Border got out of the vehicle and made his way to the trio. Maya had her arms around her brother, and Alex was hugging her back, if a little reluctantly.
Maya pulled back and smiled at Alex. She wasn’t crying, and Border knew that was more about Alex than her. She was being strong for him, and he admired her for it.
“It’s good to see you,” Maya said, her voice soft.
“Yeah.” Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s good to see you.” He nodded at Jake. “You too, man.” He looked at Border and frowned slightly. “I…uh…don’t know you, do I?” He shook his head. “If I met you towards the tail end there, I’m sorry. I wasn’t all there.”
Border shook his head before holding out his hand. Fuck, what must it be like to not know if you’ve met someone before because of booze, rather than just a passing memory? Not everyone remembered every single person they met over a lifetime, but the fact that Alex immediately blamed it on the booze told Border a lot about the man. That Alex could even talk about it spoke volumes, as well. This man was different from Border’s father in so many ways, it wasn’t even funny. Alex was already taking responsibility for what he’d done, where Border’s father wouldn’t have even taken responsibility for pouring his own drink.
“This is the first time,” Border sent gently. “I thought I’d help Maya and Jake with the ride.
Alex’s shoulders relaxed marginally. “Good, that’s good. Nice to meet you.” He winced. “Well, you know, in general. Probably not the best place to meet someone.” Alex’s eyes went a little dark as if he were thinking about something only he would know, but then he seemed to shake it off. “So, you’re Maya’s friend?”
Border met Maya’s gaze, and she smiled. “Border, Jake, and I are dating,” she answered simply, though it wasn’t simple at all. “I figured it would be best to just tell you rather than keep it secret, you know.”
Alex blinked at the three of them before nodding slowly. “Okay, then. You mind if we stop for a burger or something? I’m a little hungry. I think I was too nervous to really eat lunch.”
Border snorted. “We can get you a burger, man.” His stomach rumbled. “And, apparently, I could use one or two, as well.”
He reached down to pick up Alex’s bags, but the other man reached them first. “I’ve got them,” Alex said quickly. “I’ve got them.”
Border met Alex’s gaze and nodded. “Got you,” he said finally. Sometimes, the metaphorical baggage wasn’t so metaphorical. If the other man needed to make his own way and literally carry his own bags, so be it.
They made their way to the SUV and climbed in while Maya spoke to her brother. This time, she got in the back with him while Jake sat up front with Border. Alex would answer back, but he wasn’t as loud as the rest of the Montgomerys were. Border wasn’t sure if that had always been the case, or if this was a new Alex. Either way, the man was out of rehab, and things weren’t going to be easy, but Border had a feeling the Montgomerys would help.
That family knew how to close ranks and aid their own.
And Border wouldn’t be jealous of that.
Not even a little.
ALEX
Alex looked around the home he’d lived in for the past few years and knew he wouldn’t be able to live there much longer. The walls spoke of memories long since burned into his brain. He needed a fresh start, and having to live in the same home he’d shared with his ex-wife, where he’d spiraled out of control to become a shadow of the man he was, one he couldn’t recognize, wouldn’t help with any of that.
His sister and her men had dropped him off after their tense lunch. He’d tried to keep up with conversation, but it was as if he wasn’t firing on all cylinders quite yet. Though with Maya, he always felt a little behind. Considering the fact that she had not one, but two men in her life at the moment, he figured he’d feel a little off-kilter for a while yet.
Maya, Jake, and Border had noticed that he wasn’t all there, but hadn’t said anything about it. They’d let him eat in peace without asking him to add much to the conversation. While he might have been worried about that, they hadn’t looked at him as if they were worried that he’d pick up a drink right then and there either.
The urge was there, and he knew it always would be.
There would forever be a voice in the back of his head that said; just one, one little drink won’t hurt anyone. But one would lead to four, and then mistakes he could never take back.
So, he would learn to live this new life of his.
The one where he was Alex Montgomery: addict, divorcee, broken, and so fucking lost.
He might be home now, but he didn’t feel it. He’d have to start over, not too far from his family, but not in their pocket either. They didn’t deserve that burden, not after everything they’d been through and everything he’d put them through.
How would he regroup? How could he find a new life that would fit him and not break him?
He needed to apologize to everyone he’d hurt, everyone he’d broken along the way.
He needed to find a way to live with the decisions he’d made, as well as the decisions others had made for him. He’d have to find a way to make sure this was all worth it, because there was no going back to the man he was before his life had fallen out from under him.
It has to be worth it, he repeated.
Because he hadn’t ended everything before, and he couldn’t now.
He had to be stronger than he was before. And during.
He had to be resilient.
He had to be a Montgomery.
If only he remembered what that meant.
Chapter Thirteen
Maya rolled her shoulders and looked down at her sketchpad. She had just finished another small piece for Mrs. Peterman, her seventy-something-year-old client who had started on her ink dreams late in life. She was one of Maya’s favorites, and Maya loved working with her. The older woman had wanted a tiny bumblebee on her ankle so it would show when she wore her capris while doing yard work. It wasn’t easy doing tattoos on older skin, as at that point in life, the skin lost a lot of its elasticity, but Maya always found a way.
