by Anna Martin
“Are you going to be tattooing anyone?”
“No,” Max said, eyes wide. “No, that would be a very bad idea. It’s more of a party, ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ type thing. I’m hoping to start getting some bookings in, but mostly it’s about getting the word out that we’re open.”
“Would you tattoo me?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, of course,” Max said easily. “What do you want?”
Tyler had had the idea for a long time, just never the guts to go through with it.
“It probably sounds stupid,” he muttered. “But I want a sprig of juniper berries. Right here.” He tapped his chest, over his heart.
“That doesn’t sound stupid at all; it’s really sweet.” Max rolled his shoulders and pushed his sunglasses back up his nose. “They’re, like, dark purple berries, right? With green spiky leaves.”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay, let me do some research and draw it up for you. You can come over anytime and take a look. Then we can figure out how big you want it.”
“That sounds great,” Tyler said. “It’ll be cool to have someone I know do my first tattoo.”
“You’re a virgin?” Max exclaimed, loudly. John looked over and raised an eyebrow at them.
Tyler laughed and pointedly nodded his chin at Juniper.
“An ink virgin,” Max amended. “I love virgins. This is gonna be awesome.”
SINCE TYLER had the whole weekend off work, he took Juniper for dinner on Saturday after he’d dropped Casey back to her own family. They didn’t do this very often, partly because Tyler’s careful budget didn’t allow for a whole heap of luxuries, and partly because there wasn’t always an opportunity for them to do so. The little Mexican place was one of June’s favorites. Tyler thought it had more to do with the nonalcoholic frozen margaritas than the food, but the food was pretty damn good too.
“What are we eating tonight, then, June Bug?”
She wrinkled her nose and carefully studied the menu. Tyler watched her in silent, fond amusement and smoothed her hair back out of her eyes. The menus had pictures printed on them, so at least June was making an informed decision. She definitely couldn’t read the Mexican options.
“That one,” she said, pointing at the enchiladas.
“Chicken enchiladas?”
“Yes, please.”
“Good choice.”
The portions here were big enough to feed two adults, let alone an adult and a child, and by the time June filled up on chips and salsa, one meal was definitely big enough for them both to share.
Tyler let himself have one beer with his dinner and didn’t feel guilty for enjoying it. He didn’t drink much, never had.
“How are y’all doing?” the server said when she came back over. “Can I get you any more drinks?”
“No, thank you,” Juniper said brightly. She had sauce all around her mouth and down the paper napkin Tyler had carefully tucked into her shirt before she started eating.
“We’re good, thanks.”
“Daddy, can we get ice cream on the way home?”
Tyler looked down at his daughter’s wide, hopeful smile and shook his head. He was so whipped.
“Finish your dinner,” he said, then took another bite for himself.
Between the two of them, they polished off the enchiladas, and Tyler decided they could get one scoop each on the way home. June had been exceptionally well-behaved all day. She was a good kid; he’d instilled good manners into her.
When the server brought their check over, she’d left a phone number on the back of the receipt and a scrawled xoxo. Tyler dropped a few bills on the plate and left the phone number behind when they left, Juniper’s hand safely tucked in his own.
Chapter Five
THE GRAND opening party of Sweetwater Ink was in full swing, and Tyler still hadn’t shown up.
Max tried not to be annoyed.
It wasn’t like Tyler didn’t know the party was happening. Shit, half the people Max had spoken to said they only came because Deputy Reed told them about it.
Max had both his hearing aids in to try to counteract some of the noise from the DJ. The guy was good, creating a buzzy atmosphere, which was what Max had asked of him. But it made it more difficult for him to hold one-on-one conversations with people.
Instead of trying to take actual bookings during the party, Max had printed off a bunch of booking request forms so people could fill in their details, what they wanted tattooed, an idea of their budget, and their availability. Max figured for the first few weeks he wouldn’t be super busy, so this gave him the opportunity to call people back and get them booked in when he had more time.
The fishbowl he’d set up next to the booking sheets on the ugly desk was already half-full of completed forms. That was good. At least he wouldn’t be sitting around on his ass waiting for customers.
“Hi.”
Max looked down at a pretty girl who had probably been trying to get his attention while he was glaring at the door, willing Tyler to walk through it.
“Sorry, hi. How can I help?”
“I was actually wondering if you have a piercer here.”
“No,” he said. “I think there’s a place at the mall that does it, though.”
She shook her head. “I’m a piercer.”
“Oh! It’s not that I don’t want one for the shop—it’s just that I don’t know anyone who does it in Sweetwater.”
“Hallie Morgan,” the girl said, offering him her hand. “I actually work at the salon a few doors down. Right now I’m just hairdressing, but I have all of my piercing qualifications.”
“Come out front,” he said to her. “It’s quieter out there.”
It was dark already, the street outside cooling off. The sky was huge and black, the stars clearly visible. Max looked up, like he always did, amazed at what he could see out here when there was no light pollution. He’d never even known he’d missed this.
“That’s better,” Max said. “Sorry, Hallie. Go on.”
