was no turning back. If she were single on the cruise, I probably would have fucked her hard by now and got her out of my system. But living by Avery’s logic, it wouldn’t have mattered; we would have been destined to end up together.

  We ate the pizza in front of her TV as I drank a few beers, and we watched baseball. It wasn’t my Angels—I didn’t care. My girl liked to watch baseball!

  After a few slices, we showered and I paid extra close attention to her wound. It was just a small hole, but I didn’t want it to get infected.

  “It’s small,” I said.

  “That’s what she said.” She laughed.

  I pinched her butt. “You know it’s not.”

  “It’s not, but come on …”

  “I know, smartass. Anyway, what I was saying is your hole is sma … Shit.”

  Brooke busted out with a laugh again, causing me to grab her face and plant a kiss on her lips to shut her up.

  “Where they stuck the needle is a small hole,” I corrected.

  “Is it?”

  “Yeah, I bet tomorrow it will be closed up.”

  “That’s good.”

  I washed around the hole in her neck and rubbed her shoulders with the soap as she hung her head down, enjoying the massage. I squirted more of her apple-scented shower gel in my palms, soaping each arm and then down her back and around her front.

  I didn’t want to push her. I knew that she had been through a lot today, but I just liked touching her. I wasn’t looking forward to returning to New York the next morning, but I knew I had to.

  I ran my hands all over her body with the soap, memorizing her feel and the look of her golden skin. Everything was perfect. Her hair, eyes, nose, lips, smile, her neck, collarbone, breasts, her flat stomach, her mostly shaved pussy, her smooth legs and her perfect feet and toes.

  After I had finished washing every inch of her, she returned the favor, concentrating on my cock. Her slick, soapy hand tightened around my stiff shaft and I groaned as she slid her hand up and down, milking me. She knew exactly how I wanted it. Our eyes met as she continued to slowly pump, then increased the motion and grabbed my balls lightly with her free hand at the same time.

  My head fell back, and my hips had a mind of their own as they moved to match the rhythm of her hand. Before I knew it, cum squirted out, landing on her recently washed stomach. I had to rewash her. Not that I was complaining, but I figured it was part of her plan.

  I placed a new bandage on the back of her neck when we were done with our shower. We were both spent as we crawled into bed where I held her the whole night.

  The next morning, I woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. I instantly smiled, knowing that Brooke wanted to return the favor from the morning before. Little did she know, I didn’t do it because I wanted to do something nice—I mean I did, but I did it because I was used to getting up early with Cheyenne and making breakfast. I would make Brooke breakfast every morning if she’d let me.

  “Mornin’,” I said, kissing the top of her head.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No, the bacon did,” I said, giving her the same line she gave me the morning before.

  For the first time, we had an awkward silence around us as we ate breakfast. We both knew I was leaving after breakfast.

  “Do you want to come next weekend?” I asked.

  “What about Cheyenne?”

  “I want you to meet her.”

  “I know, but should I stay in a hotel?”

  I thought for a moment. “No, I’ll sneak you in when she goes to bed.” I winked.

  “Oh really?” She laughed.

  “I’ll talk to Cheyenne. It will be fine. We’ll have dinner together and then watch a movie with her or something. She won’t care.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Well, I’ll let you know. She knows about you.”

  “Wait, I thought you said she didn’t?”

  “She doesn’t know details, but she heard my mom talking to my dad,” I said, sticking a bit of strawberry in my mouth.

  “You talked to your mom?”

  “Of course. I needed advice about introducing you to Cheyenne.”

  “I see,” she said, not pressing the situation more.

  After breakfast, we said our long goodbye. Now I understood why she’d bolted on the cruise. Goodbyes were hard, even if they were only for a week. A lot could happen in five days, and I wanted to spend those five days with her.

  I wanted to spend every day with her.

  Sunday was hard.

  I didn’t want Easton to go. It had been nice not being in an empty apartment. I always thought I wanted to be alone when I was with Jared, but I realized it was because he would ignore me the whole time and I was his slave.

  I tried not to cry when I watched Easton drive away, but I couldn’t hold my tears in. I was sad. The stupid four and a half hour drive between us felt like the whole United States.

  Me: Did A leave yet?

  Nicole: Not yet. What’s up?

  Me: E left already because of Cheyenne.

  Nicole: He’s leaving soon. Want to do dinner?

  Me: Yeah, where?

  Nicole: Your place?

  Me: Sure.

  Nicole had never really liked coming over to my apartment before, but everything was different now that I’d broken up with Jared—or maybe Nicole thought I was fragile because of the tumor. But I suspected she was okay with coming over because Jared was long gone.

  After I finished my Sunday routine of laundry and cleaning my apartment, Nicole came over with bags of food.

  “You do know I’m not helpless right?” I asked.

