It didn’t.
When his father and mother invited him out to dinner, playing happy family wasn’t on the menu. The deal had been struck, and he had no say in the matter. They would cover college tuition and nothing else. Ethan had already been accepted to two schools and knew the cost to attend so when his parents lit the fuse on the bomb, he coughed and sputtered on the piece of chicken he’d put in his mouth.
Thinking he’d figure out a way to pay for everything else, he packed a few things, taken his graduation money, and settled in on the couch of a friend who’d gotten an apartment on campus. Everything seemed okay until the friend decided to move the girlfriend in and threw Ethan out on his ass.
Ethan shook his head. This was a new day, a chance to start a life on his own terms. Independence meant his parents didn’t have the power of rejection, Charles didn’t have the access to smack him around, and Niko wasn’t going to have the right to make him feel ashamed for being gay.
He tossed the blanket and stood. After peering into the hall and hearing Niko’s telling Casper to sit, he ran to the bathroom. Tossing his underwear in the sink, he smirked when he touched the wet elastic band. Those wouldn’t be any good to wear today. Just because he wasn’t going to let Niko make him feel guilty for liking men didn’t mean he couldn’t imagine those big hands stroking every inch of his body. God, he wanted to grab Niko’s firm ass again. If he’d only understand how amazing it could be to fuck another guy.
Ethan wiped the image out of his mind and grabbed the toothpaste off the vanity. He finger-brushed his teeth while waiting for the shower to heat up. Every square on his day planner was marked with obligations. Morning classes led to study sessions and group project meetings. Taking a full load and working part-time had sounded like a good idea until he realized the classes he scheduled were harder than hell.
He twisted the knobs on the shower and stepped out. Grabbing the towel from the peg on the back of the door, he scratched it over his wet hair. Relief hit him when he realized he had a ride to school. No negotiations, no walking to the train, and no excuses for being late. Thanks to his new friend.
The towel tucked snug against his waist, he walked out into the living room. Smoky, savory aromas spun through his nose, making his stomach growl.
He rubbed his abdomen, trying to calm the emptiness. “Fix—” Niko coughed, lifting his back off the couch. The red shade in his cheeks brightened when he coughed again. “A plate,” he said after catching his breath. “I take it you left a change of clothes in the car?” He didn’t wait for Ethan to respond. “That towel is...I assume you lost your underwear, too?”
Ethan grinned, turning to grab the plate of eggs on the counter. “Yep, left them by the sink with your shorts. They’re wet again.”
Niko coughed again. This time he tilted his lips in a goofy smile. The guy was fighting so damn hard. All of the “gay for pay” ones did.
When he sat down on the couch, he propped his feet next to Niko’s on the coffee table. The towel slid up his thighs, but he didn’t care. If his new friend was so straight, then no harm done. “I have classes all day. I really appreciate the ride. I won’t expect it more than once. After I get set up in the apartment, I’m going to get a second job and start saving for a used car.”
Niko had no response. Was he upset because Ethan sounded ungrateful for the offer? “Don’t worry about that for a while,” he whispered. Ethan shoveled a piece of bacon in his mouth. His eyes fixed on Niko’s hand as he pressed the warm palm against Ethan’s naked thigh. “I’ll make sure you get where you need to go.” A gentle squeeze but no invitation for anything any further.
“You don’t have to do that. I got this on my own. I don’t want to owe any favors.” He should’ve swiped Niko’s hand away, but the warmth felt like a moment of acceptance. Not necessarily sexual but not necessarily plutonic either.
“Just shut up and take the offer. You need help getting on your feet. This isn’t a sugar daddy situation. Fuck.” Niko took his hand away. “I don’t own half of the city so your independence is safe.”
They finished getting ready in silence until Ethan was dressed and sitting on the couch petting a panting Casper. “Ready? What time do I need to pick you up?”
Ethan followed Niko to the door, Casper in tow. “Around six at the library.”
Niko nodded and told Casper to stay. “Step out or he’ll try to escape.” When Ethan tried to pull the door shut it took several tugs before the track gave way. Niko laughed with a sarcastic smirk on his face. “Having a little trouble, skinny jeans?”
