Which was fine! Absolutely fine! Because Aria was off men. Off relationships. Completely.
“I think,” she answered finally, “that you’re a man of many talents.” She rose up on her toes and kissed his nose right back. Then she let go of his hand and headed up the street. “Do you know how to say ‘India ink’ in Spanish, by the way?”
There was a slight pause before he answered, a hesitation before he fell into step at her side and took her hand again. “I know how to say ‘India’, and I know how to say ‘ink’.
“Good enough.”
Nik hadn’t been joking on that drunken night when he’d asked Aria to give him a tattoo. And he wasn’t joking now, either, though she was laughing at what he’d just said as if it were top-tier comedy.
“You want me to surprise you?” she repeated, incredulous.
“What, no-one’s ever asked you to do that?”
“Well, yeah. The guys who are fucking covered and don’t give a shit, sometimes they ask me to do that. But this is your first tattoo, Nik! Don’t you know what you want?”
“I think,” he said, with complete honesty, “that you’ll choose something perfect. Because you’re perfect.”
Around them, the kitchen erupted into groans. Half the house had dragged themselves out of bed to watch Nik get a stick-and-poke from his girlfriend—and, as always, Nik was using their presence to say things he couldn’t usually get away with. He could lavish fake-girlfriend-Aria with praise and have her think it was all part of the act. When they were alone, though, he tried to cool it.
He usually failed, but he tried.
“You know what?” she asked with a wicked smile. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you’re gonna get. A surprise.”
“Oh, Christ,” Georgia laughed. “You’ve done it now, Nik. You great ninny!”
Ah, well.
Aria took the whole thing very seriously—but then, he supposed, she was a professional. She’d told him all about her apprenticeship, her many tattoos, and how much she loved her job. She was going to open a tattoo shop with the money she’d earned this week. So, obviously, she wouldn’t want to accidentally poison him with a needle in a Marbella mansion.
He felt a tickle as she outlined whatever design she’d chosen, but he couldn’t see anything. For some reason, she’d decided to tattoo the back of his arm, just above his elbow. He suspected she’d done it to make sure he couldn’t see—or maybe so that, if he hated it, it would be easy to ignore. She was the kind of person who thought about things like that.
He wished he could tell her, as she filled the needle with ink and kissed his shoulder, that he’d never hate any mark she put on him.
So why don’t you? Why don’t you stop fucking around and take what you want? Why don’t you tell her that you’re not letting go?
Because I want her to hold on, too.
The sharp little pokes began, like scratchy bug bites. He felt her hair brush against the small of his back as she bent her head. He remembered how it had felt grazing his thighs that morning as she rode him, as she tipped her head back and told him she’d never wanted anyone like this.
Soon. He’d tell her soon. Because keeping secrets from Aria was starting to feel like the worst kind of sin.
“Hold still.” Aria twisted Nik’s arm into the perfect position as she snapped a picture of his fresh tattoo. “I’m gonna post this on Instagram.”
“That’s great, chrysí mou, but what is it?”
“It’s the shit emoji,” Varo said solemnly.
The room erupted into laughter. She ignored them and leaned over Nik’s shoulder, holding her phone out for him to see. Her heart pounded as she said, “Look.”
He peered at the little screen, and she held her breath. She always wanted clients to like their ink, but this was different. She couldn’t explain how. It just was. While Nik looked, she studied the image herself, searching nervously for any fuck-ups she’d missed with her naked eye. But all she saw were neat letters inked in fine capitals, spelling out ‘Colston City’—the team he’d been so devastated to leave.
She placed her lips by his ear, aware of the whole room watching closely, and murmured, “If you don’t like it—”
“I love it.”
I love you, she thought, as if it were a natural response. So natural that she opened her mouth and almost let it spill out into the world. Then, thank God, she caught herself and clamped her teeth together. “Great! That’s great! Fantastic!”
It was, possibly, the first time Aria had ever held back those three little words. She threw love around all the time, especially in the messy relationships she’d once cobbled together and clung to for reassurance. She’d told Simon she loved him, for fuck’s sake. The words had never felt heavy on her tongue, had never felt like a spell that, once whispered, could change everything.
They did now. Because Aria had the unnerving suspicion that she might really mean it. That she might mean it the way she did when she said it to Jen, or to her annoying little sisters, only different. Different in a way she’d heard of but had never really understood.
Fuck.
She backed away from Nik as his friends surged forward to see the tattoo. She needed to wrap it up. But Nik wasn’t an idiot; he wouldn’t let anyone touch what was essentially an open wound. She could leave him here for a second while she ran to the bathroom and tried to figure out what the hell was causing these strange feelings in her chest.
No-one noticed Aria leave—except Nik, of course. He always noticed, always found her in a crowd, always watched her from afar. When she scurried out of the door, she felt his gaze on her like a promise. Like the first promise he’d ever made her, one she hadn’t believed in at the time: “I will find you.”
Somehow, in the weeks that had passed, Aria had grown to trust every single word that came out of his mouth. But was that wise? Was it even real? Or was she doing the thing she always did, the thing she’d tried so hard to stop after learning just how dangerous it could be?