  “I know, but I went to the store to get stuff to make dinner, so I picked you up a few things.”

  “A few things? You bought the whole store.”

  “Eh, whatever,” she said, waving her hand to brush off my statement.

  We put all the groceries away. I was actually grateful that she had gone to the store. Usually, my shopping day was Saturday, but with all that had happened, I didn’t get a chance to go.

  “How you feeling?”

  “Good.”

  “Does your neck hurt?” Nicole asked, twirling her finger around to motion for me to turn around. She lifted one side of the bandage and looked at my wound.

  “No, it feels fine.”

  “It looks good too. I think you can take this off.” She removed the bandage and threw it in the garbage.

  “Thanks. So how are you and Avery?” I asked, wanting to avoid talking about my tumor.

  Nicole’s eyes lit up. She loved talking about herself and the men she was dating. “Oh my God, B, he is so sweet. You want to know what sealed the deal for me?”

  “His big cock
?” I said with a laugh.

  “Well, duh, but no. Did you know that he helped Easton raise Cheyenne after Easton’s wife died?”

  “Easton briefly mentioned it.”

  “I think Avery loves that girl like his own.”

  “I think he is just a really good uncle.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right, but knowing that he helped raise a kid just makes me want him more. My clock is tickin’,” she said, slicing chicken into bite size pieces.

  “Tell me about it,” I huffed.

  I never thought that I would be thirty and not married with kids. The times were changing, and women were having babies later, but I’d always assumed I would at least have one by thirty.

  “Also, the sex is really good. Like the best I’ve ever had.”

  “Sex with Easton is the best I’ve ever had,” I said, putting a cup of brown rice in the rice cooker.

  “Okay, start from the beginning with him showing up without telling you.”

  “I thought it was you at my door. He was on the phone with me, so I didn’t even think it could be him. When I looked through the peephole and saw him standing there, my heart stopped. I swear to God, it stopped. The last time that I’d actually seen him face to face was when we awkwardly went to bed the last night of the cruise.”

  “Okay, okay, get to the sex.” She laughed.

  “Whenever I imagined sex with him, he would throw me on the bed and fuck me hard, but it was so … passionate. I’ve never had it so slow and good before. I don’t know, I can’t explain it. Jared used to just lick and stick, but Easton … He paid attention to my needs. It was perfect.”

  “Now are you happy I got you a cruise for your birthday?”

  “Yes, but I wish I hadn’t wasted a week with Easton.”

  “I don’t think you wasted a week. You got to know him. And I know you—you wouldn’t have been able to wrap your head around the fact that he has been married before and has a kid if you didn’t get to know him first.”

  “I know. I still can’t wrap my head around it actually.”

  “B, I’m not telling you to marry the guy. Just have some fun.”

  “Avery is rubbing off on you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Ever since you met him, you’ve called me B. You used to call me by my name or Brookie.”

  “Huh …” she said, trailing off.

  “Anyway, Easton wants me to meet Cheyenne.”

  Nicole dropped the knife from her hands. “Oh my God, really? Avery said that he’s never introduced a girl to his daughter before.”

  “I know. I’m really nervous. What if she doesn’t like me?”

  “Well, I think you will be okay. She’s ten. If she were a teenager, I would tell you to wait until she was out of the house.”

  I tried to remember what Bailee was like at ten. She’d stopped playing with dolls and had started to play more with the kids in the neighborhood. By thirteen, she thought she knew it all.

  I had three years to prove myself to Cheyenne.

  I went to work on Monday. Ian dragged me into his office first thing, trying to reprimand me for being gone for two weeks. I explained to him about my tumor, and he apologized, but he still seemed a little standoffish about it.

  Nicole texted me on Tuesday to let me know that Dr. Sam couldn’t tell me the results of the biopsy, but that Dr. Bloom needed to talk to me. I was scared, but she told me not to worry about it and that it was standard procedure.

  Not long after Nicole’s call, Dr. Bloom’s office assistant called to schedule an appointment with me. I didn’t want to miss any more work than needed, so I scheduled it for Friday at four. At five o’clock, Nicole and I would be New York bound, however I didn’t tell Easton because I wanted to surprise him.

  “Hi, Brooke, how are you doing?” Dr. Bloom asked as he entered the exam room.

  “I’m a little nervous.”

  “Well, I know you’ve been through a lot in the last few weeks, and I hate to tell you that it’s not over.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They weren’t able to get enough sample of the mass and can’t determine what it is.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “They ran a few extra tests, but with the little sample that they got from the biopsy, it’s not enough to determine what the mass is.”

  “So we don’t know if I have cancer?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  I stared at him wide-eyed. How could they not get enough sample to determine what it was? It didn’t make sense. “Do I need to have another biopsy?”

