Instead, many of them represented moments when frightened people were testing whether they could trust themselves again.
The tattoos were imperfect.
But they were not mistakes.
And that created a new question.
“If they mean this much, why did you always tell me you regretted them?”
Brad’s smile disappeared.
“Hailey.”
“You told me you wanted them removed.”
“It’s complicated.”
“What exactly is complicated?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Can we leave this alone?”
“No.”
Brad looked toward Molly.
I lowered my voice.
“I never pushed because I thought you were embarrassed by the tattoos. I thought respecting you meant not forcing you to talk about them.”
“They do embarrass me sometimes.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer.
Erin watched him carefully.
“Brad.”
“Don’t.”
The single word stopped her.
Something passed between them.
Something I didn’t understand.
Erin knew the answer.
Brad clearly didn’t want me hearing it.