“No,” Ethan said harsher than he meant to. He let Niko close the door and turn the lock.
“Here.” Niko held out a twenty-dollar bill. “You need to eat today.” Ethan instantly thought this was something a boyfriend would do until Niko followed with, “Wipe that look off your face. I’m not a fucking pussy. Just take the money.”
Ethan had no idea how much the rent was going to be so he reluctantly slipped the bill into his front pocket. “I’ll pay you back when I get my check from the coffee shop.”
Niko turned without protest and headed down the first flight of stairs. Ethan looked down the small corridor at the vintage wrought iron elevator. “I want to ride that thing sometime.”
Niko stopped on the lower landing. “Be my guest, but you’re going alone.”
Ethan paused then swore he heard the damn thing creak. The steps looked pretty good. He hustled to catch up with Niko finally meeting him at the back door.
“It’d be kind of nice if you had a neighbor. You know? In that other apartment? Might not seem so lonely here.”
“It’s been vacant since I’ve been here. The owner had some guy up there last week looking at the place. Wouldn’t talk to the dude anyway, even if he lived across the hall. He would stay out of my way and I’d stay out of his. People can do whatever in the fuck they want.”
“Kind of a mystery, don’t you think? Aren’t you a little curious about the man?”
“Not into mysteries. I’ll have Scarlet put you on the schedule next week to get your tat finished.”
Ethan nodded and fished through his backpack, making sure he had everything he needed.
“It was a dick thing to say.”
Ethan looked over. “What was?”
Niko pulled out of the gravel lot. “I made breakfast for both of us.”
Ethan turned, looking at the sunshine reflecting off the sidewalk. “I know you did. I have some money saved up to pay The Professor for rent. Can you drop it off with him today? I’m not sure if it’ll be enough, but I get paid again next week. I can give him more then.”
For a moment, Ethan thought Niko was going to protest, but he nodded and turned off the road onto the highway. The university was a fifteen minute commute if traffic was steady, but if someone so much as sneezed, the drive could last forty-five excruciating minutes. Niko pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the library twenty minutes later.
“Thanks for the ride,” Ethan opened the car door.
“Wait.” Niko tugged on Ethan’s backpack, pulling him back onto his ass in the seat. “I’ll see you around six.”
Suddenly, the air went thick, hard to breathe into clear lungs. Another tug on the backpack and Ethan was pressed against Niko’s chest. Lips tucked tight against his mouth as Niko tilted his head to slip his tongue inside Ethan’s mouth. God, the taste of mint and bacon shot straight to his cock.
Leaning away to take a breath, Ethan opened his eyes. “Can we do this again after you pick me up?”
Niko reclined in the seat. “No.”
Ethan tucked his head and quickly slid out of the car. Confusion, lust, and the once again searing pain of loneliness drowned his brain. No. Ethan closed the door and didn’t look over his shoulder as he trekked up the sidewalk. Had he become someone’s plaything again? God, he couldn’t look back. Niko would be gone, and they were both in denial.
CHAPTER SIX
The hum of the tatt
oo gun vibrated inside Seth’s studio. The door was open so Niko assumed the invitation to come in was implied. “You busy in about an hour?” Niko checked the time on his phone—again. It was five minutes later than the last time he’d looked at the damn thing.
“Yeah” Seth concentrated on a flaming-blue patch of a butterfly wing. “Give me till noon then I’m good.”
Niko nodded and headed out to the lobby. His next client wasn’t due until two, giving him enough time to run over to The Professor’s and pick up the couch he was donating to Ethan’s apartment. Knox walked out of the doorway behind the counter.
“You look like hell.” Scarlet reached out to touch the Band-Aid above an obviously bruised eyebrow.
“Shit,” he grumbled, slapping her hand away. “Leave it alone.”
“Every time you come in here, you have a new bandage. You got the mafia after you? You know some of them are still around here.”
Scarlet’s imagination was wider than the hem of her skirt. Today she looked like a rock-and-roll Mrs. Cleaver. If she didn’t have a skull pen in her hand, he’d think she’d be holding an oven mitt.
