Dare You Forever (Brothers of Ink and Steel #2.5) Read online

  “So bring your coffee and we’ll open the other letter.” He’s freaking smiling like this is fun.

  I’m so nervous I could puke!

  Liam’s hand swoops in and snags my coffee.

  “Hey!” I protest.

  “Come on …” He dangles it away from me like a carrot to a bunny.

  Or a jackass.

  Does he really expect me to get a tattoo?

  ***

  Liam unlocks the door to the shop. “I don’t even open for another two hours.”

  “Thanks for making me a preferred client … I think?”

  “Ha. Ha.”

  We make a beeline to his workstation, and sure enough, on the chair is a gold envelope, but I feel a twinge of jealousy and disappointment when the name on the front is Liam’s.

  He appears puzzled as he opens it, then a knowing look dawns on his face and he laughs.

  “Oh God,” I whine. “I don’t know if I can take anymore.”

  “Okay. There is another letter in the envelope for you, but I can only give it to you if you go through with the dare.”

  “It’s a dare, is it?” I wage back and remember the first note that read, Dare you … forever.

  “What do I have to do?” I ask determinedly. I want that letter.

  “You really are a scrapper.”

  “Liam, just tell me before I lose my nerve!”

  “All you have to do is sit in the chair,” he says with a slight tilt of his head.

  I narrow my eyes suspiciously and sit in his artist’s chair.

  “Not that one … that one.” Liam’s eyes go to the client’s chair.

  “Fine.” I slide over and get comfortable on the recliner.

  “Good thing you’re wearing shorts,” he quips, off the cuff.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Just relax and sit still please,” he instructs, all businesslike.

  I open my mouth and hitch in a breath to complain about the arrangement, but he cuts me off before I can. “And no talking.”

  I let the air come out of my nose. If I were a dragon, it would’ve been fire.

  He walks over to his light table and works a pen to paper. A second later he tells me, “I need you to close your eyes.”

  “I can’t see it?” I’m incredulous.

  “It’s at this moment I’m supposed to ask if you trust Josh.”

  He’s watching me seriously.

  “NO! YES! OH MY GOD, I DON’T KNOW!”

  “He said you have a minute to decide.” He looks at his watch, and I feel the pressure mounting already. One minute?! Really?

  “Or what?” I press challengingly.

  “You don’t get the next envelope,” Liam informs me matter-of-factly.

  “You’re really going to time me!? I croak, incredulous.

  “Thirty seconds.”

  “I have a minute to decide if I want to be forever inked?? And with what design??”

  Liam interrupts. “Fifteen seconds.”

  “Jesus, you’re freaking serious!” I shout.

  “Ten.”

  “Liam!”

  “Five, four …”

  “HE’S NOT EVEN HERE TO KNOW!!”

  “Three …”

  “DO IT!! Just, do it.” A smile lights his face, and I realize he’s probably enjoying this as much as Josh.

  I rest with my back against the chair and I squeeze my eyes shut.

  It’s immediately torture. First Liam uses a warm cloth to scrub my right leg a couple inches away from my ankle as he cleanses my skin.

  After that, I feel him blot me with a dry cloth, then his hands, then maybe paper. But I’m sure at any moment I’m going to feel the fucking needle so I’m about to lose my mind!!

  A soft blanket covers my lap and legs and Liam states, “You can open your eyes.”

  “It’s done?” I’m shocked.

  “No, it’s not even close to done.” He laughs. “But now is when I’m supposed to give you this.” He hands me the folded letter.

  Thankful I didn’t actually have to go through with getting the tattoo, I dive into Josh’s words.

  Scrapper,

  I’m more than impressed! Baby, you amaze me!! If you got this letter, you actually let Liam get the preliminary design on your ankle. I love that you trusted me this far.

  Now, the rest is up to you—just like everything else in our lives together. If you want the tattoo I chose for you, take a deep breath and let Liam do what he does best.

