Page 263 of The Lies We Play

Halston lifts his head from the pillow. His hair is a disaster, which would be more satisfying if he didn’t still look criminally beautiful.

I say, “We should get tattoos. Today. The three of us.”

Halston goes still.

Creed, behind me, says, “Liv.”

I roll toward him. “Hear me out.”

“Fine, I’m listening.”

“All three of us. Same design. Inside our left wrists.”

Halston says, “Inside left wrist?”

“What design?” Creed asks.

I say, “A trinity knot.”

Creed looks at me for one long second. “That is a very specific answer for a thing you just thought of.”

“I might have been thinking about it for a few days.”

Halston’s eyes narrow. “I bet it was since she decided to get the other tattoos.”

“Yes. Fine,” I admit, because honesty is apparently a hobby we are all overcommitting to now. “I have been actively considering this option.”

Halston closes his eyes.

He says, “There it is.”

Creed’s hand flattens over my stomach, holding me lightly against him.

“We knew those tattoos were the beginning,” he says.

“It’s part of our commitment,” I say, and my voice comes out less airy than I intended. “To each other.”

The room goes quiet.

Halston sits up against the headboard, sheet low on his hips, his attention fixed on me in that devastating way he has, like every word I say is evidence, and he intends to honor it by understanding it completely.

“We are committed,” he says. “But you want us to get tattoos.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I look at his hand around my wrist, his thumb resting exactly where the ink would go, and for once, I don’t reach for the clever answer first.

“Because I can’t give you everything yet,” I say. “Not the way I want to. I can’t give you Christmas with my parents. I can’t give you public appearances. I can’t give you an easy version of me that stops being afraid because love is asking nicely.”

Creed’s arm tightens around my waist.

I keep my eyes on Halston.

“But I can give you something I don’t take off. Something I don’t put in a drawer when I go to Greenwich. Something that says I know what this is, even on the days I’m scared to say it where other people can hear.”

Halston’s face changes.