Chapter 14

~ Ever ~

 

Two days had passed since I inked both Crow and my father. I hadn’t heard from them. It had also been two days since my second date with Deck, and I hadn’t heard from him either. I was beginning to think that someone had cheated and looked at their tattoo early, and then decided that I wasn’t worth the waste of time and effort it took to fix things. One of the guys texted me about rescheduling, but it definitely wasn’t one who I expected.

I had kept my calendar clear waiting for the other guys to come in for their tattoos, but I couldn’t keep wasting everyone’s time. Most importantly, I couldn’t keep wasting my own, because I had bills to pay now, and by not taking other clients I was only hurting myself. I was bent over a man’s calf when my phone started buzzing on the desk off to my right. The man, Jerry or Jerome, or something to that affect, winced when I hit a particularly sensitive spot I was shading. “You can go ahead and take that, you know, if you need to.” He wasn’t being kind, and the smirk that danced across my face when I looked up at him told him I was on to his game.

“It’s cool. We’re almost done here so whoever that is can wait.” I glanced over at the dude’s buddy who had been sitting in the little desk chair watching me work on his friend. “You still down for tomorrow’s appointment after seeing this?” I asked him as I tipped my chin towards his friend, who frankly, had been a bit of a bitch about this tattoo the entire time he’d been in my chair. It was a flash mermaid he’d picked off the wall and asked me to add some splashes of color to. The prick had obviously never had a decent sized tattoo before and wasn’t handling the sting of my machine well.

“Don’t worry,” his friend told me while whipping off his shirt. “I’m not a baby about it,” he added as I took in all the artwork decorating his chest and upper arms.

“Is the day job the reason you keep them to the easily covered zones?” I asked simply because I was bored and ready to finished here.

“Yeah, I work at a bank, and they frown on creativity there.”

I laughed. “Damn the number crunchers!” I chanted lightly.

“You can put that shirt back on,” a voice stated from somewhere behind me. The man seated just to my left chuckled as he flexed his decently sized pecs before listening.

“Let me guess, you’re the boyfriend?” The man asked, eyeing the person behind me. I knew who it was, but I was actually ticked at him for not getting in touch with me the past couple days so I didn’t bother acknowledging him or answering the client’s question.

“Something like that,” Deck answered. “You almost done here, babe?”

I didn’t answer, and just continued to finish the shading on the guy’s mermaid, making it look far more awesome than he even envisioned when he asked me to ink it on his calf. A beauty he didn’t really deserve considering what he asked for. His friend blew out a breath that sounded more like he was covering a laugh. “Don’t know what you did to land yourself in the doghouse, man, but might want to fix that before someone else comes in here and snatches her up.”

I heard the answering growl before the man stood and told his friend he would wait for him outside. That was probably a good call on his part. Taunting an already worked up biker was never a good idea. It didn’t matter though. Deck was officially running off paying customers now, so I had to do something about it. I pulled my machine away from my client’s leg and turned to glare over my shoulder at him. “Either wait in the lounge or the lobby until I’m done. If you can’t do that, you can get the hell out before you run any more of my paying customers out of here. I already lost enough business holding my chair open for the past two days, I don’t need to lose any more.” It was only then that I saw my brother was standing there with Deck so I added. “You too.”

“Shit,” my brother hissed that word out as he started to walk away, but not before he grabbed onto Deck’s arm to pull him along. “Come on, brother, before we piss her off even more. Shit, she’s still got to throw ink down on me. I imagine she’s going to make it hurt now.” I laughed internally, because I could totally do that. I wouldn’t, because I’d rather see him squirm while anticipating it the entire time.

“Fine. We’ll be in the longue so we don’t scare anyone away,” Deck offered softly before backing out of my space. The only reason I knew they finally moved off toward the back was because of the sound of their boots hitting the floor as they walked away.

“You have some pretty interesting friends,” my client stated. “I thought the bikers all got their ink across town at Aces’ Ink or something like that?”

“Usually they do, but one of those bikers was my brother.”

“The other one’s your boyfriend.” It was a statement, but the inflection told me it was also a question.

“No,” was my only response, because it was the truth. Going out on a couple dates did not make someone your boyfriend. It just made them someone you’d gone out on a date or two with.

“Jake will be happy to hear that,” he told me.

“Who the hell is Jake?”

“My buddy. The guy that was just sitting in here with us,” the man stated as if I should already know this. Honestly, they’d definitely told me their names, but I hadn’t been paying much attention to that.

“Why would he care?”

“Pretty sure he thinks you’re hot. I mean, you are hot, but he definitely wanted to ask you out, I could tell.” The man never even stopped to take a breath, as if he were nervous for his friend. Maybe, he should be nervous since if I had been interested before – and I wasn’t – he probably would have just blown it for the poor Jake dude.

