Tattooed Dots (The Halo Series Book 1) Read online

  The more that I thought about my relationship with Jared, the more I realized that being with him was convenient. Before we met, I was single and lonely. I’d always had boyfriends throughout high school and for a few years afterward, but when I met him that night, I had been in a dry spell and he had shown me the time of day. Before I realized it, he’d practically moved in with me.

  After months of him paying rent elsewhere, we figured he should officially move in and help me pay rent. We had things in common, did things together at first, but lately we were more like roommates than lovers. As I sat watching Nicole and Avery flirt, I felt jealous.

  I missed that. I wanted that. I needed that.

  I was starting to think that maybe this singles cruise wasn’t a bad idea after all. I wasn’t thinking of cheating on Jared—even though I was daydreaming about Easton, but a girl can look, right?

  Being away from Jared was already opening my eyes and making me realize that we needed to talk. I was starting to think that there was someone better out there for me. Someone who would give me butterflies. Someone who would want to cuddle with me and watch movies on rainy days instead of cuddling with a game controller. Someone who wanted me and not a mother figure to take care of them.

  “So tell me why you have a boyfriend but came on a singles cruise again?” Easton asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Oh, um—Nicole wanted to come, so she dragged me along. She tried to tell me it was a birthday present.” I laughed slightly.

  “What does your boyfriend think of you coming on a singles cruise?”

  “He doesn’t know that it’s a singles cruise.”

  Easton raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like that. I’m just here for the vacation aspect, not to meet anyone.”

  “I see … Well, maybe you can help me scope out the hot babes since these two won’t be leaving your room anytime soon.” Easton motioned to our friends who were too wrapped up in their conversation to socialize with us.

  “Sure. That sounds like—fun.” I hesitated on the word fun, thinking about finding other girls for Easton.

  Fuck you, Jared, and my morals!

  I kept weighing the pros and cons of meeting Easton and being on the cruise. Part of me wished that I would have broken things off with Jared months ago since I hadn’t been happy for a long time. The other part was telling me to just explore things with Easton and then break up with Jared when I got home. And the third part of me kept reminding myself that I had been with Jared for four years and that he did love me and I loved him.

  “Hey, we’re going to go sign up for a few mixers. They serve free drinks at those,” Avery said, finally remembering that Easton and I existed.

  “Sounds good,” Easton replied, taking my hand to help me stand.

  I’ve never had someone offer me their hand before. We were living in a time where men rarely opened doors for women. “Thank you.”

  “You look—your boyfriend doesn’t do that for you?”

  “Um—no,” I said flatly.

  “His loss. I would do it every chance I got just to touch you.”

  I could feel my face flush. It had been a long time since someone flirted with me. I forgot how simple it could be and how good it felt to be desired.

  Easton gave me a knowing smile; a smile that meant he knew he was getting under my skin. There was something special about him. Something that felt right.

  After we’d signed up for the ten o’clock mixer, which wasn’t long after our dinner, we all walked the cruise ship, looking out at the open sea and trying to determine where everything was. The pools were on different levels than the rooms. Several restaurants and bars were scattered throughout, and the fitness center and spa were on different levels, but connected. I knew I would get lost multiple times a day trying to find everything.

  We ended up by the pool, sipping on drinks and people watching; some laughing and drinking while others were already making out and probably on the verge of going to one of their rooms to hook-up. Nicole and Avery continued their private conversation, so I decided that it was time to get Easton a girl.

  “What about her?” I asked him, motioning towards a blonde sitting alone at the bar near the pool.

  “No, she looks frumpy.”

  “Frumpy?” I laughed.

  “Yeah, you know—frumpy. She’s by the pool with a baggie T-shirt on. Next!”

  I laughed. This may be harder than what I bargained for. “Okay, moving on.” I scanned the candidates. “Her?” I pointed to a redhead, who was laughing with a group of girlfriends.

