Inked

Chapter 4

We were both in the water again; it seemed to be the only way we were comfortable around each other. It was the middle of the night, yes, and the water was freezing, but it was surprisingly a relieving experience. (Editing A/N: lmao does that mean she's relieving herself in the water 💦😂🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️)

We were a couple of feet away from each other, just wading in the water that was up to my collarbone and his midsection. I had to tear my eyes away from the sinewy muscles in front of me, as I asked, "Do you really have no tattoos?"

Hunter laughed darkly, "I have a couple."

My brain filter didn't react fast enough to stop myself, as I blurted out, "Where?" I blushed as Hunter's eyebrows raised and his eyes twinkled with mischief a slight smirk overtaking his lips.

"My, my, Miss Evans, eager to explore are we?"

I swear, I wanted to drown just to avoid his gaze in that moment. I shook my head, "Not what I meant. I need to know what I'm working with."

Hunter said then, "I have two."

I was genuinely surprised, "Really? Whose?"

"Your cousin's and K.C's."

At my pointed look, he raised his hand to his ear and pulled it back so I could see the minuscule acorn behind it. Then he said, "K.C's shark is on my ankle."

"K.C's is a shark?" I asked.

At Hunter's affirmation, I concluded, "That's why Rae has the shark on her neck."

I noticed Hunter move imperceptibly closer, maybe on accident, "What about you, Lia? Have you ever been friends with someone and NOT gotten their tattoo?"

Ashamed, I looked down and shook my head no.

"Well, this is not going to be easy," he sighed, seemingly disappointed, but for some reason, I didn't miss the sparkle of... admiration in his expression?

"That's an understatement," I said, meeting his eyes again.

His eyes then zeroed in on my neck, where he noticed something among the various shapes, "Is that Dale's acorn? You didn't have that the first day at school." (Editing A/N: AWWWWWWWWWW I forgot this......... he freaking noticed<3<3<3<3 I want a Hunter... :( Too bad he ain't real ;-;)

I nodded, "It showed up yesterday morning. I only met my cousin properly a week ago."

"God, Lia," he seemed to understand why I didn't come to school yesterday.

I flushed. Trying to divert the attention, I advised, "Maybe you should choose a mark, you know, someone easy to love, someone in need of human contact. Like........Tessa. She's going through something right now and I find that personal talks are what make me care too much for a person."

Hunter nodded, "I can do that. And you, you need to avoid any personal discussions. That's my advice. Nothing. Don't tell anybody what you like, what you don't like, don't help anyone and don't let anyone help you."

Of course I didn't bother to think of what the two of us were doing at the time and what this could lead to.

"Tomorrow at midnight?" I asked, referring to our strange nightly meet up.

At this, Hunter smiled slightly, "You got it, Evans."

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At school, Hunter and I pretended that we hadn't ever spoken a word to each other. We pretended that we didn't have a plan to help the other better their life. We pretended that we hadn't met up the previous night intentionally and the night before on accident. I wasn't quite sure why we both decided this, but it was kind of an unsaid agreement to keep this between us. I didn't think anyone else would take well to it anyways.