“Ah, well, I’m not interested anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” I explained as I swiped away the last of the ink and blood that had welled up in the area before starting to clean him up.

“Jake is rolling in money. He’s not like a teller at the bank, you know… he’s…”

“Do I look like a fuckin’ prostitute?” I seethed the words at the man who back peddled instantly.

“No, I didn’t… I wasn’t implying…”

“Why the fuck would I care how much money he makes then?”

“All women want a man to take care of them at the end of the day,” he stated simply as if his belief made that asinine statement the truth.

“No, they don’t. I definitely do not.” I wrapped his tattoo, none too gently, and handed him the care instruction card without explaining it to him. “Take care of your tattoo, the card tells you how. If you lose it I’m sure you can Google it,” I suggested. I heard Kane laugh, and realized he’d been sitting in his own little space working on some girl while all this was going down. I hoped I didn’t get in trouble for my attitude later, but honestly, some people just needed to be put in their place.

“Sorry,” the guy apologized, but it was half-hearted at best.

“You can pay the girl up front on your way out. She already knows my prices.” With that, I turned my back on the man and started cleaning up my space.

“Damn girl, that was a cold send off for a client,” Kane murmured from where he sat working. I didn’t need to address him though, because the girl he was working on piped up instead.

“Good for you honey. That guy was a fucking jerk who got lost on his way back to the ‘50s where his little woman is waiting with a fresh baked pie.” I had to laugh at that, but then she ruined our newfound allegiance. “Besides, why would you want either of those repressed, buttoned-up boys when you had two hot as fuck bikers in here looking for you? Girl, I’d be all over that scene too if I were you! Actually, if you don’t mind sharing that brother of yours, you can toss him back out here for me.”

I gave Kane a look that said everything I wanted to spew at the girl. He just laughed and waved me off so I finished tidying and went to the back to find my brother and Deck. They were lounging out on the sofa across the back wall, both with legs spread out before them and arms where ever they felt comfortable, making themselves right at home. It took them a moment to realize I was standing there as they had both been watching the sports highlights on the television and hadn’t heard me come to the doorway.

“What is it you two needed?” I finally asked, drawing their attention to me. My brother trained his eyes on me, carefully assessing my mood, and rightfully so. After the bullshit he had put me through, initially, with the Jay debacle he’d learned to gage when to approach me for anything. That included even telling me hello, because some days I couldn’t take it any more and I would tell him to go fuck off, or worse. He was one of the few that I took my anger out on at all. The rest, I simply ignored. It’s hard to ignore the person you are most angry with though. My brother was definitely that person, because he was the last one I thought would throw me under the bus for any reason. Deck had not been around for all of that though, and didn’t know how to gage the situation or my overall mood.

“Please, tell me you’re not working on that tool who took his shirt off?” I rolled my eyes and glanced back at my brother, ignoring Deck’s question.

“Why are you here?”

“To talk to you about the tattoos for Jay, PeeWee, and me,” my brother informed me without pretense.

I made a noise in the back of my throat at that, but gave no other indication that I had plans to continue with the tattoos. When my brother looked at me with a question in his eyes, I stated the obvious. “You said you needed to talk to me about tattoos, that doesn’t require anything from me just yet. That requires effort on your part.” I glanced down at the phone I held in my hands, checking the time, but not really seeing it. It could have been two in the afternoon or ten at night for all I knew. It was a symbolic gesture to tell my brother he needed to get on with it, because he was wasting my time. I heard Deck huff out a very loud, frustrated breath, but I refused to acknowledge him even with just a look. Yes, I could be a stubborn ass sometimes, but I’d learned to be that way after getting my heart trampled so nastily before.

T-Bone cleared his throat and then stood, glancing down at his feet while fidgeting with his hands in front of him. He was never one for nervous gestures or showing weaknesses in front of others with the exception of me. He’d started attempting to look contrite after everything blew up, and he realized how badly he’d fucked up with me. “I know you’re pissed, Ev. We had club business that took us all out of town, and…”

“And you all suddenly lost your cell phones? They blew up in some crazy club business that managed to leave you looking alive and well while the cell phones didn’t make it? EMP burst, maybe?”

“What?” He questioned, and then coughed out a bit of a laugh. “No. We were on a run and were instructed that we couldn’t communicate with anyone so that there would be no leaks to…” He didn’t even need to finish, because even though he didn’t realize what he’d just said, it equated to the fact that I wasn’t trusted enough to receive a call or text about them being gone. Instead of letting him finish, I interrupted.

“Get out!”

