by JB Salsbury
The memory sends a shiver up my spine and I suck in a shaky breath.
From under the table I feel my wife’s warm palm run along my thigh and squeeze. Instantly I’m flooded with her calming energy.
“He may look like me, but he acts a lot more like his mom.”
Blake grunts in acknowledgement and maybe even camaraderie.
Jonah, Blake, and especially me, we were a mess before we met our wives. Irresponsible, living our days fighting and our nights in different beds with faceless women. As the saying goes, if I’d only known then what I know now… And yet, somehow, our kids do. We all agree, we have our wives to thank for that.
Henry passed up the opportunity to go to college instead to work on his art and open his own tattoo shop. He works his ass off and runs a successful shop. He hasn’t settled down with anyone special, but he’s the type of man—dedicated, loyal, respectful—when the right woman stumbles into his life, he won’t make the stupid mistakes I did. He’ll claim her and never let her go.
As I cast my gaze around the table my chest aches for the little boy kept in a basement who craved love so deeply he’d do anything for it. If I could go back in time and tell him that one day he’d be a man sitting next to his savior and wife, surrounded by his children, friends, and blooded relatives, maybe he would’ve fought harder.
“Don’t do that,” Gia whispers into my shoulder then presses a kiss to the same spot.
I stare down into those gray eyes, the same gray eyes I dreamt about my whole life, the ones I held onto, the ones that saved me then and still today. “I’m not doing anything.” I put on my most believable smile.
But my wife can see my bullshit from a million miles away.
She lifts a brow. “You get like this every Christmas. We can’t go back and change the past.”
I run my hand up her back and sift my fingers into her silky hair. “I know. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. I would suffer through it all a million times over if it means ending up right here, right now, with you.”
“There’s the boy I fell in love with,” she whispers and brings her soft, sweet lips to mine.
I kiss her tenderly once, twice, but the vulnerable place inside me craves more. I grip her hair in my fist and when she gasps quietly I slip my tongue between her lips. A quiet moan works it’s way up her throat—
Blake rocks into my side.
I pull my mouth from hers, but my gaze remains heated and locked on her eyes.
“And you give me shit about a bathroom blowey,” Blake mumbles. “Let me know if you need me to scoot over so you can lay her down right here at the table.”
My mouth twitches and Gia goes back to her meal. I keep my hand on her nape, running my thumb along her throat and loving the feel of her pulse as it flutters beneath her skin.
I bring my mouth to her ear. “Tonight, I’m going to ruin you.” I nip at her earlobe.
She tilts her face toward me and grins. “I’m counting on it.”
“Luckiest bastard in the world,” I say to myself as I turn back to my meal.
“Aren’t we all,” Blake mumbles back.
The sound of a thousand crayons spilling onto the floor is followed by a fiercely whispered “Fuck”. Three seconds later Jack comes falling into the dining room with puffy, bloodshot eyes, a wrinkled shirt, and he’s running his hand through a tornado of blonde hair on his head.
“I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up to eat,” he says to his wife who has two cheeks full of food and can’t respond.
“Cool your tits, Daniels,” Carey says and motions to the seat next to Sadie. “There’s plenty to feed your greedy ass.”
Jack smirks at his brother in law. “Greedy ass? Kinky.”
“Yeah, sit down, ya greedy ass,” Dare says and laughs hysterically.
Axelle’s eyes turn to fire as she glares at her brother. “Seriously, Jack? You’re going to talk like that in front of your nephews?”
Jack’s mouth falls open in offense. “Me?” He points an accusing finger at Carey. “He said it first!”
“But you made it dirty!” Axelle tosses a roll at her brother who catches it on the fly and shoves the whole thing in his mouth.
“She’s right,” Carey says, shoveling food into his mouth. “You did make it dirty.”
Jack smacks the back of Carey’s head as he passes behind him to his chair. Carey karate chops the backs of Jack’s knees making him nearly fall but he catches himself on Sadie’s seat.