“I remember those days. Shit, when had he gotten so talkative?
“Well, look,” she teased. “Mr. Brooding decided to reveal a little. Are you okay? Do you need a glass of water?”
Niko scowled and walked over to the cooler to grab an energy drink. Scarlet may bust his balls, but she always stocked his favorite brand. “You got anything going on in an hour?” he asked as Knox, the bandage wonder kid, stepped up and grabbed a soda.
“Yeah, I have a noon coming in. She’s a nice piece of ass and I’m putting a Day of the Dead skull on her chest. Well, between her tits. So, basically, I’ll be drooling during the whole fucking thing.”
Niko nodded and half smiled, trying to cover the fact he had no interest in getting a hard-on while tatting some woman’s tits. “Sounds good.” He walked back to the counter. The dull chime alerting the shop a client had arrived made Niko peer up. After the girl checked in, Niko caught up with Knox as they headed down the hall. “I need some furniture. A chair, a bed, something for the apartment upstairs. You got any ideas?”
Knox took a drink of soda then wiped the back of hand with two bandages taped to his knuckles over his lips. “The Professor rented it out? Who’s moving in?”
Niko’s jaw twitched. “One of my clients.”
“Ah.” Knox stopped, looking to the side where Seth’s door was still open. “That skinny kid who was in here last week?”
God damn, just when he thought Knox was totally checked out of basically everything, he gave this nugget of insight. “Yeah.”
“I know a guy. He owes me a favor. I can see what he can get his hands on.”
Niko wasn’t going to stick around to answer any more of Knox’s insightful questions. He said, “Thanks man,” and turned to head to The Professor’s office. This morning he’d told Niko he’d leave the key to the apartment on his desk. The moment Niko had seen The Professor pause and raise one brow, he’d pussied out and run back to his studio.
He shoved the key in his pocket, checked his wallet to make sure he had cash, and headed out the back door. The faint aroma of cedar and a heady cherry aroma filtered from behind the cigar lounge door. The air filters were in working condition, but nothing could get rid of that savory smell. After walking these halls and rooms for the last three years, he realized the spicy scent was what gave the place half its charm.
The ride across town went quick with his racing thoughts. He’d made a mental list and was thankful he’d gotten paid last month for the Reynolds job. Who knew how many businesses wanted graffiti artwork on their buildings? The opportunities were lining up one after the other, but he did know, all too well, the future could drop out at any moment.
He pulled into the parking lot and walked into the store. Grabbing a cart, he made a trekked to the appliances section. The apartment had the bare essentials, a stove, a fridge, but nothing else. Ethan had nothing, and nothing felt pretty shitty.
He started piling items in the cart. A set of silverware, a few glasses, a couple of coffee mugs. The pang in his stomach was quick. Ethan might want to have someone over for coffee. Killing the thought, he tossed in more kitchen necessities and moved to the housewares department. Once the cart was piled, he stopped by the microwaves and set one on top.
The trunk and back seat were full as he pulled out and headed to the shop. When he walked through the back door, Ben was walking out of the staff bathroom. “Hey, I was able to get my hands on a TV.” Niko didn’t know what to say. “What? Knox said you were looking for stuff for the apartment. He said that skinny kid was moving in up there.”
Niko clenched his fists. “He’s not skinny. He’s...he’s fit. Shit, thanks for the TV. I’ll pick it up tonight.”
Ben smiled, the tip of the scars on his face tilting with the corner of his mouth. “No problem. It’s in my room. I can run it up there.”
Niko needed all the help he could get, but damn if he wanted the guys to speculate anything other than helping the kid out was going on. That’s all that was going on. That’s all. Jesus, that’s all.
Seth met them in the back. “I got a bed and the new mattress is being delivered by five. The guy’ll be here with the bed in ten minutes.”
Niko looked at his friends. He never thought he’d see the day people would be this loyal. Family couldn’t be trusted and his friends from the old neighborhood would just as soon kick someone’s ass as give them a dollar.