  “That’s a good question. I’ve spoken with an associate of mine, and we think it would be best to test it after it has been removed.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “But, Brooke, even if we remove it, your pain might not go away. Your mass is on a nerve, and the CT doesn’t show exactly where it is in your shoulder area. You might have nerve damage after.”

  “Oh …”

  “It’s hard to say, but the nerve damage might be in your arm which means you wouldn’t be able to use it.”

  “Oh …”

  I’d assumed the tumor would be removed, and then I would be pain free again. I hadn’t thought about the consequences of having it removed. I was just tired of being in pain.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in.”

  “It is.”

  “We can give you time to think about it before you make a decision.”

  “No, I want to have the surgery.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I am. The tumor is growing right?”

  “Well, that is hard to tell, but I would say yes. I want you to get a second opinion before scheduling the surgery. If you want to still schedule the surgery, then we’ll get you set up, but I’ll need you to get an MRI first. It will help us determine where the tumor is. Your body is made up of layers, and we need to map out a plan.”

  Dr. Bloom gave me the name of another surgeon to go to for the second opinion. I didn’t want to go; I knew I needed the surgery. I had a fucking tumor for Christ’s sake.

  I reached in my purse to call Easton and had a missed text from Nicole:

  Nicole: I’ll be ay your place at 5:15. Be ready. I looked and a storm is coming. I want to get there before it hits.

  My appointment with Dr. Bloom lasted only a few minutes, but with the wait time, it was already a quarter to five. I walked to my car, calling Easton on the way, but he didn’t answer, so I sent him a text:

  Me: Doc says they didn’t get enough sample to determine if I have cancer or not.

  Nicole pulled up at the same time I did when I arrived at my apartment, and I switched cars after grabbing my bag. After I’d filled Nicole in on the news from Dr. Bloom, Easton texted me:

  Easton: Sorry, baby. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. I wish I had the answers for you. We’re really busy, but I’ll call you on my break. Remember, you’re my Superwoman. Stay strong.

  I smiled at his text. I was a little disappointed that it was a text and not a phone call, but it was Friday night, and he did run a bar.

  Dark clouds started to roll in as we neared New York. Every few minutes, I looked at my phone to make sure I didn’t miss a call from Easton. I had no idea when he was going on break, and I had to tell him that I was on my way.

  “We should surprise him at the bar,” Nicole said, reading my thoughts. “Avery’s there, too, but I didn’t tell him that we were both coming.”

  “You didn’t? Where am I supposed to sleep?”

  “I figured you would stay at Easton’s.” She shrugged.

  “Hello, Easton hasn’t introduced me to Cheyenne, yet. I can just imagine us bumping into each other in the hall. “Hello, I’m Brooke, your daddy’s fuck buddy.”

  “You know you’re more than just a fuck buddy.”

  “I hope so. I mean, I know, but once I meet Cheyenne, that will seal the deal in my eyes.”

  �
��You already know that’s coming. Pull up directions to the bar on your phone,” she said, motioning to my phone.

  I typed Halo in the search engine on my phone and pulled up the address. After I’d punched in the directions, we arrived at the bar just as it started to pour.

  “Looks like we made it just in time, but now we need to make a run for it,” Nicole said, looking at the drops of rain hitting her windshield.

  We dashed through the parking lot, the rain falling hard on my jeans and sparkly black tank top. By the time we made it to the door, my hair no longer had the little curl that I’d put into it that morning. The water from the rain had flattened it to my head. Nicole opened the heavy wooden door and we entered, showing a bouncer our IDs, and then I tried to fluff my hair to look somewhat decent. The bar was packed. Bodies were everywhere: on the dance floor, sitting at high top tables and at the bar. My eyes scanned the room until I saw Easton at the bar. He was leaned over the bar, looking down at a red head with big boobs. I grabbed Nicole’s arm beside me and motioned to Easton with my heart not beating. He was flirting with her.

  “Oh fuck no!” Nicole screamed over the loud music.

  As if he could sense me, Easton turned, meeting my gaze head on as I backed up to leave. I saw his mouth move, then looked down at the red head’s hand on his arm. That was all I needed to see: a deer caught in headlights.

  I turned, running out the door and into the rain. I had nowhere to go, but I couldn’t be in the bar. In my head, we were exclusive, and I thought he’d made himself clear, but guys had a way of manipulating you. After four years, I’d caught Jared cheating. I couldn’t go through that again. Easton had told me about his past …

  I was a fool for believing that he had changed.

  I looked to my left and then to my right. It had been a long time since I’d been to the city, and the last time Jared had left me to wander around alone. Once again, I was alone in the Big Apple. I thought about going back inside and finding Nicole, but I needed time to think. I saw a twenty-four hour diner down the street and started walking toward it as I heard the wooden door of the bar open with a bang behind me.