Ryan grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl on the coffee table and grinned. “None of your business.”
The tattoo was completely unexpected and utterly beautiful. Her creamy, flawless skin was now marked with his name. A possessive wave of heat rolled through him just picturing it in his mind.
“Were you showing Ryan your present?” Rachael called out to Fin while she took the cake out of the tin to cool on a wire rack.
“Did she get it done?” Laura said to Rachael as Ryan took a deep pull of his beer.
“Yes I did,” Fin called back.
Rachael winked at Ryan. “Did you like it?”
He raised a brow. “You’ve seen it?”
“Seen what, dammit?” Kyle interrupted.
Everyone paused their chatter and looked at Fin. Wiping her hands on a tea towel, she shrugged as she walked into the living room. “It’s just a tattoo.”
Ryan frowned at Fin as she perched herself on his knee. “It’s not just a tattoo.”
“It’s Ryan’s name,” Rachael announced to the room. “In a private spot,” she added. “I took her to get it done today on her lunch hour.”
Ryan’s mouth fell open. “You just went on out and got a tattoo during the middle of work?” He felt a sudden urge to thank the guy who did it and punch him at the same time for having his hands where they didn’t belong.
Fin twisted and looked down at him. “Well … yeah. When else was I supposed to get it done? Is there some special decree that says you can only get a tattoo on a weekend or something?”
“Smartass.”
She winked at him and his heart tripped over. “Nerds are cool.”
“That’s hot,” Kyle announced. Ryan didn’t like the way he was looking at Fin like she was naked. “Show us.”
“You’re not getting your eyes on it,” Ryan told him.
Kyle smirked at Ryan. “You’ll show me, won’t you, Fin?”
“I will,” she replied, and Ryan’s entire body tightened, “if Ryan says it’s okay.”
“No,” Ryan replied without hesitation.
Kyle grinned at him. “Sharing is caring.”
Wine in hand, Jess sat down in a cross-legged position on the fluffy, cream rug. Tiny with black hair and blue eyes, Ryan remembered her from Fin’s party. She was an accountant and had been commiserating with Rachael about the lack of male eye candy in the office.
He’d mentioned that the Army recruited accountants and maybe they should try their luck there, laughing when both their mouths fell open.
“Really?” Jess had asked, her eyes narrowing as she searched for Fin through the crowd of people. “How come Fin never told us this?”
“Maybe because you’d have to move across the other side of the country,” he pointed out.
Jess excused herself at that point when someone called her name. “I’ll be back in a minute. Hold that conversation.”
“Not keen on getting off your ass and joining the Army, Rachael?” he teased as they watched Jess disappear into the crowd.
“And break a nail?”
He raised a brow sardonically. “That’s your priority?”
“No,” she’d said softly, her eyes on Fin. “My friends and family are.” Rachael turned and ran her eyes over him in his military uniform. “What’s your priority, Ryan?”
His eyes had immediately fallen to Fin, his stomach in knots at the thought of her leaving for Antarctica the next morning.
“Someone better get the barbecue started before I chew a hole in the couch,” Jess shouted over the conversation.
He was thankful they hadn’t gone anywhere. In the next few weeks, he was going to need Fin to be their priority when he left.
Ryan stood up, setting Fin on her feet. “I’ll do it.”
“No, it’s okay, Ryan. I organised the party.”
He pushed her towards the seat he just vacated. “No. Sit down, spend some time with your friends.”
As the guys vacated the room with him, he heard Laura say, “Well that got them out of the room, Jess. You can show us your tattoo now, Fin.”
Kyle spun around and Ryan reached behind him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. “You go outside and start the barbecue,” he ordered, shoving him towards the direction of the back deck while he headed into the kitchen.
The four girls were laughing loud at something when he peered at them over the fridge door. “What am I cooking, baby?”
She looked up at him. “There should be some chicken and veggie kebabs in there on a platter and some steak I marinated this morning.”
He inspected the contents of the fridge, not seeing anything that resembled what she just said.
“It’s probably hidden behind all the beer,” she called out.