by Piper Rayne
I chuckle and kiss her lips. “Morning.”
She cuts the kiss off short and wipes her mouth.
“Should I be offended that I woke up alone?” I leave her to make coffee.
“I had a breakthrough on the problem.”
“So you came out here?” I ask, shuffling between the sink and coffee maker.
Her arms reach around me as I scoop coffee grounds into the maker. “You freed my blockage,” she says, her lips casting small kisses on my back.
How natural it is for us this morning. I worried we would be stoic around one another, worried what the other is thinking, but we seem to be in the same place.
I start the coffee maker and turn around, taking her in my arm. She lays her head on my chest.
“I have to go to the shop tonight,” I spit out like I’m worried she’s going to get upset.
She rests her chin on my chest and looks up at me. “Okay.”
“You’re not mad?” I expected some jealousy or disappointment over the fact that I can’t spend the weekend in bed with her. I would love to, but Jax and Frankie might kill one another if I don’t make an appearance.
Her hand runs up my back. “Why would I be mad?”
I shake my head. “No reason. You’ll come by though?”
“If you want me to?”
I kiss the top of her head. “Definitely. I can sneak out for a late dinner.”
She kisses my chest. “Deal.”
We stay locked in each other’s hold until the coffee maker dings. This is way too easy. I wish I could relax and enjoy it, but experience says something bad is on the horizon.
Ink Envy is buzzing when I show up at six o’clock. I meant to be here earlier, but Rian and I got waylaid trying out new positions with her on top. She’s really finding what gets her off and I fucking love watching her sexual side awaken.
Lyle’s on the bar stool by the welcome table. Jax is working on a customer and has another one waiting. Frankie’s busy with a group of girls who seem to be all getting the same tattoo on their hipbone. Everything’s running well, so I figure I’ll head back to Rian—then my gaze stops on Mad Max coming out of the back area where the piercing station is. A woman follows him, her red face beaming. My guess is she either got her nips or pussy done.
“What the hell?” I put my hand out to him when he approaches.
“I heard you might need a little pick-me-up around here?”
“It’s Saturday night. What about the place in the city?” That’s where he should be. Where the money is for him. I was proud he got the job in the city.
“I’m needed here, man.” He claps me on the shoulder. “I have a few more appointments set up, but I’ll swing by your office to shoot the shit when I’m done.”
I nod, hoping my eyes convey the words that can be hard for me to speak. But the fact he’s here until I can get the business thriving again speaks volumes to me. I wonder who called him and let him know the state of things.
Jax nods at me then looks back down to his client. “I’m guessing all is peachy keen now? Or should I say you’re the king of Rian’s peach now?”
“Yeah, things are…” A montage of Rian and me in fifty million positions over the last twenty-four hours rolls through my mind. All our jagged edges fit together like puzzle pieces. “Good.”
“Yeah, I know, I’m not deaf.”
I chuckle and head to my office, passing Frankie’s station.
“Hey, boss. I heard you got your head out of your ass.”
I look over her shoulder to see a butterfly with three Greek letters underneath. The girl she’s working on looks me over. A look that, once upon a time, would’ve had me sliding a chair next to Frankie and shooting the shit.
“I did. She’ll be here shortly to give you all the details, I’m sure.”
“Can’t wait.” Frankie chuckles. “Oh, I had no one for Jolie. She’s coloring in your office. Sorry.”
“My favorite girl.” I wink to her to let her know it’s okay.
As I walk away, I overhear the girl asking Frankie if we’re a couple.
Frankie, being Frankie, says, “Hell no, he’s my boss. He’s taken by a gorgeous blonde who’s a brilliant mathematician.”
I smile all the way back to my office. Who would’ve thought the word taken would sound so calming? Not me.
I’m on cloud nine until I open my office door to find Jolie with a crayon on my wall.
She freezes. Then she gives me that sweet smile of hers. “Uncle Dylan!”
