Kat was early and was waiting outside Inked when I arrived. She had an oversized Betsey Johnson purse slung over her shoulder and was texting on her phone as she paced in front of the doorway, wearing a pair of ripped denim capris, wedge heels, and a classic eighties rocker tank top.

“Good morning,” I said as I walked toward the door, fumbling with my keys to find the right one to unlock the shop. I was still dragging ass, even after ingesting two cups of Mrs. Caldo’s Cuban coffee.

She turned to me, jamming her phone in her pocket. “Morning, Izzy.”

“Are you ready for today?”

“I’ve been training for this my entire life.”

I giggled softly as I unlocked the front door. “The guys are excited for you to join us, but not more than I am. It’s nice that we’ll have another girl in the shop because it’s been hell on me being the only chick.”

She followed me inside, looking around the shop like she’d never been here before. “I don’t know how you did it. I couldn’t work with my brothers.”

“I love them and have learned how to handle them,” I told her as we walked into the back area to start our prep. “They aren’t so bad once you get to know them, but they can be a bit…” I trailed off.

“Bossy?” she answered.

“Yep.”

“I’m honored to help bring up the chick count around here.”

“I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. Here’s your station.” I pointed to the empty one next to mine because there was no way I was putting her closer to anyone else.

“Mind if I put a few personal things out to make it feel more like home?”

“Knock yourself out,” I told her before bringing my purse and a box of donuts I’d brought into the back room. I started the coffeepot and turned on the music because, although I loved silence at times, I couldn’t stand it at the shop.

By the time I walked back into the work area, Kat had set out a few decorations and pinned a couple pictures to the wall.

“I hope this is okay,” she said as she looked at her setup and smiled. “I like to have my good luck charms around me.”

I walked over to her station and took in her display of two troll dolls, a backstage pass, a tiny inspirational plaque, and two photographs. “Who’s in the pictures?”

She pointed to the one that was clearly her family and rattled off their names. Her brothers were handsome devils, and her sister looked like a miniature version of hers. “These are my parents, Sam and Nancy. They own a small bar on the beach in Clearwater.”

She looked to be the only tattooed rocker chick in the family. Everyone else looked like buttoned-up professionals. “And your brothers?”

“Park is a lawyer for a fancy law firm in Tampa, and Jasper is finishing his residency at USF and will soon be a full-fledged doctor.” She glanced toward the ceiling. “Lord help us. His ego is already too big.”

“And your sister?”

“Juniper owns a small boutique in St. Petersburg that sells the trendiest clothes and trinkets and makes a killing off the tourists.”

“They all look so…”

She turned to me with a smile, the cat eyes she painted on this morning becoming more pronounced. “Normal?”

I nodded because she took the words right out of my mouth.

“Yeah. I’m the one who always tended to be a little outside the norm.”

“All the Gallos are freaks, so I can’t imagine what that was like for you.”

“Eh, it was no big deal. We love each other for our differences. Most of the time, at least.”

I touched the last photo, which was of a band playing on stage and had one of the hottest men I’d ever seen holding a microphone. I couldn’t mistake the face. Cypress McDermot was the lead singer for the most popular rock band in the country. They’d been burning up the charts for the last six months, and I saw their faces plastered everywhere. “You’re a fan, I assume?”

Her smile turned into a smirk. “He’s my boyfriend.”

My body rocked backward, and my mouth dropped open. “You’re dating him?” I pointed at the photo, shocked.

“Uh, yeah. Fucking him too.” She giggled.

“Well, damn, girl. Get on with your bad self.”

I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. “I’m sorry.” I waved my hands, wondering if my sisters-in-law would back the fuck up once they heard that little nugget of goodness. If she was getting a piece of ass like Cypress, there was no way she’d be trying to steal a fortysomething tattoo artist from the middle-of-nowhere Florida.

Her smile faded. “Is it that hard to believe?”

“No,” I said quickly. “You two make a killer couple. It’s just that…” I didn’t know how to put it without sounding like a complete cunt, so I just said it. “My sisters-in-law were…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence because it was so ridiculous at that point.

She started to laugh, realizing what the hell I was talking about. “I do not want your brothers. Not that older men aren’t attractive, but come on, I’m twenty years younger than them, and I’m not a homewrecker.”

