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chimed in. Her pale, petite hands
massaged Claire’s shoulder. “Nice tattoo, by the way.” She turned Claire’s
wrist to examine the fresh ink. “I have one as well.”
      “Thank you.” Feeling her mother’s
inquisitive gaze, she glanced nervous ly at the newly
acquired black ink. The infinity tattoo–a simple, yet elegant loop with a twist
through its center mirrored the number eight on its side, curved seductively
inside her left wrist. The permanent mark of her eternal love for Forrest
gleamed f rom the A&D ointment she applied after
treating the sensitive area.
    Her mother took her
hand and examined the ink. “So
permanent.”
    “It’s the infinity
symbol, Rosa.” Victoria chuckled. “Our little girl is in love.”
    “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Charles asked , his blue eyes
fixated on where Jason and Forrest stood talking.
    Claire followed
Charles’ gaze and rested on Forrest. He was laughing, probably over some lame
story from Jason. She ached to wrap around his muscular form and nestle against
him, as she’d done all night. But they were still
new, still processing everything between them, and Forrest had insisted to be
the one to break the news to his best friend that the two of them were
officially dating. While the others had relented a bit on their big brother mod e, Jason’s had heightened.
    Forrest’s eyes wavered
from his friend and locked into hers. Images of their naked bodies discovering
each other flamed her brain, making her private thoughts roasting hot. Feeling
her mother’s and Victoria’s watching her , Claire turned her head to the
side, averting their curious stares.
    “Let’s not interrogate
Claire,” her mother chimed in. “Go enjoy your celebration with your friends. We
can talk about the tattoo later.” She smiled, a silent message telling her
daughter she coul d care less about the permanent ink.
    Summertime , the go-to summer jam by Will Smith and
DJ Jazzy Jeff, blasted from the speakers in its exuberant beat, wooing the ears
of the crowd. Boyfriends grabbed the waists of their girlfriends as everyone started to sway to the tune. Boyfriend, she officially had one of
those. Not just any boyfriend–Forrest Montgomery Desvareaux, one of the
Vineyard’s favorites, a hunk with a capital H. The one she’d always wanted. He
was hers. Emotion coiled tight in her stomach. She turned to her mother and Jason’s parents again. “Thank you for all of this.”
    Charles hugged her.
“We love you. Have fun.”
    Hours later, Claire
scanned the crowd. A feeling of joy filled the air. Twinkling lights hung from
tree limbs. Booming sound from the oversized speakers
thumped in time with her heartbeat as though they were one. Chatter of voices
and people moving around drowned out by the music.
    Her entire senior
class was here. Actually except for Blake and Adam, the whole island was here.
Blake had chosen to start law school early and Adam
was busy making a name for himself as a Formula One driver.
    Claire pressed through
the horde of people in search of Forrest. Through all the chaos and mingling,
other than a wayward glance and short conversations s urrounded
by friends, they hadn’t been alone. She wanted to touch him, kiss him, breathe him. Anything. She wanted Forrest.
    Her feet came to a
screeching halt. A short distance away, Forrest stood smiling, chatting with
two curvy and sharply defined colleg e girls in very
short shorts. With lust in their eyes, his admirers stared as if he were a god.
The blonde’s head fell back in laughter as she pressed her chest a little closer to
Forrest. He didn’t appear affected by either of the sexpots, but he didn’t p ush them away either.
    Claire’s skin crawled.
Forrest was hers.
    She had bruises on her
body as proof. Heart hammering in her chest, she swallowed the lump in her
throat and tried not to think of the worst case scenario. But the thoughts
nagged her mind. Wha t if she hadn’t been good enough
in bed?
    Umph!
    She stroked