She runs to me, so I bend down. When she wraps her little arms around my neck, I pick her up and squeeze her.
“You’re a lucky girl we’re so free with art around here.” Which is true. Our welcome table has drawings from all the tattoo artists who have come through here. “Do you want paper or a coloring sheet?” I put her down.
“I have a coloring book.” She holds up a coloring tattoo book. Of course. She kneels on the floor and opens the book, choosing to color an angel tattoo.
“Can I join you?” I ask, sitting on the couch and grabbing her crayons.
“Want to pick?” She hands me the book.
I scroll through and pull out a heart with angel wings and a banner across the front. Holding the crayon in my right hand feels weird. The fact that I miss inking so much I’ve resorted to coloring says the next five weeks are going to be a struggle.
Jolie joins me on the couch and cringes. “You’re outside the lines.”
“I’m a lefty, so I don’t do much with my right hand,” I say. And I don’t say that her angel is all blue and she’s outside the lines too.
“Mommy says to stay in the outline if I want to be like her when I grow up.”
I chuckle. “Is that what you want to be when you grow up? A tattoo artist?”
“I want to be Mommy,” she says, coloring a line on my page with her blue crayon. She giggles.
I watch her concentrate on her picture, pressing too hard. She’s such a sweet kid but hasn’t had the easiest life so far. She’s heard and seen way more than she ever should at her age.
“Your mommy is pretty cool,” I remark, exchanging my red for gold.
“Rian too,” she says. “You like Rian?”
“Man, news gets around quick in these parts.”
She giggles and slides down to sit on her knees on the other side of the coffee table, leaning forward and staring at me.
“Yeah, I like Rian.”
“She’s pretty like a princess,” she says.
I nod. Jolie’s right. Rian is pretty like a princess, and instead of being with a prince, she’s chosen me, the commoner who wants to brand her with a tattoo drawn just for her.
“Mommy’s not pretty like a princess,” she says.
I laugh. Maybe they should make a princess doll with tattoos and an edge that would challenge any prince that came her way.
“Mommy doesn’t like princess stories. She says there’s no such thing as a prince and I need to be able to save myself. Be strong.”
Only Frankie would lecture her kid about fairy tales, but I can’t say I blame her.
“I don’t really believe in all that ‘prince saving the princess’ stuff either,” I admit as Frankie opens the office door.
Jolie’s eyes widen. “Really?”
I shake my head. “I think sometimes both the princess and the prince need saving.”
Her small eyebrows crinkle.
“Someday you’ll understand,” I say.
“Lecturing my kid on fairytales?” Frankie walks in and sits in my office chair. “Finally being productive, huh?”
“Can you tell I’m itching to do anything with art?” I continue to color outside the lines, shading the wings.
“Not bad for your right hand,” she says.
“Look, Mommy. An angel.” Jolie hands her picture to Frankie.
“I love it. It’s beautiful. Remember you have all those colors though. See how Dylan uses more than one? You can too.”
Jo
lie snatches back the picture.
“Only you would criticize a kid’s coloring page.”
Frankie shrugs, not offended in the least. “It’s merely a suggestion.” She winks at Jolie, whose face lights up.
Jolie takes the gold crayon from my hand and puts a halo on the top of the angel’s head. Then she puts the gold down and takes out the blue one again.
“Blue is her favorite color,” I say and Frankie nods.
“How do you spell Jax?” Jolie asks me, and I side-eye Frankie.
“J.A.X.” I write it on the back of my paper so she can see the letters.
When she writes them, it looks more like UAT, but she gave it a try. Her name at the bottom is more legible but spaced so far apart it takes a minute to figure out what it is.
“Can I go out there?” she asks, knowing she’s not allowed to run through the tattoo stations. The waiting area and my office are the only places she has free rein.
“He just finished,” Frankie says, and Jolie bolts out of the room.
“And you?” I stand.