My brother stammered his words to a stop before the shock of those two simple words caught up to him. “We couldn’t… what? Get out?”

“You heard me. Get out!” I spun on my heel and moved to go down the hall that would lead me up to my apartment, because right now I was simply too pissed off to work on another living soul without hurting someone.

“Holy shit,” Deck hissed, and I thought I heard a smacking sound before boots were echoing down the hall growing closer to me at a very fast pace. “Ever, wait,” he called out to me. I did not stop, and had gotten half way up the damn steps leading to my apartment door above before he finally caught up to me and grabbed hold of my upper arm, effectively throwing me off balance and spinning me to face him, while I wobbled on the step I nearly fell off of. “Please, hear me out,” he started.

“I don’t need to hear you out. My brother just told me everything I needed to know. I’m not trusted enough to know that you had somewhere else to be. That being the case you do not need to be here now.”

“Fuck!” This time it was hissed from my brother’s lips as he stood down below, looking up at Deck and me. “That’s not what I meant, Ever,” he stated solidly.

“Really? That’s exactly what you just told me. You were not allowed to contact anyone in case there were leaks. So, you thought I’d be responsible for a leak.”

“No, I never said that,” T-Bone argued.

“Did our father tell Mamma-Luce he’d be gone?”

“Of course he did,” my brother insisted vehemently without thinking out his too-quick response. I quirked an eyebrow up at him as if to say, ‘you weren’t worried about her spilling the beans then, just me’.

“I bet he said goodbye to Anna too,” I stated and while my brother didn’t answer I could see the guilt dripping from him in the slump of his shoulders and the pleading in his eyes.

“Ever,” Deck started, but I only shook my head.

“Did your father tell Tiger-Lily where he was going? Let me rephrase that. Did he tell her he was going on club business for a couple days and would be out of communication?”

Deck swallowed thickly, but nodded his affirmation. I tipped my head in agreement too, because I already knew the answers to these questions I asked. I knew, because I’d seen the old ladies of the club receive calls, or in person announcements before a run before.

“That’s different, and you know it. You’re no one’s old lady,” my brother argued. Deck winced, because he knew that was an implication thrown at him as much as at me.

“No, I’m not. I’m also no one’s sister or daughter right?” It was my brother’s turn to wince. “I am apparently someone whose time can be wasted without regret or consideration though.” I bowed my head, thinking things through. Then I lifted my eyes while looking down the stairs at my brother, once again ignoring the man who was still holding on to my arm. “I’ll hand you the transfers for the tattoos that still need to be done. You can take them to whomever you want to get them inked if you choose to, but I won’t be the one doing them.”

My brother sucked in a sharp breath before responding. “No! Ever, no! It has to be you. It’s meaningless without you putting it there.”

“My art, my pain, they’re meaningless?” He shook his head in a way that represented a very vehement no, but I pressed on. “Then you won’t be needing them at all. Please, see yourselves out of this building. You aren’t welcome here.” I turned, snatching my arm from Deck’s grip, which hurt because he hadn’t wanted to let go, and the movement forced it to happen.

“Damn it, Ever!” He yelled the words at me. “Stop being so freaking stubborn. This is my fault. You want to be mad, be mad at me. I wasn’t allowed to tell you, because I hadn’t claimed you. Your dad didn’t tell you, because he didn’t think you’d care. Your brother didn’t realize I didn’t break the damn rules to let you know. I’m sorry, okay? I screwed up. I told you that I would put you first, but I’m stuck between a rock and hard place here, because I can’t claim you into a club that you don’t want to be a part of. I was hoping you would change your mind once the tattoos were done, but there was nothing I could do before then, unless I wanted to bring trouble down on…”

I scoffed at that. “That’s bullshit, and we all know it. Your idiot brother has told every whore he’s ever bedded when, and most of the times where, he was going and he’s never suffered any consequences I’ve seen for doing so.”

“I think it should be obvious to you that I am not my brother, and my word means a fuck of a lot more to me.”

“So, you’d be surprised to know that Jay was the only one to let me know that he wouldn’t be able to get his tattoo yet, because HE was going on a run?” It was true. Jay had texted me, and so I thought he was the only one on that particular run. “When no one else showed up, I figured you were all together, but it didn’t make any sense that Jay could do me the courtesy of letting me know he wouldn’t be showing up when no one else bothered to do the same.” I moved up two more stairs, and turned to glance over my shoulder. “I meant what I said. You need to leave. I need time to cool off, because if we keep having this conversation it is not going to go in a good direction for anyone.” With that, I unlocked my door and walked through it, shutting them out, and relocking it behind myself.

