Untamed (35 page)

“Really?” I ask, doubtful.

He shrugs. “We had to line up for three days, just waiting outside the temple. I wasn’t too interested, but he said it would protect me, make me incorruptible.”

“Did it hurt?”

“A little.”

“I kind of want a tattoo.”

“Do you know what of?”

“No,” I say truthfully. “Not really.” I laugh. “I don’t know, I like the idea, you know? It makes me feel kind of bad.”

“Get one if you like. It’s your decision.”

“It’s harder for girls to get tattoos.”

“How so?”

“We’re judged more.”

He turns a raised eyebrow at me, shakes his head.

“Think about it. There’s no equivalent for the word ‘tramp stamp’ for men’s tattoos, right? It’s just not the same. It’s cool when a guy has tattoos, but if a girl has it, she’s ‘alternative’ or whatever. Or going through a ‘phase’. Or people just assume it was a product of a drunk-night-out, you know? Or they think it’s ‘slutty’ or ‘skanky’.”

“Who cares what people think? You can’t control that.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“If you ever decide you want a tattoo, Dee, I’ll support you. I’ll come with you.”

I smile. “Thanks, but I don’t think that I ever will. Dad would hate it.”

“Don’t let him know.”

“Are you kidding me?” I cry. “God, I’d get an earful. He’d never stop.”

Duncan’s tongue wets his lips. He rolls onto his back again, and I lie in his arms.

“I’m not tired,” I tell him.

“Neither.”

“I can’t stop thinking about that guy, his swollen eyes… God, I hate living here.”

“You want to get out of here?” Duncan asks. “Tonight, I mean.”

“Go where?”

“Anywhere.”

“Why?”

“Well… we could just say good night and go to sleep,” he says. “But I don’t want tomorrow to come. Tomorrow, I leave… and I don’t know for how long.”

“To train,” I whisper. “With one of Dad’s old boxing buddies.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want tonight to end, either.”

“Come on, then. Let’s go.”

“But where?”

“Fuck it, we’ll go anywhere.”

He gets up, and I look at his naked, athletic, strong body, and then see that he’s caught me checking him out.

“Can’t a girl look?” I ask him.

“Look all you want. I want you to look.”

He starts to pull on his clothes, then extends an arm out to me. “Let’s go have some fun.”

I pause, then shake my head. “We shouldn’t. What if Dad catches us?”

“Fuck him, he’s out cold,” he says. “Come on, Dee. Live a little.”

I look at him for a moment, and it’s like a light switch just flips in my head. Why not, right? Why not be bad for once? Why not break the rules for once?

I get dressed with Duncan, ask him to empty my trash can into a plastic bag so we can take it out with us and chuck it. I don’t want to leave a condom in my room.

I tell him that I know a place we can go, a mall I used to go to as a kid.

“A mall?” he asks, a look of puzzlement on his face.

“We can go to the ice rink,” I tell him, grinning.

Chapter Thirteen