  If you don’t want to go through with it—you don’t have to. You can just get up and walk away. It’s your body, baby.

  But just for fun, look at the design to see what you think before you wash it off, and then Liam will bring you back to the hotel.

  And, Soph, you’ve totally earned the next envelope.

  I release the breath I’m holding in relief.

  All decisions we’ll make together. No rogue players here—we’re a team. What you want or don’t want; what you need or don’t need; what you like or don’t like—this is your life, Sophie, and I won’t control it—I simply want to be a part of it. And yeah, I know we’re going to fight and have conflict, who the hell doesn’t? But know you always have the winning vote. I love you.

  “Liam? Will it wreck my wedding night or honeymoon if I actually were to go through with the tattoo?” He’s leaning over his art table and his back is to me so I can’t read his expression.

  “You wouldn’t be able to swim or submerge it in a hot tub, but other than that, I’d say you were safe.” Liam still doesn’t turn.

  “Okay, do it! And hurry before I change my mind!” I squeal.

  He glides back to me on his chair, a kind expression painting his face. “I thought you’d say that. So I got the inks ready.”

  “You thought I’d do it?” Is he for real? I’ve totally been acting like a toddler in a tantrum.

  “Of course. You’re a fighter like the rest of us. I know the type.”

  “Liam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  “I got your back,” he says.

  I’m amazed at how many friends I have now and how incredible each one of them is. I’ve suffered for so long all by myself and now Charlie and I have been fully inducted into this wonderful family.

  I close my eyes as Liam talks about unimportant things to make me feel calm while he puts the needle to my skin. The pain goes through my nerves at first but then it feels numb and, in a strange way, soothing. An overwhelming sense of happiness and pride pours through me—I’m getting a tattoo, and I trusted my fiancé enough to get his design inked forever into my flesh.

  I love Josh.

  Chapter Nine

  Sophie

  “Peel back the bandage and let us see it!” Quinn says excitedly as she shifts to the side of the hotel bed and reaches down to touch the corner of the gauze Liam covered my tat with.

  “Not yet!” I swat her hand away. “I can’t … Josh has to be the first to see it.” I feel a little protective and maybe superstitious. “Plus, I don’t want to know what it is … not until it’s the right time. Like the wedding day.”

  “Aw! Okay, that’s so sweet,” Britt says, laying on her tummy with her feet in the air.

  They’re lounging in the hotel room watching sitcom reruns.

  “Yeah,” Quinn agrees. “We forgive you. So what’s next? Any more envelopes?”

  “Josh said there’d be more, but I don’t know when. I do know I’m seriously ready for breakfast.” I check my watch. “Then at ten-thirty I have to pick up the gowns from the bridal shop and then swing by the florists. You all still in?”

  “Still in!” they agree.

  “Let’s find somewhere with good omelets.”

  ***

  “You know, it’s not too late to change your mind,” Ryder says very seductively.

  I throw my head back, laughing. “You’re crazy!”

  “Yes, I am.”

 
“Josh would kill you.”

  “Correction. Josh would want and try to kill me.” I can hear the smile and challenge in his voice.

  After the girls and I ate breakfast and went to the bridal shop, we found Ryder waiting there for me to fulfill more of Josh’s scheme.

  “Do you ever give up?” I remember our first meeting when he held my hand close to his mouth after he kissed it—in front of Josh while he was introducing us—and he told Josh he’d better watch out.

  “No way, beautiful—I don’t stop until I obtain what I’m hunting.” His deep, rough voice reverberates through the motorcycle’s communication system.

  I get it. As a bounty hunter he travels all over the country, the world for that matter, if the price is right, recovering some of the law’s most dangerous fugitives and bringing them back to justice. He’s dark and dangerous on so many levels.

  Of course he’d never do anything to hurt Josh, or me. He’s just being … Ryder. He flirts with every woman he talks to—taken or not—he couldn’t care less. And if he starts a fight with someone, all the better for him. Yeah, he’s a loaded gun, always looking to fire.