 

~ Declan ~

I fucked up! I turned, and sat my ass on the steps to Ever’s apartment, planted my elbows on my thighs, my head to my hands and growled out some insane noise to release my frustration. I fucked up, and my douchebag of a brother made that even more apparent by actually doing the right thing for once. How had I let this happen?

“Every time I take a step forward with my sister I end up fumbling a full field back man. Shit, sad thing is, I can’t even blame her for feeling this way or for being fed up with all of our bullshit. Sucks to be you, because you get lumped with the rest of us so your mistakes are going to seem way bigger to her than they would any other woman.”

“Yeah,” I sighed out as I glanced down the steps at T-Bone. “I’m beginning to see that. I thought I would have a different slate to work off of than the rest of you, but wearing this,” I flicked two fingers at my kutte to show him exactly what I meant. “This rag is going to cost me that girl.”

“If that’s how you feel then you don’t deserve her,” T-Bone told me as he glared up at me from below.

“You saying I should toss our family aside for your sister?”

“I’m saying if you’re not willing to then you need to walk away and leave her be. She deserves more than a half-hearted attempt on your part. I’d never tell another brother to walk away from the club, from our families, for a woman. Not a single damn one. Ever is different though. With her you get all the baggage that our club and our families have packed on her back, and because of that, only a person willing to give it all up by putting her above everyone and everything else will ever have a chance at winning and keeping her heart.” He started walking away then, but turned back at the last minute to glare at me. “She’s also the only person on this earth I think is worth it, and I’ve already failed her, so you better believe I won’t stand by and watch someone else do the same. You’re held to a higher standard than the rest of us if you want to go there. You have to be better, even if that means taking that rag off and walking away from what you know.”

He was already through the door, heading back into the main studio area, before I could muster up a damn thing to say. T-Bone hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know. I knew damn well I had to do better than my brothers, better than our fathers. I just hadn’t thought things through when my own father pointedly informed me that no one was to know that we were heading out. Now that I thought about it, he had also turned around and called my mother immediately after. Maybe he was testing me. The damn shame of it was I didn’t know whether I’d passed or failed in his eyes. I did know I’d failed where Ever was concerned though, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that.

“She hasn’t eaten all day,” a man’s voice called up to me a few minutes later. I turned my attention to the man in black that was lounging against the wall with one foot crossed over the other and his arms crossed over his chest like he had zero fucks to give the world. I wasn’t sure why Kane was trying to help me when he obviously wanted Ever for himself, but I was about to find out.

“Why are you telling me?”

“Well, I figure if you’re going to camp out on those steps you might as well do something productive with your time. The girl hasn’t eaten yet today, or much of anything over the past couple days from what I can tell. So, you either fix that shit, or I will, and if I have to do it, you won’t get another chance.”

“Why are you offering this one?”

“Because I care about that girl, and what she seems to care about is you. At least, she did before you fucked shit up. So, I suggest you pull your shit together, and figure some things out. Don’t wait too long though, because I know I won’t.” With that bit of a warning and a cockier than fuck grin, Kane disappeared through a back door, heading out for the night, no doubt. I busied myself ordering a pizza to be delivered to Ever’s exterior apartment door.

 

~ Ever ~

At first, I ignored the knocking at my door, but then a man’s voice called out and my curiosity got the better of me, because it wasn’t a voice I knew. “Gino’s Pizza,” he yelled one more time as I threw the door open.

“I think you have the wrong place,” I informed him.

“Nah, says right here, upstairs apartment above Permanent Marks. Your name is Ever?”

“Yes, but I didn’t order a pizza,” I explained.

“Someone ordered for you, ma’am. If you’ll just take this, and sign that it was delivered?” He asked impatiently, and so I did it.

“Let me go get you some tip money,” I told him as I took the oven-hot pizza from his hands.

He waved me off. “It was already covered. You have a nice night, lady.” Then the man was off, jogging down the steps that led him back to the street. I went inside, closed and locked the door, and then set the pizza on my table. I moved to the interior door that went down to the tattoo studio below. I unlocked it and yanked it open, intending to ask if Zeke or Kane had ordered the food for me, only to come face to face with Deck, who was still perched out on the steps just beyond my door.

“What are you doing there?”

He shrugged, playing it off as nonchalance when the look in his eyes said he very much cared how this all played out. “I never left,” he finally informed me.

“You never…” I glanced over at the clock on the wall. It had to have been more than thirty minutes since I went inside the apartment. “You never left?” I asked stupidly.

“That’s what I said.”

“Did you order me a pizza?”

He grinned at me then. “Sure did, you going to invite me in to share it so we can talk?”

“What if I hadn’t opened this door?”

“Then I would have knocked. Eventually.”