  “No, her hair is too poofy. If she can’t tame the hair on her head, imagine the hair between her legs,” he said, shuddering with disgust.

  I burst out with laughter. “I thought the rule of thumb was that if a chick doesn’t keep her toes manicured or at least clean, then she has a jungle growing between her legs?”

  Easton looked down at my manicured feet. “That too.” He smiled and we both laughed until I realized he knew I kept my hair trimmed.

  “All right, well maybe we should start with you telling me what your type is then.”

  “Well …” he said, looking directly into my eyes. “She has to have brown hair—I have a soft spot for brunettes—green eyes, a killer smile that lights up her eyes, and someone who isn’t afraid to drop the F-Bomb.”

  I groaned silently; this man was trying to get the better of me. Trying to break me down and make me rip off his clothes.

  “Really? Is that all? I’ll be on the lookout for her then.” I chuckled.

  Avery and Nicole returned from their walk—or at least that was what they told us they were doing. I didn’t even realize they’d left our table. They motioned for us to follow them, mentioning it was time to get ready for our dinner.

  The boys waited for us to meet them at the lounge bar so they could walk with us to the restaurant. The sun was setting over the endless sea of blue as we approached The Aqua Room, where we would be dining during our whole cruise. All cruises, especially this one, were set up to place strangers at the table with you so that you could mingle. Nicole and I would be placed at a table with two other people that we didn’t know.

  At first, I thought the concept was strange, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. They needed to fill every seat, and this way Nicole could meet more men—unless they stuck us at a table with women.

  When we walked up to the hostess stand, Easton and Avery let us go first. We gave the lady our cruise ID cards so she would know what table we were assigned to. The room was beautiful. Aqua carpeting was throughout with red swirls for contrast. An aqua glass divider divided the hostess stand and the main dining area, and strange aqua art with women dancing in circles hung on the walls.

  As we followed the hostess, I looked up at the ceiling that sparkled with LED lights. Each tile above them had been placed randomly to make it look like we were dining under the stars, and the windows cast a fiery hue. White tablecloths hung on the tables that were graced with white place settings, only to be offset by a beautiful tiny bouquet of orange blossoms. It was beautiful.

  I took my seat, glancing up at Nicole, only to follow her eyes as she watched Easton and Avery walk with the hostess. Easton’s eyes met mine, and I smiled as they stopped at our table.

  “This is your table, too?” Nicole asked, giving a hopeful smile.

  The hostess answered for them. “Yes, these gentlemen have been assigned this table as well. Enjoy.”

  “What a coincidence,” Nicole said as Avery sat next to her and Easton next to me.

  “Sure is,” Easton replied, giving me another smile.

  A waiter came and took our drink orders as we looked over the simple menu. Each dinner would include a soup or salad, entrée, and a dessert. I eyed the desserts first. They had crème brûlée on the menu, and I knew that I would be getting that, no matter how full I was from dinner. I would get it every night after if it was
on the menu. It was my all-time favorite and I rarely got it.

  Nicole laughed at all of Avery’s antics as she made googly eyes at him, and she always found a way to touch his arm. I felt as though we were on a double date.

  “So Brooke,” Easton said, attempting to bring the conversation back to the table and not just between the two lovebirds, “what do you do back in Boston?”

  When Nicole and I discussed that this was a singles cruise, I told her that I was going to have a fake name and a fake career. I’d already told Easton my real name by mistake, and since Nicole was so smitten with Avery, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away with a fake career. But I was going to fuck with him just a little anyway.

  “I’m a doctor.”

  Nicole almost choked on her water, giving me a what-the-hell look.

  “Really? What do you practice?”

  “Gynecology.”

  Easton and Avery both choked on their water as I tried to suppress my laugh. Nicole was still giving me a look and I shrugged, not able to hold my laughter any longer. “I’m just fuckin’ with you. I’m a paralegal.”

  Easton laughed after he quit choking a little. “Add sense of humor to my wish list.”

