“Like what you see?” he asks, his morning voice extra low and sexy.
I trace my finger lightly over the black ink. “It’s very beautiful. But you’ve never told me the story behind it.”
He brushes my hair behind my ear. At first, he says nothing, and I think he’s going to change the subject again. “I told you my mother had cancer, right?”
I nod.
“She had a mastectomy and was very self-conscious about the scars. I tried to tell her that it didn’t matter, but she was convinced that no one could ever love her looking the way she did. So she decided to have the scars tattooed with vines and roses. She was scared, though, so I offered to go first. This is the tattoo I got.”
The depth of his compassion never fails to amaze me. “And what does it signify?”
“That love comes from inside, but I’m thinking of having some modifications made to it.”
“You are? Like what?”
“I’m going to have the color filled in, change the rose to red, and add some ivy leaves.”
“What for?” I ask, even though I have an idea.
“It means that my love for a girl named Ivy comes from deep inside my soul, where it will remain forever.”
Tears sting behind my eyes as I rub my hand over his chest. I don’t feel broken anymore. “God, I love you. More than I ever thought was possible.”
The breath catches in his throat as he trails a finger over my jaw. “You’re my light in a sea of darkness. You’re the reason I want to become a better person. My heart…it beats only for you.”
My hand stills. “You don’t need to become better, Jon. I love you just the way you are.”
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me even closer. I’m instantly reminded that he doesn’t wear anything to bed. “I’m so sorry for being such an ass.”
“You’ve told me that. Several times. I forgive you, baby. I really do.”
“When I got your text about going backstage, I fucking lost it. That’s how my dad and mom hooked up. He’s been pulling girls back like that for years. I was ready to rip his head off if he touched a hair on your head.”
His body is tense. I snuggle closer, kiss him in the little hollow behind his ear, and he relaxes again.
“And then afterward, when I saw you wearing his shirt, I assumed you were as star-struck by him as everyone else.”
“Shhh. I know, baby, I know. But you need to remember something, okay? The only one I’m star-struck by…is you.”
And then, in my small dorm room bed, he makes love to me again.
Jon
Some people come into your life for a reason. Like a tattoo etched on your skin, their mark ends up lasting a lifetime. You’re forever changed.
Before Ivy, I mistakenly thought I was happy—the parties, the drinking, the girls—but I was just going through the motions, keeping myself numb enough that I didn’t have to think about what I was running from.
Somehow, that beautiful, amazing girl managed to smooth the jagged edges of my heart. I’m not the angry, messed up guy I thought I was. She grounds me. Makes me believe in myself. Because of her, I am…better.
From my perch on the ladder where I’m repairing the gutters on Stella’s house, I hear the sound of Ivy’s laughter. I turn and see the two of them doing a silly dance in the driveway. Guess that means the garage sale was a success.
A powerful pride swells in my chest as I think about how she stood up to Aaron. All by her fucking self. And to think that he and his friends had been harassing her online since Chase died. When I saw him face to face, all I wanted to do was rip his fucking head off. Make him pay for what he’d been doing to her…and for what his brother did. I was on the verge of going completely ballistic, but somehow, her reasoning and logic cut through my anger. How the hell had she talked me off that ledge?
“Thirsty?”
I must’ve been lost in my thoughts for a while, because I didn’t hear Ivy approach. She’s standing at the bottom of the ladder, looking up at me with her gorgeous green eyes and holding a glass of iced tea. The late afternoon sun glints off her hair, making it look more red than brown. My breath catches in my throat.
I know this sounds corny, but I think she really believes I can hang the moon. If I want to do something, no matter how hard or difficult, she’ll assume I can do it.
Ignoring my half-full bottle of water sitting on the roof, I smile. “Yeah, I’m parched.”
I climb down the ladder and wrap an arm around her waist, drawing her body to mine. The vanilla scent of her shampoo fills my lungs, and I sigh.
Ivy McAllister will always be exactly what I need.
chapter twenty-seven
Love is the bridge between you and everything.
Ivy
Three months later
I’m back in Lincoln Falls for the first time since Christmas break.
Coffee Addicts offered me a full-time job for the summer, so I took it. Since Cassidy hadn’t decided if she was coming back next year, when I heard that Reese and Kelly needed someone to rent their extra bedroom, I agreed to take it. Jon has dropped some not-so-subtle hints that he wants to move in with me. Of course I’d love that, but I haven’t told him yet. A girl needs to play hard to get sometimes, you know?
Jon picked up a few more shifts at the radio station and he started teaching guitar lessons at a music store in town. Most of his students are kids and he loves it. Although people do mention who his father is sometimes, most haven’t made a big deal about it. Probably because of how Jon handled himself in the aftermath. He’s got enough charisma and personality of his own. He doesn’t need his father for that. He told his station manager there was no way in hell he was doing an O-Twist feature, so they dropped the subject. And after telling the reporter he wasn’t interested in being interviewed, she stopped calling.
Even though I wasn’t crazy about coming back to Lincoln Falls—College View is my home now—it’s Rose’s sixteenth birthday, and I promised to come.
My mom forgot to pick up vanilla ice cream for the cake, so she sent Jon and me to the grocery store.
As we walk past the dairy aisle, Jon grabs my arm and turns me around. Just as I open my mouth to protest whatever it is he’s doing, he squirts whipped cream into my mouth.
“What the hell?” I say, but it sounds more like whah ah ell. I look around quickly to see if anyone sees us. There’s a woman about fifteen feet away examining the eggs, but I don’t think she saw us. Covering my mouth with my hand, I swallow.
“There. It’s your first real whip hit.”
I poke my fingers at that tender spot on his hip where I know he’s the most ticklish. He tries jumping backward, but the dairy case is right behind him. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“You’re no longer a virgin, Ives. It’s painful, but isn’t it worth it?”
I make that really unflattering snort slash laugh that I do sometimes. I’m really going to get him now. I reach for him again, but he dances just out of my reach, laughing. I drop my shopping basket and lunge for him.
“Sorry, Ives, I’m just too damn fast.”
“Just you wait,” I tell him, picking up the basket. “When you least expect it, expect it.” Noticing that the woman with the eggs is pushing her shopping cart in our direction, I give Jon the evil eye. “Behave,” I say to him through clenched teeth. I’d sign, but my hands are full. “Remember, people know me here.”
I stop in front of the ice cream case. As I’m trying to decide what brand to buy, Jon walks to the front of the aisle and starts looking at the magazines. I hear someone come up behind me. I stiffen. It’s not the store manager, is it, planning to bust us for doing whip hits?