I sighed. Deck was nothing if not tenacious. He was also just as stubborn as I could be, so there was no point in shutting him out again. He’d just stay camped out on my steps until I went to work the next day. I moved back, throwing the door open wider so that he could get by to come inside.

As Deck passed me his scent overwhelmed me, involuntary and unwanted, tingles ran down my spine. That leather and fresh ocean scent that seemed to cling to him just did things to me that I didn’t quite understand, and wished I could shelve for now while we had this conversation. I needed all the strength I could muster for it. I was not going to be that girl who fell head over heels for another club brother only to be booted out the door the minute he decided I wasn’t worthy. I couldn’t handle it, and I was wise enough to know my limits now. I would be everything to someone one day, or nothing at all to anyone. There really wasn’t room for an in between any longer.

I moved to the counter I had placed the pizza on, and swapped it out to the little beaten down wooden table I was using in my little kitchenette. It only had two chairs that went with it, which I supposed was enough considering there were only two of us here now. Once I placed the pizza down I moved to the cabinet off to my left to retrieve a couple plates and then to the refrigerator to grab a couple Cokes out of it. “Sorry, I’m not old enough to buy beer, so your choice is coke or water,” I explained.

Deck grinned at me again. “Coke is fine, Ever. Come sit down, you don’t have to wait on me.”

“I’m not waiting on you. I needed these things for myself too. Now, what do you want?”

“Eat first, then we’ll talk,” he commanded.

“Awful bossy for someone who barely made it through my door,” I returned. He had the decency to look chagrined at my statement until he lifted his beautiful eyes to stare directly into my own.

“I’m sorry, Ever,” he said sincerely and without hesitation. “I screwed up and I’d like the chance to make it right with you, but I think you need to eat first. I may not know everything about you these days, but I do remember that you were always hard to get through to when you were hangry.”

“I don’t get hangry!” I protested with a vehemence that belied my nearly shouted statement. Besides, I knew full well that I did get hangry.

“Okay, babe, whatever you say,” Deck cajoled me as he reached over and grabbed a slice of the pizza that I just now noticed contained cheese, pineapple, bacon, and chicken. It was my all time favorite pizza that I almost never got growing up in my family, because everyone thought pineapple on pizza was disgusting. Judging by how quickly Deck inhaled his first slice, he didn’t mind it. Then again, maybe he did and was just trying to get it over with quickly.

I grabbed my own slice, blowing on it a few times before I attempted to put it in my mouth, and managed to burn the roof of my mouth as I did. By the time I attempted to hiss cool air into my mouth to stop the burning, and managed to swallow the tiny bite, Deck was laughing at me.

“Jesus, is your mouth completely desensitized, or what?” I asked because I had just watched him inhale an entire slice while I couldn’t even manage a bite without burning myself. Deck didn’t seem to take my meaning the way it was meant, because instead his eyes were locked onto my lips, and he was shaking his head.

“Nope, not desensitized in the slightest,” he murmured with a low gritty voice that caused goose flesh to break out up and down my arms. Damn him. Now, all I could do was remember the times he had kissed me. Not that I’d had many kisses from Deck, but those that I had were amazing experiences, and definitely didn’t feel like he had trouble feeling his way around my mouth.

We ate quietly until there were only two slices left in the box, and then I sat back and waited. This was his show. I didn’t have anything to say. Well, I did, but I wasn’t sure that needed to be vocalized. It seemed pretty obvious to me.

Deck glanced up at me after wiping his face and hands on a napkin and then sat back, getting comfortable without removing his eyes from my face. I managed to sit there under the weight of his stare without squirming, but it took effort, and that kind of made me angry. I shouldn’t be the one who had to be uncomfortable, and there he sat looking cool as a cucumber while he stared me down. Finally, after several minutes of this and neither of us saying anything he relented.

“I thought maybe you wanted to go first, but I guess not.”

“Why would I want to go first? I don’t have anything to say that I didn’t already mention downstairs.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call. I’m walking a fine line right now trying to make the club happy and you happy all at once. Like I said earlier, I can’t just claim you and make it all okay, because I don’t know if you’re willing to be a part of the club again.” He waited a moment, probably wondering if I was going to answer that question now. I had no intention of doing so, and once he realized that, he continued on. “I should have called or texted at the very least.” He shook his head then, as if disappointed in himself. “I don’t know how to navigate this, Ever. The club has been my entire life, with the exception of when I was in the Army, and you were always there in the periphery then. Now, it’s like I have to make this choice every time I’m with you, or thinking of you. Do I put the club first or you?”

“I can make that really easy on you,” I started to say, but he cut me off by holding his hand up.