If Mrs. Peterman wanted a tattoo, the woman would get a tattoo.
And now Maya had a few minutes to herself to work on a sketch for a client in the morning since her meeting with another new client wouldn’t be for a bit. Autumn, Griffin’s girlfriend, and Montgomery Ink’s receptionist, had scheduled the appointment for Maya so she hadn’t even met the person yet. If things didn’t work out in the first meeting, Maya wouldn’t be doing any tattooing. It didn’t matter if the person truly wanted new ink, if the artist and client didn’t mesh, then it would show in the tattoo.
Maya was fucking amazing at her work, and because of that, she could easily say no to someone who might want a tattoo but was either an ass about it or only thought they wanted the tattoo. It probably wasn’t the best way to go about business, but in Maya’s opinion, it was the only way. If she didn’t believe in her work, then there wasn’t a reason to continue it. If she’d spent the whole of her days working on random Chinese lettering for sorority girls, she might have hurt herself, but thankfully, she was beyond that in her career.
She and Austin had built something that worked perfectly for the two of them and the family they’d made within these walls. And as soon as the piercing station was ready, Blake would join them and help move Montgomery Ink in an even more profitable direction. Some had asked if they’d ever branch out and open another shop in another city or even in another part of Denver, but Maya wasn’t sure that would work for her and Austin. This was their home, and she liked working with those in her Montgomery Ink family. She had cousins who were artists, though, and maybe, just maybe, they could open up something where they lived.
That was a dream a long way off, though. Right now, Maya had to focus on the sketch in front of her before her next meeting. She loved drawing; always had since she was a kid. To her, tattooing was an art form that just happe
ned to use skin as the canvas rather than a wall or a piece of paper. Jake worked with his hands on clay and other materials to make truly exquisite works of art, and she’d always felt the connection between the two of them because of it. His brothers also worked with their hands at Gallagher Restorations, but Jake had always been the more artistic one of the bunch.
And Border…well, Border was a bit of a mystery.
He wasn’t as artistic as she and Jake, or at least, he hadn’t shown that side of him. She knew he used to work in security and protection, but that was it. He wouldn’t say what that meant exactly, and she was pretty sure he couldn’t say. She knew that he would have to tell them more soon because Maya didn’t deal well with secrets. Not only did she have to open every nook and cranny when it came to things like that, but she also couldn’t open her heart—or her legs—for a man that kept things like that to himself. While they were doing their best to keep what they had as casual as possible, there were still some aspects that couldn’t be ignored.
She had no idea why she needed to dig out secrets and uncover the unknown, other than the fact that she needed to make sure her life was under her control. Even if sometimes it didn’t feel like that.
Maya let out a breath, annoyed with herself yet again for letting her thoughts go to Jake and Border. She was usually good at keeping the man she was seeing out of her head while working or doing something that required her attention. Instead, all she could do was try to work while thinking of Jake and Border. Memories of how they’d loved her together the night before filled her mind, and she closed her eyes.
Damn it, Montgomery, do better.
It just annoyed her that she couldn’t figure out what she was doing in her relationship, and apparently, her life. She was sleeping with her best friend after all these years. If it were just her and Jake, maybe she’d be able to find her footing, but with Border added to the mix, she wasn’t sure. Jake and Border seemed to be figuring out how they worked together, but she and Border? It was a mystery.
She’d just met the man, and yet had a connection to him she couldn’t name.
She didn’t know how she fit with him and Jake, and it hurt.
“Maya?”
Speak of the devil.
She turned at Border’s voice, her heart pounding. It was as if she’d conjured him, all sexy muscles and strong features. She wanted to climb up his body and wrap her arms around him but knew she wouldn’t, not with Austin, Sloane, Callie, and Autumn in the same room. Which was weird because she would have done it in the past with the other guys she’d been with. Maybe she was growing up. Or maybe, just maybe, this was different. Instead of doing what her instincts urged her to, she stood and set her sketchbook down.
“I didn’t know you were coming in,” she said with a tilt of her head. “I have an appointment in a few minutes, or I’d go get some coffee with you or something.”
Border leaned down and brushed his lips along hers. It was only a moment of contact, but her already rigid nipples hardened even more. Her knees threatened to buckle, and she had to clear her throat. Damn potent man.
“I’m your appointment, actually,” he said with a grin.
Her eyes widened, her heart racing. “Seriously? You want ink?”
“Yeah, and I figured if I went to anyone else, you’d kick my ass.”
She snorted, trying to get her emotions under control. This was so unlike her. “Uh, yeah, no one gets to touch you other than me.” She winked. “And Jake.”
Border licked his lips and looked down at her. “I like this possessive side of you.”