“If you’re interested, I’m totally self-sufficient. I have all my own equipment, my own insurance; I just need a sterile space where I can work.”
“What days do you work at the salon?”
“Monday through Friday right now, but I can condense my clients into fewer days.”
Max nodded. “I’m closing Mondays and Tuesdays, and I’ll be open weekends. If you want to set up maybe Friday through Sunday, I won’t charge you rent for the first month. After that we can decide if it’s working or not and how we’re going to operate from there on out.”
“That sounds awesome,” Hallie said, clearly excited. “I’ll need to check in with Patty, make sure that’s not going to impact on what I do at the salon. But I don’t think she’ll mind.”
“Great,” Max said. “Drop in next week, and we’ll figure out the details.”
It was a good deal for both of them, Max figured. A piercer was a good addition to any studio. The last place he’d worked had a full-time and a part-time piercer. Anything that brought people into the studio was a good thing; often customers who didn’t think they wanted a tattoo could be convinced when they watched an artist work.
Just as Max was getting ready to duck back into the studio, a car pulled up across the street. Max hesitated for just a second and was rewarded when Tyler got out. Max thought he might have dressed up for the occasion, with a dark denim shirt buttoned over a pair of smart pants. It wasn’t really the sort of party that people dressed up for, and Tyler would definitely be one of the nicer-looking people in there. Max didn’t care. Tyler looked incredibly hot.
Max folded his arms over his chest as Tyler walked over.
“I didn’t think you were going to show,” he said, trying to keep the accusing tone from his voice.
“Sorry,” Tyler said, running his fingers through his hair and messing it all up. Max wanted to reach out and smooth it back into place. “I couldn’t get Juniper to go to bed. Then she
refused to let my dad read her a bedtime story. She wanted me to do it.”
“That’s okay,” Max said. “Come inside. There’s so much food left.”
Tyler made a little noise that was undoubtedly sexual and did nothing to quell the bubbling attraction that Max was feeling.
“Did Shaun come?” Tyler asked as he grabbed a plate and started loading it up from the platters of buffet food. Max had ordered the food from the bakery down the block and had asked for their “Southern Special” platter, which included fried chicken, jalapeno cornbread, roast beef sliders, mac and cheese bites, and what Bella had described as “potpie pastries.” He wasn’t sure what the hell that was, but they tasted incredible.
“No,” Max said. “He did text me to wish me luck, though. He said he’s going to be back in Sweetwater next month.”
Tyler nodded. He had a pastry shoved in his mouth, so it took a moment for him to respond. “Yeah. We have this big family cookout thing planned. You should come, bring your mom and John.”
“Really?” Max was surprised.
“Yeah, it’ll be great.”
“You want me to come to your family party.”
“It’s not like that,” Tyler said. “We do it every summer, loads of people show up. It’s basically a big potluck cookout.”
“That sounds fun,” Max said. “I’ll talk to my mom, see if she can make it.”
“I know my mom wants to catch up with her anyway. She’ll probably be thrilled that I thought to invite you. I’ll get good-son points.”
“Okay,” Max said with a laugh.
Tyler got distracted and pulled into a conversation with someone, so Max meandered off to do some networking. He hated this side of the business, trying to convince people who already wanted tattoos that he was a good person to trust. His mentor, Buzz, had told Max that tattooing was all about trust. It was a lesson Max had taken to heart.
The party started winding down just before ten. Three hours of being Max the Tattoo Artist was exhausting, and when the DJ switched to some generic pop music, Max flipped the lights on and hoped people took the hint and left.
Most of them were already gone, to be fair, and Max had a whole bunch of request forms in his fishbowl.
“Well, are you happy with how it turned out?”
Tyler had stayed to the end, bless him.
“Yeah, really pleased.” Max leaned back against the ugly desk and stretched his neck from side to side. “You should let me buy you a beer. Half the people in here tonight name-dropped you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Tyler said, clearly embarrassed.
“Well, I’m going to get a beer anyway, so you’re welcome to join me. I’m just going to pack the rest of the food up so it doesn’t go bad.”
He planned to eat it for lunch for the next few days. Normally he wouldn’t bother, but the girls in the bakery had gone to town and the food was amazing. Max had a strict policy of not letting good food go to waste.
When he was done, Tyler was flicking through one of Max’s sketchbooks.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Max said, heading over to the ugly desk. He waved to the DJ, who was leaving with the last of his kit, then pulled out a folder from one of the drawers.
Tyler wandered over and leaned against the desk.
“I drew up your design,” Max said. “It’s just a sketch right now.”
He’d never drawn juniper berries before, but Max was becoming recognized for his realistic botanical and floral tattoos and his watercolor ink style. It was his thing, what he liked doing more than anything else. He wondered if Tyler knew that.
The design was a sprig of berries with the characteristic green leaves that looked similar to rosemary. Max had created an overlay too, on transparent paper, so Tyler could see a variation on the design.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted anything else with it,” he said. “So I tried a version with a banner with her name on too.”
Max flipped the transparent paper over, so Tyler could see both options.