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence!” Anger was brewing just below the surface, evidenced by his slightly puffed up chest and the reddening of his cheeks. The tightening of his hands into fists was a dead giveaway too. I didn’t think for a second Deck would ever be violent with me, but that didn’t mean his frustration wouldn’t show in a physical way. “You know how you’ve always felt judged and maybe even damned by the club?” I nodded my head, because that’s exactly how I’d always felt. “Well, that’s how I feel with you, now.”

A shocked squeak came out of my throat and I sat back, taking him in, and not knowing what to make of the words he just spoke. I knew my eyes were rounded in astonishment too, but he just continued on as if my physical reaction didn’t register with him.

“I wasn’t even here when everything went down. No one even told me about what actually happened other than my brother screwed up and you weren’t speaking to him. Then I come back, and fall for you, only to realize that I’m being held accountable for the shit they’ve all done too.” Tears pooled in my eyes as he continued to speak while I continued to impersonate a wax figure. “If you hadn’t had issues with the rest of the club, and didn’t receive a call from me, tell me honestly what your reaction would have been. Pretend you’re a girl I just started dating who had zero family ties to the club and zero history with it. If my president told me I couldn’t tell anyone, that would include you.”

“It would include me, because we’d have had no history to build trust. The only people who need to build trust in my scenario are the club with me, not the other way around. I’ve never betrayed them. I’ve kept their secrets, taken their unwarranted wrath, and been a dutiful daughter and sister all these years, and still I’m to be treated no differently than some chick you picked up off the street whom no one knows?”

“It’s not that simple, and you know it. I can’t change the things that have and haven’t been done. My being with you doesn’t erase the years they’ve seen you in a certain light. I don’t know why they feel the way they do, or have treated you differently, but I’m stuck in this middle ground where I’m damned one way and then the other. I’m walking through a minefield in both directions here, Ever. The least you could do is have some patience with me while I figure everything out.” When I just ignored that he asked a pointed question. “Is that not what you wanted from everyone else in the club, to give you the benefit of the doubt while they figured out what to do with you, and how you fit in? You’ve seen what happens when people don’t do that.”

He was right. I was being stubborn and unforgiving to the one person who stood up for me when he realized what was going on. When I took myself, my own history and hurt out of the equation, I could see how this would be difficult for him. He was basically being pulled in two very different directions all while trying to heal what was broken along the way.

“You’re right,” I finally admitted out loud. “It’s hard to separate you from the rest of them when I see you in that all the time,” I stated while pointing out his kutte. He immediately stripped out of it and tucked it behind him neatly on the chair rungs. “You didn’t have to take it off,” I explained.

“I did. I should have the first time I came here to take you out, because it wasn’t about the club. It was about you and me, and they shouldn’t have been in between that. I’m trying here, Ever. I’m going to screw up, because this isn’t exactly an easy situation for anyone, but I need you to be patient with me too.” I agreed with him. I owed him that. Hell, I owed myself that much too, because just as he said he’d been falling for me, the same was true from my end. I’d been falling for him and I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.

“How do I make this right?”

“I don’t know that there’s anything to make right,” I admitted. “Honestly, it shouldn’t even have been you I was most mad at. It wasn’t, I guess you just made the easier target.” I winced at that admission, because its what I had been to the club since my mother was no longer available to fill the position. “It’s not like we had a date set to see one another. The other guys had appointments for a tattoo. My brother…”

“I did have an appointment though,” he jumped in, cutting off my lament about my brother disappointing me again. “I’m the guy who takes you out and makes you forget the pain you just inked.” It hadn’t occurred to me that’s what he’d been doing with our dates, but now that he mentioned it, my heart swelled to a painful level as it thumped against my ribs. Our dates weren’t just dates. They served another purpose. He was giving me good memories to overshadow the hurtful ones. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure why I was ever stupid enough to be mad at him.

“Why are you always so damn nice to me?” I hadn’t meant to ask the question out loud, but since I did he answered without hesitation.

“Ever, I’ve known you since you first came to live with the Brothers family. In all that time I have never seen you be mean to a single person. You deserve nothing less than what you put out into the world. If other people are too stupid to treat you the way you should be treated, then I’m sorry you had to endure them, but I’m ecstatic if it led you to me.” Well, hell! Was it still appropriate for women to swoon over men in this day and age? I hoped so, because I was suddenly feeling a bit lightheaded. I stood, despite the precarious, near-fainting spell, and moved around the little table toward Deck. He changed position so that his legs were now to the side of the chair facing me, and they parted as I grew closer and he took my hands, pulling me into him so my thighs were cocooned by his. I tugged my hands free from his in order to place them high up on his shoulders near his neck, before I slid them up in order to keep his face tipped at just the right angle, and then I leaned in to gently brush my lips against his.