  Now I’m sitting on the back of Delilah, his beloved motorcycle, wondering what his envelope from Josh said and where he’s taking me.

  “Since when do you listen to pop music?” I tease.

  He’s playing Blurred Lines over the radio of his BIKE. I get the subtle hint. He’s totally messing with me…

  I think.

  “Just sending out a message, sweetheart,” he drawls. “Take it or leave it.”

  I start laughing again and this time he does too. I like when rough and tough men can laugh and make light of themselves.

  “I gotta change this shit or I’ll never hear the end of it from the guys.” He chuckles as he quickly turns the pop to Five Finger Death Punch’s “Wrong Side of Heaven.”

  He steers the bike down a closed off street. The buildings are in various states of disrepair and surrounded by demolition and construction vehicles. Orange cones and bright yellow caution tape warn us back.

  Obviously, he couldn’t care less because he pulls over at the corner of the cross street and parks.

  “And what is it that we’re doing here?” I ask, taking off the helmet and looking around.

  “Sorry, gorgeous, can’t answer questions.”

  “Right … because you’re known for living by the rules and doing what you’re told.”

  “Hey, hey! Fight fair.” Ryder puts up his large fists and protects his face. “My man tells me what he needs, I’ve got to accommodate.”

  As he speaks, he’s interrupted by the click of a megaphone. “Axman, take cover.”

  “You know them?!” Now I get what he meant when he changed the music.

  “Come on.” Placing his hand on the small of my back, he guides me ahead of him to the building behind us, opens the door and moves me inside. Before the door fully closes I hear the rumble of machine engines coming to life across the street.

  We take the elevator to the fifth floor and stop at the large picture window at the end of the hall. The bright afternoon sunlight fills my eyes. Looking out across the street I watch as the two tall, steel cranes on either side of the building pull back their gargantuan iron wrecking balls.

  And that’s when Ryder takes the gold envelope from his leather vest.

  My heart literally thrills at the sight of it. I feel the warm smile spread across my face as I reach out to take it.

  Quickly, he snatches it out of reach.

  “Hey!”

  “You love him, right?” he asks, his face full of concern. “Because I’ve never seen Josh North scared before,” Ryder confides as he sets the letter in my hand. “I did last night when he thought he might lose you.”

  This game that has become so thrilling was created because Josh was scared. All of a sudden it’s not so fun.

  “I love him, Ryder.” I stare at the note, almost ashamed. “He’s the greatest man I’ve ever known and I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. I guess I just got scared that he could change on me.”

  “He won’t,” Ryder says with deep confidence.

  When I don’t respond or look up he places a gentle finger under my chin, lifting until I meet his eyes.

  “He won’t change, Sophie,” Ryder promises. “I’ve known him since we were teenagers. He’s stable and dependable. He would lay his life down for you. But you already know that, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I already know that.” I feel a hint of smile coming back.

  “And, Soph, I know a little bit about psychology. Douchebags who abuse isolate you and keep you away from family and friends, and especially those of the opposite sex.”

  He’s right. “Josh has given me all of those gifts—family and friends.”

  “You definitely got all of us in the deal.” Ryder hugs me. “And even though he doesn’t need it, you can be sure we’ll always hold him accountable.”

  “CLEAR!” the voice in the megaphone roars.

  “Oh shit!” He quickly grips me by the shoulders and turns me to face the window. “Hurry and open the note!” Ryder laughs. “Never mind—watch out the window instead.”

  Both wrecking balls come swinging down and hit, just seconds apart. You can hear the crash of iron against concrete.

  “Whoa!” With one hit, the building begins to crack.

  As the wrecking balls retract, I open my letter from Josh.

  It’s simple but poignant.

  I’m breaking down your walls, baby!

  Yes you are, Josh North. Yes you are.

  ***

  “Can we please just face the fact that I can’t do it?” I laugh—soaking wet as I sit after falling for the millionth time on my sore ass on the bottom of this wave pool.

