✔Vengeful Valentine

Eight: Everly

"You suck at card games, Kaz."

"I'll win this next time for sure." Kaz shuffled the deck of playing cards again.

Rummaging through Kaz's bag of goodies, I pulled out a pack of candy hearts. I plopped a couple pieces in my mouth as Kaz dealt me my hand again. We gathered in the living room to play card games like Black Jack and Rummy. It was somewhat entertaining at first, but it got boring when Kaz kept losing.

Sydney and I sat on the sofa while Kaz had pulled up a chair to the coffee table. Kaz pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose as he handed out our cards again.

"This is getting boring," I told them.

Kaz paused his shuffling. "You wanna watch a movie instead? I rented a bunch of rom-com's from the Redbox."

"Not really," I admitted.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" Sydney twirled one of her red curls around her finger.

"Snoop around for the bastard who tried to kill me," I replied.

Sydney said, "You know we can't do that. Adam's out there now trying to find the bastard."

"I feel so useless." I sighed and stretched out. My colorful Mickey Mouse sweater raised up, exposing the bandage on my belly. I quickly tugged it back down.

"You're not useless, Everly." Kaz rummaged through his plastic bag for a pack of M&M's. He plopped some in his mouth. "I know it sucks now, but I'm sure Adam will find the guy. If not, Emmett will, and you'll never have to worry about him again. You already know what he'll do."

"Emmett's not a detective, despite how much he tries to act like it," I replied. "Adam and Chris are more likely to find the person responsible."

Kaz shrugged. "Maybe."

Sydney reached over and stole a handful of M&M's from Kaz. He playfully swatted her hand away as she giggled.

"You should give me another tattoo someday," Kaz said to Sydney. "Maybe I could even get a sleeve like yours. I think they're so cool."

Sydney grinned, proudly showing off her tattoos on her arms. "Thank you. I'd love to get you inked. Just drop by my shop whenever you want. Rebels get a discount too, you know."

"How long would I have to wait until you could give me another tattoo?" I asked her, folding my arms across my chest. "I've thought about getting one to honor our baby. Maybe you can help me pick it out too?"

Sydney's an exceptional tattooist. She gave me all three of my tattoos so far at her parlor, Ink About It, downtown. The first one was on my shoulder; a tiny cartoon elephant playing the piano. The second was the Voiceless Rebels gang tattoo; the wolf howling at the moon, and the third was an anchor with colorful flowers on my thigh.

"That would be a better question for your doctor," she replied. "But I'd recommend several months, considering your injuries. You don't want to risk infection. When you're ready, I'd love to help."

"You gave me my gang tattoo four months after I got stabbed in the shoulder though," Kaz pointed out. "Why does she have to wait so long?"

"Yeah, I know, but that was a different injury too," Sydney explained. "A knife wound. Everly got shot and miscarried. It's gonna take her longer to heal."

"I see," Kaz murmured.

"That's all I've heard these past few days." I groaned. "You need to rest. You need to take time to heal. You need to lock yourself up in your house like a hermit." I mimicked in a rude tone.