“Enough you two,” Jonah growls from the head of the table.
Jack glares at Carey who is laughing into his plate.
The rest of the meal is just as chaotic. A million different conversations going on at once, playful arguments are followed by exaggerated stories that have everyone laughing. Eventually the serving platters are empty.
The women return to the living room to relax, drink wine, and digest while the men clear the table and clean.
We drink beer and give each other shit, typical family bonding crap.
And I love every second of it.
Henry
“You have to work? On Christmas?” My mom’s eyes flash with suspicion, not that I blame her.
Working on Christmas does sound like a bullshit excuse to get out of family time.
She tilts her head and gives me the look I’ve seen her give my dad when she’s about to call him on his shit. “I wasn’t aware tattoo shops were open on Christmas.”
“They’re not. Which is why mine is. Do you know how many people want to get a tattoo or new piercing on Christmas? A ton. And I charge more because it’s a holiday.”
My dad claps me on the shoulder and squeezes. “Brilliant.”
“Thanks. I think so too.”
My mom shakes her head, obviously not sold.
I hold up my bottle of water. “Do you really think I would’ve stopped drinking beer three hours ago if I was planning on leaving here to go hang with friends?”
“Probably not.” She throws her arms around me. “Fine, go make your millions. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, mom.” I hug her back and when she finally releases me I say goodbye to the rest of the family all while inching my way to the door.
Once I make a clean break I take a full breath of fresh air and head for my truck. I’m almost to the driver’s side door when I hear the front door of Jonah’s house open and hear my name.
“Henry, wait up!”
“Shit,” I mumble softly. “Almost got away without it.” I paste a smile on my face and when I turn around I see Blake Daniels running toward me, his hand waving in the air. And in that hand is the White Elephant gift that I not-so-accidentally left behind.
“You forgot your present.” He holds it out to me.
“Oh no… that would’ve been a tragedy,” I say dryly.
“Right?” His grin widens. “Here. Take it.” He shoves the gigantic plushy stuffed penis my way. “I’m so glad you won it,” he says under his breath. “You’re the only one in this house who appreciates a good sense of humor.”
With a long, deep internal sigh, I take it. Ugh, the stupid thing has eyes and a smile that mocks me. “Thanks.”
“No problem, son. Merry Christmas.”
As he heads back to the house I consider chucking the dick as far into the distance as I can manage, but then think of a better idea and toss it into the front seat of my truck.
I pull up to my shop just before five and am pleased to see we already have a few clients milling about the small lobby. One of my artists, who also happens to be my roommate, Chase, is behind the reception desk when I circle around to join him.
“We’re gonna need a bigger shop,” he says by way of greeting.
We really do need a bigger space. Eternal Ink has exploded in numbers and I’ve had to hire more artists and piercers than I have room for.
“How was the family deal,” Chase says while flipping his lip ring nervously.
I lean back against th
e counter and shove my hands into my pockets watching the big, tattooed punk squirm. “Why don’t you ask what you really want to know?”
He avoids my eyes, watches the people in the shop for a few seconds before finally spitting it out. “Was Stevie there?”
“She’s my sister, asshole. What do you think?”
He clears his throat and the way his face scrunches up when he does makes me think he’s not entirely comfortable with what he’s feeling. “She ask about me?”
“No.”
That discomfort turns into a frown. “Really?”
“Not even once.” In her defense, my dad was there and the man is ridiculously overprotective of his youngest daughter. Not that I’d share that information with him.
“Oh.” Seeing a grown man pout is not pretty.
“Here.” I hand him the big ole stuffed, smiling pecker. “Merry Christmas.”
“What the fuck? You got me a stuffed dick?”
I walk away chuckling and head to the hallway grabbing some empty boxes to take them out back to the recycle bin. It’s dark and the alley smells of rotten food and piss. Again, I’m reminded that it’s time to look for new shop space in a cleaner part of town.