  This girl.

  This girl was going to be the end of me. Who the fuck goes on a singles cruise when they aren’t single? Well, I actually suspected a lot of people did so they could cheat on their spouse, but not Brooke. I could tell she was genuine and sincere.

  I hadn’t been this attracted to someone since—never. Part of me wanted to walk away and go find another chick, but her smile was addicting. Fuck, her eyes were addicting. Her laughter, her lips, her sailor’s mouth, and now her jokes.

  And fucking Avery wasn’t helping matters by being all clingy to the first girl he saw. Fuck, I was being all clingy with the first girl I saw. What was wrong with me? This would have been so much easier if Avery had left Brooke’s best friend alone. Let me walk away and hopefully forget about the little brunette whose legs I wanted to bury my face between forever.

  But no … Avery and Nicole were going to fuck tonight and would probably fuck the whole seven nights, and I was stuck with this addicting woman who didn’t want me to touch her. Normally, I wouldn’t care if a chick had a boyfriend. I would seduce her, charm her, flirt with her … anything to get into her pants, but I didn’t want to piss Brooke off. I—I wanted to get to know her.

  I was trying to play it cool, but I knew she knew that the woman I wanted her to find for me was her. None of the other women compared to her.

  After dinner, we walked Brooke and Nicole to their cabin and then left to freshen up for the mixer. Being with Brooke for the last several hours was fucking with my head. I wanted to kiss her soft lips, run my hands through her long, dark brown hair, and just do what came naturally.

  “You need to snap out of it, man. If you don’t get your shit together, and Nicole has to leave to hang out with Brooke so she won’t be alone, I’m going to kick your ass,” Avery said, ironing one of his dress shirts.

  “I know.”

  “You’re supposed to be my wingman. Stop with the silent bullshit.”

  “I’m trying,” I said, slamming the drawer a little too hard with frustration.

  “What the fuck is the problem?”

  “I like Brooke, okay?”

  “Yeah? So what’s the problem?”

  “She has a boyfriend.”

  “When has that stopped you before?” He laughed.

  He fucking laughed.

  In all the years that we’d been friends, we’d had arguments, but never gotten physical with each other. But now that he was laughing at me and basically calling me a pussy, I wanted to punch him in the face.

  “I know, but she’s not one of the whores from the bar. She’s—different.”

  “Nicole is different, too. I think we got lucky.”

  “Yeah …” I muttered, slamming the bathroom door so I could take a shower.

  Lucky.

  The girls didn’t know when they would be ready, and since we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, none of us had cell service to text each other. Avery and I had both forgotten to look at their room number when we walked them to their door after dinner, so we couldn’t call their room either. In the end, we decided we would just go to the mixer and wait for them.

  The mixer was in the champagne bar on deck six near the casino. Avery and I walked into the art deco bar that was designed like something out of a book I’d read in high school. I had an inkling to call everyone “old sport” and watch women in flapper dresses dance around to the jazz music that was playing through the speakers.

  “They’re not here yet,” Avery said as we settled at the bar.

  “I noticed.” As soon as Avery and I entered, I’d scanned the area for those piercing emerald eyes that I was already addicted to. I ordered a beer instead of a hard drink. I wanted to stay kind of sober. Usually, I didn’t give a fuck. I would get drunk, take a girl anywhere I could get a blow job from her, and call it a night. I knew tonight wasn’t one of those nights, and I actually wanted to stay sober so I could remember everything Brooke said.

  After Dana and I split, my father told me that when I met the one who I was supposed to be with forever, she would devour my every thought. She would make me smile just by her walking into a room, and also make my dick hard at the same time.

  I’d never experienced that with Dana because we were kids when we met and I didn’t know about true love. I was just glad to be getting some when all my other friends were jacking off nightly, thinking about the girls at school.

  “Before they get here, tell me what your plan is?” I asked Avery.