“The girl brigade is complete. I have an appointment in ten though. I hate to ask this on a Saturday night, but would you mind watching Jolie?” She cringes the same way Jolie did when she told me I color outside the lines.
“Sure. What else do I have to do?” Other than take out my girlfriend. “Mind if Rian and I take her to dinner?”
“Not at all. She’ll give you a good idea of what it’ll be like when you have your own kids.” She laughs, and I throw a crayon at her back as she leaves.
Jolie runs back in and Frankie swoops her up. “He loved it. He hung it on the wall.”
Frankie turns to me and I can’t decipher the look on her face, but it’s not one of happiness. “That’s nice.”
Jolie does a little shimmy to get Frankie to set her down.
“Go work, I got this,” I say.
“Thanks, boss.”
As Frankie leaves and I watch Jolie, my mind wanders to kids. I’m sure it’s something Rian wants, and I used to think about back when I was a teenager, probably because I never had my own family. But now that I’m a grown man I know that kids are a lot of responsibility and you have to be a good role model. That thought is terrifying.
So I do what I do best and push it aside to deal with another day.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rian
I’m getting ready to head over to Ink Envy when the apartment door opens—thanks to someone who obviously still has a key.
“Hello?” I call.
“We’re very disappointed that we had to hear about you and Dylan from Seth.” Sierra barges into the bathroom, almost making me hit my arm against the curling iron.
“I would’ve told you. It just happened.”
Sierra hops up on the counter and Blanca sits on the toilet.
“This is huge. It deserved a text at the very least,” Blanca says. “Hell, maybe even a picture.”
Sierra and I look at her.
“Not a sex pic or a dick pic, just a picture of him in your bed or something.” When we still look confused, Blanca waves us off. “Never mind.”
Sierra wiggles to get comfortable. “Give us all the deets.”
My blush comes quickly, reflected back to me in the mirror. “It just kind of happened. He said he’s liked me for a while but was afraid to cross the line.”
Blanca slaps her thigh. “I knew it.”
“And the sex?” Sierra asks.
“Sex is good. Great actually.”
“I figured as much.” Sierra rolls her eyes, a silent reminder that I’m far from his first conquest.
“What else?” Blanca asks.
I shrug, pulling another chunk of hair to curl. “There isn’t much. I’m going over to Ink Envy and we’re going to dinner. Nothing seemed awkward this morning. He’s very handsy and affectionate with me. It’s just so…”
“Perfect,” Blanca says, her lovesick eyes rolling to the back of her head.
“Is that scary? I feel like it’s scary.” I lay the curling iron on the counter and shake out my curls.
“Why would it be scary?” Blanca asks.
“You’re waiting for something like the shoe to drop?” Sierra understands where I’m coming from.
“Ahh,” Blanca says. “I get that. But maybe this is all turning out perfect because it’s meant to be.”
I nod, not really convinced. Regardless, I’m ecstatic Dylan’s admitted he holds the same feelings I’ve harbored for him. And I’ll live this out until that shoe drops.
Sierra’s hand runs up and down my arm. “I thought the same thing with Adrian. You’re very invested in Dylan. You always have been. Although this is great and we were all waiting for this moment, it’s a big chance. A big step.”
“Not making me feel better.” I leave the bathroom for some space.
“I don’t mean it like that, but you guys have a lot to lose. At the same time, I think you guys are great friends who won’t allow this to tear apart your friendship if it didn’t work out.”
“I’m not sure we should think about the negative right now. It’s way too early,” Blanca says. “Rian.” She takes my hands in hers. “When is the last time you lived in the moment? Without thinking about the future?”
She’s right. Never. Never except when I confronted Dylan yesterday. My life has always had a plan, whether it was my mom’s or my own. I was taught that there’s always somewhere or something I should be striving for. There’s always more to achieve.
“You’re right,” I say. “My fear of the future could keep me from enjoying the here and now if I let it.”
Blanca and Sierra smile.
“Exactly,” Blanca says.