Aria didn’t know. And five minutes staring at herself in the bathroom mirror didn’t help matters. No ghostly breath created condensation on the glass; no secret messages appeared. All she saw was her own face, eyes somehow less tired than usual, skin glowing more than it did back home. Must be the vitamin D.
She kind of wished Nik was here, so she could make that horrible joke aloud and he could laugh as if it were funny.
God, this was worse than any crush she’d ever had—if it was even a crush. It felt like she was falling for him. It felt like she was fucking smitten, but that, Aria decided as she unlocked the bathroom door, was a feeling she couldn’t trust.
“Aria.” Her name, spoken by a voice she barely recognised, was all the warning she had before a big body blocked the doorway, pushing her back.
She was still holding the needle she’d used on Nik, though she’d wrapped it back up in its packaging, ready for disposal. She clutched the little plastic bundle tight as Baxter’s pretty face came into view. He gave her an apologetic look as he shut the bathroom door, closing them in together.
“What the fuck?!” she demanded.
He held up his hands. “I’m not trying anything. Swear. I just want to talk.”
“In a fucking toilet? Fuck off before I stab you!”
“Aria, calm down. I just need to talk to you without Nik hanging around.”
“Why?” she demanded. “What could you possibly have to say to me that my boyfriend can’t hear?” Boyfriend rolled from her lips far too naturally, but she was too on edge to worry about it.
“I want to warn you,” Baxter said.
The words cooled the rage in her blood like a bucket of ice. Warn her? About what? Suspicion unfurled in her chest, its taste bitter and familiar, edged in sour panic. She’d been right to hesitate, to question her feelings. Nik had secrets. He’d been lying to her. He’d been hiding something. She knew it.
“What?” she demanded. To her horror, tears prickled a
t the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back furiously and speared Baxter with a glare. “Go on. Tell me.”
He leant against the door and eyed her with what seemed to be genuine pity. “You know he’s just using you, right?”
“How?” she demanded.
“I can tell you’re a sweet girl.” At her derisive snort, he insisted, “You are! A nice girl. A good girl.”
He was saying girl rather a lot, considering she was close to thirty.
“Obviously, Nik couldn’t use his usual tactics with you,” Baxter went on, his tone earnest. “So, he had to try something new. That’s all this is, this girlfriend thing. As soon as he gets tired of fucking you—”
“Oh, seriously? That’s all you’ve got?” Aria rolled her eyes, the panic in her veins draining away all at once. Baxter didn’t know anything, and he wasn’t here to ‘warn’ her. Clearly, he just wanted to talk crap about Nik, maybe to break up their supposed relationship. Aria didn’t know why the two of them hated each other so much, but she did know shit-stirring when she heard it.
“I’m serious,” the blond said. And he really did sound serious. If it weren’t for the fact that, actually, Nik was paying Aria to be his girlfriend, she might even believe the guy. “He’s never stayed with anyone for more than five minutes. You haven’t seen him in action.” Baxter’s lip curled. “It’s fucking disgusting.”
“Oh, come on. His sex life offends your delicate sensibilities? Grow up. This whole house is shagging twenty-four seven.”
“It’s not the same,” Baxter spat. “He can’t even stay with one woman. Or,” he sneered, “one man.”
Understanding dawned. Aria ground her teeth so hard, a flash of pain lanced through her skull. “So what you’re saying,” she gritted out, “is that my boyfriend’s a cheating skank because he’s bi. Yeah? Is that right?”
Baxter had the absolute unmitigated gall to shrug. As if the question wasn’t even worth answering. Which is when her temper really snapped.
Slamming a hand against the door, right beside his face, she waved around her little plastic bundle. “Do you know what I have in here?” she asked. “I have a needle. A big fucking needle. And if I put that needle in your eye, it will hurt. A lot. Along with some other unpleasant effects. And you know what, Baxter? I wish I could. I really fucking wish I could stab you right now, more than I’ve ever wanted to stab anyone in my life. And let me tell you, that’s saying something, because I have quite the temper.”
He shifted, his jaw set, his expression a woeful attempt to appear unconcerned. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” she whispered, and stepped back.
Without a word, Baxter practically folded himself in half to avoid blocking her path. Aria slammed out of the bathroom and marched down the hall, muttering furiously under her breath.
As she neared the kitchen, Nik appeared, his eyes settling on her with relief. “Hey,” he smiled. “Where’d you go?”
She grabbed him by the hand and kept walking, pulling him deeper into the house.
“Okaaaay,” he laughed. “We’re going somewhere. Cool.”
She didn’t laugh along. “You said,” Aria began quietly, “that you wanted the opposite of casual.”
“Uh… yeah,” he said, his confusion clear. “I did. I do. But you didn’t seem big on the commitment thing, so—”
“Neither did you,” she pointed out.
“Didn’t I?” he asked, his voice a little too mild.
Aria stopped in her tracks, turning to face him. She had no idea what was going on here, not anymore—but she knew one thing with absolute certainty, the kind of certainty she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
She trusted Nik. She cared about him. And she would fuck up anyone who messed with him.
Which meant she should probably put on her big girl knickers and say this.
