Claimed By my Best Friend by Cassi Hart

Darrell
With the life I’ve lived, I never expected a happily ever after. Guys like me don’t get happy endings. Not after everything I’ve done. Still, I’m determined to live a better life as a free man, and after I met Paula, happiness no longer felt so far out of reach. But being in love with my best friend doesn’t mean I can give her everything she deserves. Paula is the only ray of sunshine in my dark world, and I can’t stand the thought of losing her. But besides my love, I have nothing to offer a girl like her. I’m a lonely tattoo artist with a troubled past living in a small town. Still, the thought of someone else touching her has me seeing red. So, when Paula tells me if I don’t do her first tattoo, she’ll get if from some else, I cross the line I swore I never would. Like hell I’ll let another man mark what’s mine. I just hope my past stays buried long enough to convince Paula of what I’ve known since the day we met… She’s mine.

Paula
I’ve been in love with my best friend since the day we met. But I can’t tell him. I’m a second-grade teacher…and a virgin. I know a dark horse like Darrell would never want someone as naïve and inexperienced as me. But with all the time we spend together, I can’t help but imagine what it would be like to love Darrell fully—and have him love me back. I’m terrified to tell him how I feel and risk losing him completely. So, I decided to show him instead by asking him to give me my first ink; but it’s not just any tattoo I want. No, I want something that represents us, and Darrell is the only man I trust with my body. We might hit a few bumps along the way to our happily ever after, but I know we’re meant to be. That is, until I learn that Darrell has been keeping secrets. Turns out I don’t know my best friend as well as I thought. If I want a future with the man I love, I’ll have to accept his past.