“It could be nothing goes wrong, or if it does, you get through it.” Sierra opens up the bottle of wine they must’ve brought over. “Who would’ve ever thought Adrian would get the rules changed so he doesn’t have to rule?”
She’s right, but my worry isn’t over something we’ll have to face together. It’s Dylan that feels unpredictable to me. He went from zero to one hundred in a night.
My friends stare at me as though they want to know my thoughts, but I’m going to keep these to myself.
“I’m good, guys, really.”
Sierra pours the wine. “Then let’s celebrate. You waited long enough, so enjoy that fine piece of ass.”
We all laugh, clinking our glasses to toast the future.
I walk into Ink Envy. Jax tattoos a girl’s back as she’s sprawled on his table on her stomach. Frankie works on a guy’s chest, and Lyle’s head is buried in his sketchbook.
“What’s up?” Lyle nods and starts drawing again when he sees it’s me. “Dylan is letting me tattoo him.”
“That’s cool. Tonight?” I ask. Lyle isn’t the first to apprentice under Dylan. Everyone gets to tattoo him at some point.
He looks up with a smirk. “No. He said he had plans.” His gaze sweeps over me. “I assume you’re his plans.”
“He’s got two girls tonight,” Jax says.
My heart constricts so tightly, I feel as if it’s going to stop beating.
Frankie gives him a death stare. “Jolie is here,” she says to me. “Way to give the girl a heart attack,” she says to Jax.
“I only speak the truth.”
The girl on her stomach stares lovingly over her shoulder at him. How he’s able to work with some girl drooling over him like that, I have no idea.
“They’re in the office,” Frankie says.
“Thanks.” I walk to the back.
“I do expect details at some point,” Frankie says, her tattoo machine moving along the skin with skilled precision.
“We’ll do lunch.”
“What do you really need to know? They’re fucking. I can record her moans and his grunts as proof if you’d like. I think I counted ten ‘oh my gods’ this morning.” Jax smiles at me, not seeming upset in the least. He must see something else in my eyes though.
“Relax, I’m good.”
I nod and disappear down the hallway.
“You can’t just take the phone,” Dylan says. “You have to ask. I was on a call.”
“But Paw Patrol,” Jolie whines.
It’s late for her. She’s probably ready for bed.
I walk through the doorway, Dylan looks up, relief clear in his demeanor and his eyes. “Heaven sent us an angel,” he says, pointing at me.
“Rian!” Jolie runs at me.
I pick her up, situating her on my hip. “I heard you had a great babysitter tonight.” I tap my finger on her nose.
“Uncle Dylan won’t let me watch Paw Patrol.”
Our gazes shift to him, and he blows out a breath. “I had Jax’s client on the phone. He wanted to cancel for tonight. I’m arguing with him that he forfeits his deposit and she stole my phone to put on that talking dog show.”
Jolie’s head falls on my shoulder and her fingers play with my long hair.
Dylan points at her. “Don’t let that sweetness put your guard down.”
I hug her tightly. “I guess our dinner is takeout?” I sit down in the chair next to his desk, Jolie situating herself so she’s straddling me with her head on my shoulder.
“I was hoping you’d be my dinner.” He waggles his eyebrows.
“That’s very inappropriate now, although I will take a raincheck.”
He slides his chair over to me and kisses me.
“Ew.” Jolie’s hand moves to his face, pushing it away.
“See, she’s sweet.” I chuckle.
He kisses her forehead before falling back down into his chair. “Chinese, Mexican, or pizza?”
I shrug. “I’m game for whatever.”
“Pick one.” He’s desperately trying to use his mouse with his right hand, but every time he has to click on something, he hits the wrong selection.
I stand from the chair, trying not to disturb Jolie since she’s growing limp in my arms. “Sit down.” I point at the chair I was just in.
“I like you bossy,” he says, sitting in the chair.
I transfer Jolie to him. Her eyes open but fall closed again right away. Cradled in his good arm, she wraps her arms around his neck.