Embarrassed by all the shit piled in his car, he waited for the guys to help move in the bed and TV. Scarlet met him as he was locking up the apartment. “Your two o’clock is here.”
“Thanks.” His phone dinged as they walked down the staircase that led to the door opening onto the sidewalk next to the shop. “Tell him I’ll be there in a second.”
Niko followed Scarlet into the lobby and headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up before meeting the client. He dried his hands then grabbed the phone out of his pocket.
How’s your day going?
Niko started to text then realized Ethan’s question was what a girlfriend would ask her boyfriend. He paused with his finger over the G.
Busy
Me, too. Chem test was brutal. Think I did ok though. I can’t wait to see the apartment. Did you give the money to The Professor?
What was Niko supposed to say? The Professor wouldn’t take the money. He said he and Ethan would have a sit down tomorrow. Niko knew Ethan would never take a handout, but the kid didn’t have a pot to piss in. The envelope had six hundred dollars inside. When Niko had walked out of juvie, he’d have given his left nut for that kind of money. Back then, it could’ve been a million dollars. Now, it wouldn’t cover the supplies for a commission job in the city.
Ethan needed to stash the money for emergencies. He had no idea what The Professor was up to, but if the deal was anything like the one he’d had with Niko, Ethan would be able to afford a roof over his head and food.
The hands on the clock rose and fell as he filled brown onto the shaded areas of the eagle wing. “This place is really cool,” the man said as Niko rested his elbow on the arm of the renovated barber chair. “It took six weeks for me to snag this appointment. My buddy had one of the other guys put a skull. I think he’s got scars on his face?” Niko lifted the needle but kept the hum of the gun running. The client was chatting, but not annoying, but if he said anything shitty about Ben having scars, this tat was going to be voided. “The piece looked really great. The guy’s work is amazing.”
Good answer. “Maybe you can get into him for your next one. He’s pretty booked, but I can talk to him.” Niko had no problem sharing the love when it came to his friends.
“Nah. I saw your stuff in Tattoo Digest and knew your style was more of what I was into. I’ll stick with you…that is if I can ever get in again.” The man rounded his thick chest and laughed.
Niko wasn’t the only one
with a tight schedule. All the guys were in high demand. Niko just preferred to give the repeat customers priority slots. “No problem,” he said, spraying the new ink with green soap. “We’ll get you in by Christmas. It’s going to take several sessions to drape the flag over your shoulder and tie it into the rifle on your back. I’ll have Scarlet put you in for December. You’re being deployed next year, right?” The man’s chin rose and fell in a curt nod. Niko skimmed the needle over the rest of a feather. “Next one’s on the house.”
When his client looked away, Niko got the gesture. Avoidance was the best MO for people like them. Seen too much and didn’t give a fuck to discuss the details. Niko had mad respect for the soldier.
The phone in Niko’s pocket vibrated against his leg. He wiped the last of the ink and rolled back, admiring the artistic work in the eagle’s feathers. “Take a look.”
The man stood, stretching his arms. The session had gone over the scheduled time, but he’d been able to complete the design and the guy wouldn’t have to make the four-hour drive again until December.
“Jesus, man, this is fucking awesome. I see why the wait is so long to get in here. You’ve got serious skills, Niko. Thank you so much. Look,” He turned his elbow toward the mirror on the wall. “The numbers are perfect. The guys are excited to come. They’re lined up for next week. One with you and one with…”
Niko grabbed a tube of ointment from the basket. “Ben.”
“Right, Ben.”
Niko gave the standard care instructions. “Stop by the front desk on your way out. Scarlet’ll give you the paperwork and make that next appointment. I’ll email you the workups.”
When the man reached out a hand, Niko shook with a firmness letting the soldier know he respected him. Before cleaning up the space, he grabbed the phone.
Got out of English lit early. I’ll be in the library. Can you be here around five? Niko thought about the full trunk and backseat of his car. He checked the clock. The tat had taken longer than he’d expected. Now he had no time to take the stuff upstairs.
Savior: A Tattered Club Story (Tattered Social Club Series Book 1) Page 9