  “Nicole wants to—”

  Before Avery could finish, two brunettes walked up to us. “Hello, boys. I’m Kristen, and this is my friend Stacy.”

  “I’m Easton, and this is Avery.”

  We shook hands awkwardly like this was some sort of business meeting. Kristen and Stacy both had curly brown hair and green eyes. Stacy’s hair was shoulder length while Kristen’s came to the middle of her back. Their hair and eye color matched Brooke’s, but their eyes weren’t speaking to me like Brooke’s did. I didn’t want to be rude, but I wasn’t interested. Neither Kristen nor Stacy was my brunette.

  “Usually the guys are supposed to approach the women, but Stacy and I made a pact that this time we would take the initiative and approach the ones we were interested in.”

  “Does that mean this isn’t your first singles cruise?” Avery asked.

  “No, we’ve been on a few with no luck, but they are so much fun that we just continue doing them,” Stacy said.

  I could tell that Stacy was interested in Avery, and Kristen was interested in me, but we needed them to leave us alone so Nicole wouldn’t get mad at Avery. I knew that women tend to jump to conclusions when a guy is talking to another female.

  Before I could come up with an excuse to walk away, my eyes fell on the door. Brooke walked in wearing a green dress that matched her eyes, and I smiled as my dick begun to get hard. Her milky legs extended from the knee-high dress and were met with silver heels.

  Usually, I didn’t notice what a woman was wearing. Hell, I couldn’t remember what color dress the girl who I got head from at the bar two nights ago was wearing. But Brooke … This epitome of her would be burned into my memory until the day I died. She was simply breathtaking.

  I stopped Avery mid-sentence of what he was saying to the broads and motioned with my head towards the door. Brooke’s eyes met mine, and I smiled again. She smiled back, wrapping it around my heart, and gestured to us so Nicole could spot us.

  “Fuck,” Avery said under his breath.

  Brooke and Nicole made the short distance to us, but before we could introduce them to Kristen and Stacy, Nicole wrapped her arms around Avery’s neck and kissed him. Avery returned the kiss. I could see their tongues swirling around each other, and I wanted to punch him. He was making me fucking jeal
ous that Brooke didn’t do the same to me.

  “Hi,” I finally said to Brooke.

  “Her?” she questioned. I knew exactly what she was asking. She was still playing our game, trying to find a chick for me.

  “No,” I replied, shaking my head.

  “Her?” Brooke asked about the other brunette. I didn’t ask which one she was asking about because it didn’t matter.

  “No.” I laughed and smiled at her. “Never.”

  “I see …”

  Do you? Do you see? Do you realize how much I want to grab your face and kiss you until you can’t breathe?

  “Damn,” one of the brunettes said and then they both walked off.

  “You look beautiful,” I said to Brooke, looking from her perfect feet all the way up until our eyes met again.

  “Thank you,” she said, a hint of pink spreading across her cheeks.

  “You always blush when I give you a compliment.”

  “I’m not used to them.”

  “Your boyfriend doesn’t compliment you?”

  She thought for a moment. “No, he doesn’t,” she said, shaking her head.

  I wanted to ask her why she was even with the guy. He sounded like an idiot, and every time we talked about him, she seemed sad and unhappy. There was a reason why she agreed to go on an eight day singles cruise without the loser, and I hoped to enjoy every minute of it.

  “That’s a shame,” I said, slightly shaking my head side to side in disapproval.

  “Shit, I need to go back to my room real quick,” Brooke said, looking over at the two lovebirds still sucking face and laughing. “Before these two go there and I can’t get back in for a few hours.”

  “You want me to go with you?” I asked, hoping she would say yes.

  “That’s okay, I’ll be fast.”

  “Why do you need to go back to our room?” Nicole asked.

  “I forgot to take a pain pill,” Brooke responded.

  “Let me come with you,” I said, wondering why she needed to take a pain pill. She seemed fine and mentioned no injury before.