“I like it a lot,” he said, after a long moment of studying the sketch.
“Oh good,” Max said with a whooshing sigh. “I can do it in color or black and gray, it’s up to you. Personally I think it would look really good with sort of muted colors rather than bright purples and greens. We can work in some shadows too, some white highlights, and I think it’ll look awesome.”
“I’m excited,” Tyler said. “I’ve wanted to get this done for ages, but it’s hard to pick a tattoo artist.”
Trust, Max thought, and smiled.
“Well, my appointment book is wide-open right now,” he joked. “So just let me know when works for you, and I’ll get you booked in. Do you want me to make any changes to the design? Now’s the time to tell me so you can check it out again before we start, though once I’ve transferred it onto you, you’ll have a chance to tweak anything before I ink it.”
“No changes,” Tyler said. “And I like the version with her name on it. I hadn’t thought of that; it’s a good idea.”
“Thanks,” Max said, genuinely pleased he’d read Tyler well enough to get this right. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll lock up here. Then we can go get that beer. God knows I need one.”
Tyler was texting someone when Max was done locking up.
“I can drive,” he said without looking over, and Max shrugged.
“Sure.”
“Sorry, that was my dad,” Tyler said when they were in the car. “He says he can stay until elevenish, so we have an hour.”
“Works for me,” Max said easily.
Tyler took them to one of the bars Max hadn’t checked out since he was back. It was busy, even taking into consideration that it was Friday night, and definitely nicer than the last bar Max had ended up in. This place was more like an Irish pub, with a live band in one corner and little tables with stools rather than the big open booths.
“I’m buying,” Max said, swatting at Tyler’s wallet when he pulled it out. “This is me saying thank you, remember?”
“You don’t need to do that.”
Max shrugged. “I want to. What are you drinking?”
“Beer is fine. Whatever they have on tap.”
“Okay, go grab a table.”
Tyler nodded, looking serious, and disappeared.
While he was waiting for the bartender, Max decided he was definitely going to come back here. It appeared the bar served food too, with their menu on a chalkboard above the spirits. It was all pies, stews, steaks, and a “full Irish breakfast,” whatever that was, and Max was tempted to try it all.
Tyler had found a table away from the band and near the back of the pub, this one with low comfy chairs rather than stools. He’d leaned back in the comfy chair, his thick thighs and long legs stretched out in front of him.
Max licked his lips.
“You didn’t want to watch the band?” Max asked.
“I thought we could probably talk easier back here,” he said.
Max wasn’t sure if Tyler meant because of Max’s hearing aids or just in general, but either way he was grateful.
“Thanks for the beer. Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Max agreed, clinking his glass against Tyler’s. “So what are your plans for the weekend? Are you going pony trekking again tomorrow?”
Tyler shook his head. “No, I have to work. It’s Dana’s turn to take the girls. I’m not sure if she’ll stay and walk with them, though. I know she sometimes uses that time to go grocery shopping.”
“Since you mentioned your family party thing, I feel like I should have caught up with more people since I got back,” Max said. “I’ve pretty much seen my mom, John, and you. And the inside of the studio.”
Tyler laughed, his pretty eyes crinkling at the corners. “Well, hopefully when things are more settled, you can get out more. I know you’ve been hot gossip over the past couple of weeks.”
“Are you serious? You can’t be serious.”
“Oh
, I am. I get all the gossip, doing my job. Ginger Beckett’s kid is back in town, covered in tattoos, and opening his own tattoo shop,” Tyler said in a gossipy tone. “Haven’t you heard?”
“Oh God,” Max laughed. “It’s not like I haven’t been back to Sweetwater since I got the tattoos.”
“When did you get them?” Tyler asked.
“Actually, not that long ago.” Max took another sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this relaxed. “The first one was this one,” he said, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to show the large black-and-gray stag that covered his upper arm.
Tyler reached out and ran his fingers over Max’s skin, sending a shiver down Max’s spine that he worked hard to hide.
“Nice. Very classic.”
“Yeah. People always seem surprised that I technically now have one tattoo.”
“Huh?”
Max grinned. “It goes from my wrist here, up my arm, across my chest and upper back, and down the other arm. Although they were all done at different times, they were designed to be linked and to flow together.”
“You don’t have any others?”
Max shook his head. “No. The same guy did all of them for me. He used to be my mentor. He taught me everything I know about tattooing.”
He shifted to the side to let Tyler get a better look at his other arm. Tyler gently took hold of his wrist and twisted Max’s arm back and forth, studying each little piece that made up the whole. The feel of Tyler gripping his wrist sent flutters to Max’s stomach again, and he worked hard to hide just how much Tyler turned him on.
He’s your best friend’s brother, he scolded himself.
“That’s awesome that one of your friends created the designs.”
“Yeah. We started with the stag, then filled the rest of my left arm, then worked on the rest over a couple of months. It’s all kind of nature- and wildlife-inspired. I’m a concept piece,” he joked. “Buzz won a few competitions with these designs.”
“You’re not tempted to get more?”