“I’m sorry.” Those two words were whispered into his mouth before he pulled me onto his lap and started devouring my lips with his own. Once we came up for air again his eyes met mine and he shook his head slightly as if to clear it. I understood completely, because his kisses always left me feeling foggy in the best way.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Ev. I understand exactly what and whom I am working with here, and the fuck up was all mine, sweetheart. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“Okay,” I managed to get out before I was drawn into another searing kiss that lit me up from the outside in. It made me wonder what things would be like if we ever took our relationship further than kissing. I already felt as though I would combust, and fire blazed across my skin where he touched me even through my clothing. I wasn’t certain if every girl felt like this with her first boyfriend, or what, but if it were true, I suddenly understood why heartbreak seemed like a daily occurrence for some people back in high school. It would be tough to go without once you knew what this felt like. Once again, a buzzing feeling near my thigh jolted me from the heaven I’d been experiencing, and left Deck heaving out a heavy sigh near my lips.

“I forgot to turn it off again,” he lamented as he pulled his cell from his pocket. He glanced at it momentarily, and then growled. “I truly think your dad has a spy in here somewhere. The minute my lips touch yours he has an uncanny ability to know it and he summons me.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. I laughed so hard, in fact, that tears actually pooled in my eyes and dripped down my cheeks. Deck smacked my ass and hefted me off of his lap all the while trying not to let it show that he was amused by my reaction.

“Why on earth was that so funny?”

“Oh you know,” I started while waving off the idea that it wasn’t amusing. “First of all the timing is definitely questionable, but only if I were one of those girls who had a father who gave a shit about that sort of thing, or anything concerning her.”

I turned as I grabbed our cups and took them to the sink, but I was stopped by Deck’s hand on my arm before I got there. “He cares, Ev, more than you think.” I just glanced at him and then shrugged, because I’d never seen evidence of that. At least, I hadn’t seen evidence of that since that first couple weeks in his home when Lucy was still being standoffish with me, and he was the only person I had to count on besides my new brother.

Deck stopped me from turning around again by increasing the pressure on my arm slightly. Then he held his phone up so I could see the message. “Get your hands off my fucking daughter and get back here to see me, now! T-Bone says you fucked up. You will answer for that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? Now, he wants to play protective?” I continued to clean up our mess while Deck just watched me for a minute or two. “I guess you have to get going and answer that summons,” I teased him.

“I don’t have to go,” he told me, and I knew he meant it. He would choose to stay here with me even though I had no doubt my father knew he’d seen the message by now.

“Just do me a favor and tell my father he has no say in any relationship we may or may not have. What I do isn’t up for discussion, critique, or anything else from him.”

“Oh, we do have a relationship, Ev. You’re mine, and I’m yours. And you’re right that your father doesn’t have a single damn say in that. I do have to go though, because I have no doubt that he’ll send someone here to collect me sooner than later if I don’t show.” He leaned in and kissed me once more, gentler this time than when I’d been perched on his lap. “I’ll see you tomorrow, babe!” He told me as he pulled away and moved to the door that led outside instead of back into the tattoo studio where he’d waited for me before.

“See you,” I called out, and then shut and locked the door behind him.

~*~

Jay came in bright and early the next day to get his tattoo done, as he had planned with me. I took him back and got everything ready. He had already told me where I could possibly put it depending on what size image I had to ink. What I needed to put on his body was actually the smallest of the tattoos I’d created, but possibly the most meaningful, because once he figured it out, it might actually change the way he lived his life. I hoped it would anyway, for the sake of anyone else who crossed paths with the man.

It only took about 45 minutes to finish up, which shocked Jay, and when I covered his tat, and reminded him he wasn’t to look at it ahead of time he simply assured me he wouldn’t and didn’t bother asking any more questions. Still, his worried look both amused me and made me hurt for him all at once. He was expecting the worst from my tattoo and me. He was expecting revenge for what he’d done to me. He would get nothing like that from me. That’s why it was somewhat amusing. I once thought of this boy as a best friend, and a potential future life-partner, but I was finding out he never really knew me as either. If he had, he wouldn’t have bothered with the worry. The only thing I’d stamped on his body was some life advice, a reminder to be kind. As I was finishing up T-Bone and PeeWee walked in.

“Don’t suppose you have time for us today?” My brother asked as he eyed the worried look on J-Bird’s face.

“Actually, I have an appointment in 30 minutes,” I told him.

“No, you don’t,” Gretchen called from up front. “That guy just cancelled. Something about being afraid of your boyfriend.” Gretchen giggled after delivering that message, and added, “Pussy!”