“I want to be with you. For real.” Her words were barely a whisper, because although the room they were in seemed empty, anyone might be close by.
But she knew he’d heard her, because his face lit up like a Christmas tree—which was not exactly the reaction she’d expected. She didn’t know what she’d expected, actually. Something potentially devastating, bad enough that her palms were still sweating even as she saw the happiness in his eyes.
“You do?” he asked, a bit loudly. And then, again, his voice a whisper, “You do? You do. Aria, don’t fuck with me—”
“Oh, come on. I’m serious. Of course I’m serious.”
He grabbed her, ignoring her shrieked warning about the needle she still held and his brand new tattoo. “Mine,” he murmured against her lips, wrapping an arm around her. “You’re mine. You’re with me. For real.”
“I mean, I thought we could… date,” she said awkwardly. “I’ll be honest, my relationships are always fucked up. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, at this point.”
“Well, I’ve never had a relationship,” Nik said, “but I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”
He had? She should probably wonder about that fact, but he was saying lots of lovely things, and their lips were very close. She really had no time for thinking. She was extremely busy.
“You’re mine,” Nik repeated, “and I’m yours, and we’re going to do exactly what we’ve been doing, and it’s going to be great. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Do you trust me?”
She only hesitated for a heartbeat. That barely meant anything, all things considered. “Yes.”
Maybe he’d felt that slight pause. Maybe he hadn’t. Regardless, when he kissed her, she didn’t sense a single reservation from him.
Not one.
Chapter Sixteen
Nik had never been high before, but he was absolutely certain that this was what it felt like. He wasn’t dreading the end of the week anymore, counting precious seconds until the moment when Aria walked away from him. By the penultimate day of the party, he’d convinced himself that Aria couldn’t walk away from him. She was the one, after all, who’d said that they should be together. She was the one who dragged him into unoccupied rooms to fool around all the time; she was the one who curled up in his arms before falling asleep; she was the one who listened to his tentative ideas about the next step in his career, and didn’t shoot any of them down.
Funny how the transition from a fake relationship to a very real one had gone so smoothly. He almost felt like they’d never been faking in the first place—which, technically, they hadn’t. Or rather, he hadn’t. Really, this was all just a very long and expensive first date, a funny story they could tell their grandchildren one day. At least, that’s how Nik was choosing to think of it. He really hoped Aria would see it that way too, because he’d decided to come clean about everything tonight.
He supposed some people might argue that he had nothing to come clean about. After all, he hadn’t lied about himself or his circumstances. He was bad at turning people down. He didn’t want to sleep with anyone else. And she did have to scare off overzealous fans for him.
So maybe he could keep his slight dishonesty to himself—except he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to bite his tongue or remember his own bullshit. He didn’t want to hide the fact that he’d wanted her from the moment he saw her. And, most of all, he didn’t want to abuse Aria’s trust.
It seemed pretty fragile. And it was definitely precious.
Of course, he was having a tough time figuring out how to tell her. In fact, pondering that question that made him so distracted, his team actually lost an impromptu five-a-side game on the afternoon before their last day.
“What’s up with you?” Kieran demanded with a breathless laugh as they jogged over the grass. “You let Varo past you about a thousand times!”
“Sorry.” Nik wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, I did, didn’t I? I’m just… thinking about stuff.”
Kieran rolled his eyes. “You think too much these days. It’s not like yo
u.”
True. But he was trying to be more thoughtful because certain people in his life deserved it. Nik’s gaze drifted over to the seats arranged at the edge of the grass, where Aria sat by a group who were all huddled over a single phone. Whatever they were doing, it apparently didn’t interest her.
She was watching him.
And she had that sketchbook in her hands, as always, the one full of all her tattoo ideas. Sometimes, at the end of the day, she’d show him everything she’d done and start talking a mile a minute about her plans for the future, her vision for the shop, how she didn’t even know what to call it…
“Hey,” he shouted over. “You checking me out?”
She gave him a smirk and shouted back, “I’m wondering how the hell you ever made it if you play like that.”
Cheers and hoots of laughter followed her words. Nik couldn’t help but grin, even though he usually hated losing. If anyone else had needled him, he’d have been pissed. But right now, he was more enthusiastic about playing than he’d been for the last hour, just because he wanted to wipe that cocky look off her face.
“You don’t know anything about football,” he reminded her, walking across the grass. “You can’t judge me.”
“Sure, I can. I’m smart. I pick things up fast.”
Nik reached her chair and planted a hand on each arm, locking her into place. As he leaned close, her lashes fluttered and the humour in her eyes became a challenge. He felt an answering tingle in his core, his muscles tightening at their proximity. The possessive beast inside him woke up and pointed out that now would be a great time to drag her into the nearest empty room with a lock.
But he’d already fucked her three times in the past eight hours, and he was trying not to be a complete pest. So, instead of throwing her over his shoulder, Nik darted forward to steal a quick, sweet kiss before straightening up. “Come and play, then. If you’re such an expert.”
Her eyes widened, amusement replaced by alarm. “Oh, no, I—”
Sweet on the Greek: An Interracial Romance (Just for Him Book 3) Page 13