I hold my breath while I stuff the boxes into the dumpster and when I turn I nearly trip over a little black ball of fur. I jump away thinking it’s a rat, but rats aren’t that cute and last I checked, they don’t wag their tails.
“Hey, little guy.” I squat down and the puppy runs between my feet and makes circles around them while whimpering. I try to pet him but he moves fast, his tail working a frantic BPM. When I finally get him with both hands he falls to his side and opens his legs for a belly rub. “You’re a boy.” I grin and scratch his dirty tummy. His ribs are pronounced and his stomach is sunken in. “Seems like you haven’t seen a bath or a bowl of dog food in a long time.” I look down the alley in both directions searching for his owner, but the space is deserted.
His whimpering goes next level until he’s growing, barking, and gnawing lightly on my hand. “Okay, okay…let’s get you something to eat.” I scoop up the dirty black ball of bones and fur and bring him inside.
The shop has a walk-in closet as our break room and I open the mini fridge in search of some kind of meat to feed him. He wiggles in my arms, his tongue flopping out of his mouth. “Water first.”
I grab a paper plate and pour from a bottle of water. The puppy laps it up in seconds and then barks for more. “Yes, sir.” I grin and pour more water onto the plate. “Bossy.” He laps at the second helping of water and barks again. I’d give anything for a fucking bowl. Instead I sit there and single serve him until the water bottle is empty. He spins in a circle, stops, looks at me, spins in a circle again, and barks. “Food. Right.” I find a sandwich, probably Chase’s dinner, and pull all the meat and cheese out to put on the plate. He practically takes my finger off getting to it. “Easy there, captain. You know what they say about biting the hand that feeds you.” I pet him while he devours what’s left on the plate. “Captain. You look like a Captain, you bossy little shit.”
“Dude, what the fuck—is that a dog?” Chase stands in the doorway eying the puppy.
“I found him in the alley.”
“Did you feed him my sandwich?”
“Yeah, stop being a whiny prick. I’ll buy you another one.”
Chase squats down and pets Captain, his pierced lip pulling up on the side. “He’s kinda cute.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll keep him. I named him Captain.”
Chase snags the plush penis from the shelf and sets it down next to Captain. “Here ya go, Captain. Merry Christmas.”
Between clients I check on Captain in the break room. With a full belly and a warm place to rest, he slept for most of the night cuddled up to his stuffed dick.
For the first time ever I found myself grateful for Blake’s dumbass Christmas gift. And Captain was too.
Henry’s story continues in Henry & Ivy coming June 2021!
Also by JB Salsbury
If you enjoyed this short story and are interested in reading about any of the characters you’ve met today, they each have their own book.
The Fighting Series
Fighting for Flight – Jonah & Raven
Fighting to Forgive – Blake & Layla
Fighting to Forget – Rex & Gia
Fighting the Fall
A Father’s Fight – Blake & Layla novella
Fighting for Forever
Fighting Fate – Axelle & Killian
Fighting for Honor
The Final Fight – Braeden & AJ
Uncaged: A Fighting for Flight Short
Jack & Sadie – Obviously, this is Jack & Sadie’s story. ;)
BSU Football Series
Breaking Defenses – Carey & Rowan
Hail Mary
On the Sideline
The Mercy Series
Ghostgirl
Saint
The North Brother’s Series
Wild North
Love, Hate, & Rock-n-Roll Series
Playing by Heart
Skipped a Beat
Face the Music
Strike a Chord
Standalone Novels
Split
Wrecked
About the Author
JB Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, two sassy daughters, and her boxer dogs.
Her love of good storytelling led her to earn a degree in Media Communications. With her journalistic background, writing has always been at the forefront, and her love of romance propelled her career as an author.
She spends the majority of her day behind the computer where a world of battling alphas, budding romance, and impossible obstacles claws away at her subconscious and begs to be released to the page.
For more information on her books, or just to say hello, visit JB on her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
http://www.jbsalsbury.com/
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