“Oh, really? Just wait until later.” She liked this back and forth. It wasn’t usually just the two of them, and Maya realized that’s what they were missing. They were the three of them, or her and Jake, or Jake and Border. They needed to be Maya and Border. And that was something they could start right now. She bit her lip and looked up at him, imagining the ways they could just be the two of them.
Only she wasn’t thinking of merely being in bed with him. That would come—and so would they—but she wanted to know more about him other than his dick size.
And what a dick it is.
“Dude, we can hear you,” Austin grumbled from his station. “If you’re going to defile my little sister, wait until I’m not within earshot.
Maya flipped her brother off without looking and went to sit back down on her stool. “Take a seat, and let’s talk ink.”
Border raised a brow at her without bothering to look over his shoulder at Austin before taking a seat on the tattooing chair. She’d let the moveable arms down so he didn’t have to squeeze his way in. Her chairs were big since she’d grown up with big men in her life and knew she’d be inking people at least their size.
Yet, Border was big.
All muscles and power beneath a veneer she couldn’t quite break through. Sometimes he was sweet and helpful, other times he closed up. At times he took over and made her and Jake fall to their knees in this presence, still others he cherished them, going slow and letting them do what they needed. Then there were moments where he stood back and confused her all to hell. She didn’t know where he fit in their lives, and frankly, she was more worried that she didn’t know where she belonged in his life.
Border pinched her chin between his fingers, and the sweet pain brought her out of her thoughts.
“You’re thinking too hard, Montgomery.” His voice slid over her, a deep grumble that soothed her even as it turned her on. It didn’t make any sense, and yet she knew she’d become addicted to it if she let herself.
She cleared her throat and moved back. The loss of his touch was a visceral thing, but she did her best to ignore it. She couldn’t rely on him, on what he could mean to her, not when she didn’t know him. Not yet. She’d told herself she’d go into a relationship with Jake and Border as long as she tried to protect her heart. And that was what she was going to do.
It was the only thing she could do.
“Sorry about that, what kind of tattoo were you thinking of getting?” she asked, trying to keep her voice as businesslike as possible. From the look in Border’s eyes, she was failing at that. Miserably.
Border narrowed his eyes at her. “Why don’t you tell me what you were thinking?”
She snorted, trying to act as if nothing was bothering her. Because, frankly, nothing should be bothering her. This was a fling, maybe, and she shouldn’t get all bent of out shape that she was confused as all hell. She’d be fine once she got to know Border a bit more, and when things fell apart, as they always did, she’d be able to keep a friend out of it.
Because she’d be damned if she lost Jake, and that meant she wouldn’t lose Border either.
And if she kept telling herself that, she might just start to believe it.
“I’m just thinking about what we’re going to do once we get back to my place,” she said, not quite lying.
From the way Border’s eyes darkened, he was now thinking about that, too. Good. Because if he looked at her too closely, he’d see something she didn’t want him to see.
Border shifted in the chair, adjusting his cock in his jeans, and Maya had to swallow hard. Considering her brother was about twenty feet away from her right then, she needed to get her mind out of the gutter and onto ink. It wasn’t easy when Border and his very nice dick were so close to her mouth, though.
“I want feathers on my shoulder,” Border said suddenly, and Maya blinked.
“Feathers?” she asked as she picked up her sketchpad and pencil. “What kind of feathers and where exactly?”
Border pulled off his shirt, and Maya about swallowed her tongue. Damn man and his sexy as hell body. She had to click her tongue ring gently against her teeth so she wouldn’t say something along the lines of wanting to bite him. This was professional. She could do this.
Maybe.
“You know the scar I have on my shoulder?” he asked as he turned slightly.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice
suddenly hoarse. It was from a gunshot wound, she knew. Jake and Border had explained it to her when she’d asked about it in bed after a particularly sweaty bout of sex. At first, she’d felt a little odd that Jake had already known, but he’d explained that Border had only just told him.
She had to get over any jealousy she had about the two of them. They’d known each other for years, the same as she and Jake, and now she had to get to know Border and form her own memories. Maybe when she did that, she wouldn’t feel like she was on the outside looking in. Of course, now she wondered if Border had that same feeling when it came to her and Jake. Living in a ménage wasn’t for the faint of heart and mind, that was for sure. It was easier when it was just a night of hot sex, yet this wasn’t that. She needed to know Border as they knew Jake, and that would take time.
She might as well start now.
“What kind of feathers do you want?” She studied his shoulder and the raised flesh that spoke of a history she knew he held close to his chest. She might know how he got that particular injury, but she didn’t know everything.
“Owl feathers,” he answered as he looked over his shoulder. “Not muddy brown or anything; a hunter’s feathers.”
She met his gaze and smiled. “I think that will look perfect. Do you want to cover the scar? Or go around it? With the way it’s raised, I can most likely do a tattoo over it, rather than around it. If it were any larger, it might be an issue like burned skin is, but this is a scar we can work with.” She was rambling now, and she didn’t know why.
He met her gaze and her breath caught. Oh, that’s why.
“Can you make it so the feathers go with it? Covering it but not hiding it?”
Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5) Page 16