T-Bone glanced back at Gretchen with a lascivious look that I did not want to think on any further. For her part, Gretchen went back to ignoring my brother while playing a game on her laptop she had set up on the front counter. “A gamer chick too?” My brother asked no one in particular before adjusting himself in a rather overt manner that I found disgusting. I could see Gretchen through his eyes though. She was a petite little thing with natural golden blond hair and big green eyes that almost looked like they belonged on a doll or an anime character instead of a human. Those eyes were framed with luscious thick lashes. Her perfect teeth and infectious smile just rounded out the whole perfect girl image. The blue streaks in her hair only added that hint of a wild child to her otherwise innocent features. She was just my brother’s type.

“If you ever learn some manners you might actually get a girl,” I told him. The guys all laughed at his expense prompting him to explain, “I get girls.” It was my turn to laugh. “Club whores don’t count. They’re basically paid to deal with your shit.” Again, the guys all laughed, and took the opportunity to jump in and call dibs on being next.

“Since your appointment canceled, I’ll go next. Lover boy there can wait his turn.”

“Sounds fair,” I agreed and sat him in my chair. I felt a little bad for Gretchen who then had to deal with my brother trying to convince her to give up her ice queen impression. I didn’t know if Gretchen was currently seeing anyone, but if my relentless brother had anything to do with it, she’d be seeing him, at least once. Unfortunately for her, my brother never dated girls seriously. He’d bed them and send them on their way, because he didn’t think the MC life was a place for families. I’d once asked him where he thought he came from, and all he’d said was “look how they treated you”. Fair enough. I’d let his theory drop after that, because honestly we weren’t at a place where either of us was offering life advice to the other anymore anyway.

It took around two hours to finish with PeeWee and then four to finally get done with my brother’s tattoo. Once I was added the last little bit of ink I had to give and turned my machine off my hand continued to buzz a bit as if I were still holding onto it. I shook my hands out, and then stood and stretched before wrapping him up and explaining the healing process and care procedure. It wasn’t as if my brother had never had ink before, but I still continued to go through the spiel with everyone to make it habit for when I worked with people new to tattoos.

“Okay, well, my work here is done,” I stated as a dismissal. My brother just sat there watching me as I started cleaning up around him. I wondered why he hadn’t taken the hint and gotten gone like PeeWee had once his tattoo was finished. I glanced over at him and he just grinned at me. “What?”

“So, what’s going on with you and Deck?”

“I don’t know,” I told him honestly.

“Aw, come on, I’m your brother you can tell me. I think he’s a good guy, so I’m not even going to beat his ass or anything.”

“Well, gee thanks, for that, I guess.” I rolled my eyes and went back to ignoring my brother.

“Seriously, what’s going on between the two of you? I know what he’s said, but I’m really curious about where you’re at with everything. It’s not like you have much experience dating.”

“Thanks for the reminder of how pathetic my life has been up to this point, Toby.” He winced and at least appeared to be sorry for his insensitivity. “Look,” I finally huffed out. “I don’t know what’s going on between us. We’ve gone out a couple times. That’s it.” I shrugged my shoulders up and down. “I don’t really know.”

“I thought we established the fact that you’re mine, and I’m yours, last night?” I turned to see Deck standing in the opening to my little station before tossing a glare back over at my brother. He had to know Deck was standing there when he started asking his questions. The asshole.

“Yeah, I know the words you said, but I don’t know what they mean,” I explained. Then I turned to my brother again. “You’re a dick!”

“Yeah, I figured when I heard Deck telling dad about what you two had decided that you probably didn’t understand, so now you can have a more in depth conversation about it.” My brother snatched up his shirt and his kutte and put them both back on before standing in front of Deck and grinning like a lunatic. “I’d suggest maybe keeping a few feet distance while you do it, because shoving your tongue down her throat isn’t going to make her understand your meaning, brother.”

“Fuck off already!” Deck’s response was pretty much the same as mine would have been if I weren’t busy trying to hide the burning red blush that was staining my cheeks. Clearly, I’d missed something in our conversation last night that I should have understood better if I had any experience with relationships.

Once my brother was gone Deck turned back to me with a smile on his face only to have it drop and be replaced by a look of concern. “You all right, babe?”

I swiped some stray hairs out of my face and sighed deeply. “I’m just wiped out. That was pretty much seven straight hours of tattooing not including prep work and clean ups. Apparently, we need to have a conversation about things I’m too naïve to understand, but honestly, I’m going to put that on hold until my brain can function properly if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind, but I am going to get you some food before you pass out completely. Go on upstairs and get cleaned up and comfortable. By the time you get done, I’ll be back with food.”

“I’m too tired to argue, so I’ll see you in a bit.”