  “You don’t get to give up yet, sister!” Josh’s younger brother Will takes my hand and pulls me back to my feet.

  “It took me almost a month to even be able to stand on the board for like … a fraction of a second,” Kate says dramatically. “Really, what might be the most fun is to just lay on the board with your belly and enjoy the ride.”

  “You’ve been trying for over half an hour, and we don’t really want shit from Josh ’cause you get all bruised up,” Sam pipes in.

  “Okay. I relent.” I lift my hands. “I’ll ride on my stomach.”

  The four of us are at the Mall of America’s waterpark, where they have a surfing pool—some machine makes waves, and voila, you can pseudo-surf—only I suck at it … hard. Even with all of the assistance and private lessons here from three of the world’s top extreme sports enthusiasts, who are soon to be my in-laws.

  “You’ve never even boogie boarded, have you?” Kate stands over me with her hands on her hips.

  “Nope.” I laugh as I awkwardly mount the surfboard.

  Again.

  Only this time, I’m trying to lay down. And I feel like an idiot. I must look like a real idiot!

  “I think the champion surfing queen has it all under control.” Will throws a thumb in Kate’s direction. “The girl over there in the polka-dot bikini keeps on giving me the look. Gotta go.”

  Kate shows me where to hold my hands and when to catch the wave. I ride into the softer material of “shore,” feeling pretty awesome!

  After a few more runs Kate, Sam and I get out and dry off.

  It’s pretty incredible, you know,” Kate muses. “All of these beautiful love notes in gold foil envelopes and this treasure hunt adventure, all to tell you just how much he loves you. The North men are so romantic.” She looks at Sam and he pulls her in close for a kiss.

  They exchange a knowing look. “Okay, what’s the story?”

  “I had a real hard time coming out of the shell I’d built up around me after my brother died. Sam broke me free.” She smiles up at him with such love and gratitude.

  “How was he romantic?” I ask.

  She laughs. “Well, first, he wouldn’t stop asking me out!”
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  “Nope.” He smiles in a very cocky way. “I knew she couldn’t resist my charms forever.”

  “He’s right about that.” Kate continues, “I hid out at this little hole-in-the-wall Irish pub called Kell’s back in Seattle. And Sam made a deal with the bar owner and his rock star band packed the house and played acoustic, just so he could sing a Goo Goo Dolls song to me. He said—on stage, mind you—that because I wouldn’t go on a date with him, he had to bring the date to me. And made the entire audience vouch for him that he wasn’t a stalker.”

  “We’ve been together ever since.” Sam kisses her again.

  “You’re right. The North men are incredibly romantic,” I smile lovingly at the two of them as I think about me and Josh.

  A sensation of longing and satisfaction and the deepest most solid desire fills me up to overflowing, and I can’t wait to get to tomorrow to begin our future together—mine, Josh and Charlie’s!

  “Hey! Ground control to Major Tom. Sophie, you in there?” Kate’s laugh is so bubbly.

  “Yeah, I’m in here.” I know the smile on my face is ear-to-ear; I can feel it stretching over my cheekbones.

  “Are you ready to get ready?” She starts dragging me to the showers and I notice Sam is nowhere in sight. “We have a hen party to rock!”

  “The bachelorette party!” I almost forgot!

  “Jules and Livie would not be very happy with me if we were late.” Before we go our separate ways to get cleaned up, she asks, “So, what did the note say anyway?”

  The smile is still painted on my face. “Balance.”

  Chapter Ten

  Josh

  I tap on the guest bedroom door at the vacation home my parents are renting out for the wedding. “Knock, knock.”

  I hear her giggle and it makes me smile throughout my entire body. God, I love that little kid!

  “Who’s there?”

  “A cow.”

  “A cow says who?”

  “No, silly, a cow says moo!”

  “JOSHY-DADDY!”

  I poke my head in and smile. “Hi, jellybean.”