“They’re just afraid of the unknown.”

“I get it. I worry every day when Cypress is on the road. Pussy is being hurled at him from every direction.” She leaned back in her chair and turned it from side to side, gripping the leather seat. “I trust him, though. Maybe I’m stupid, but I can’t worry about what he’s going to do. Either he loves me, or he doesn’t.”

“When did you two meet?” Suddenly, I was fangirling and wanted a sneak peek into the world of Cypress McDermot.

“We went to school together and were high school sweethearts.”

“Ahh, you’ll be the one he marries,” I told her because that’s how it always worked out when someone found fame and people were trying to be with them for reasons other than love.

“You think?”

I nodded with a big smirk. “Trust me. I know these things. You loved him when he was a nobody. Now, everyone wants him, but they don’t know the real him. But you know him. You love him. You’ll be hitched in no time.”

The front door chimed as the guys arrived. “We’re here.” Mike’s voice echoed through the shop, loud enough that we could clearly hear him over the music.

“We’re in the back,” I yelled back. I turned to her. “Don’t let anything they say get to you.”

She nodded at me before the three men strolled into the work area. “I got this.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Kat.” Joe gave her a quick chin lift and went immediately to his station to start setting up.

Mike had the appointment book in hand, prepping for his tiny powwow that was supposed to get us pumped on a Monday morning. Anthony, for once, didn’t have his phone out and his face buried in it.

“Good morning,” Mike said, tucking the appointment book under his arm. “I see you’re all set up.”

Kat smiled at him. “I’m ready to kick some ass.”

“We have a team meeting at least once a week before the clients start to arrive. I always try to keep it short and to the point.”

Anthony muttered “Bullshit” under his breath.

Joe rolled his eyes and whispered something none of us could hear, while I laughed my ass off.

“Make it quick, Mike. None of your rambling shit today.”

Ten minutes later, the meeting was over, and Mike clapped his hands, giving us some mumbo jumbo to pump us up. All four of us just stared at him as he gave us his best Tony Little impression, telling us how we could “do it.”

“Kat, you already have two clients booked today. Great start.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him. “I just want to say how honored I am to be here and be a member at Inked. It’s been my dream since I was a kid.”

I almost spat out my coffee when the guys’ faces dropped. I didn’t think they realized we were all getting older. Now the kids had us as role models. We weren’t the cool kids. We were middle-aged but still killing it.

“Since you were a kid?” Anthony asked with a look of horror on his face.

“Yeah, I was like ten when I came in here with my uncle. I was so in love with the vibe and you guys that I knew I had to come back someday.”

“Ten?” Mike ran his hand through his hair and blew out a puff of air.

“Yep.” She smirked.

I wanted to clap, give her my approval for knocking them down a peg or two because that shit was funny as fuck.

“Well, I…”

“Dudes, we’re old. Get the fuck over yourself,” Joe barked because he was the only one who didn’t have his head up his own ass most of the time.

“One last order of business.” Mike cleared his throat, flexing his muscles a few times, but it didn’t work on Kat. “We’re having our annual celebration on Saturday evening. Max will be stopping in this week to go over the details, but she’s planning the entire thing. Just make sure to tell everyone who comes in this week about it and post that shit on your social media.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, being a smartass because, duh, we knew what to do.

“Now, let’s get to work.” He stalked off toward the front counter.

“That was intense,” Kat said with a big smile.

“He’s just getting started, kid,” Joe told her. “Just wait.”

“Do you listen to everything he says? Like do you follow it to a T?”

“Fuck no. The man was hit one too many times. He babbles sometimes and thinks he’s the boss. Just follow our lead,” I told her and she nodded.

This was going to work out just perfectly. Not only was Kat a kick-ass tattoo artist, she was dating one of the sexiest rockers on the planet, and she was going to be my new work bestie. Girls had to stick together, especially when we were outnumbered.

Saturday, when the girls found out Kat was dating Cypress, they were going to shit a brick and hopefully feel like a giant bag of dicks for all their bullshit. I knew they thought their husbands were the sexiest man ever to roam the earth, but Kat had snagged a real prize, and there was no way any of the Gallos were going to make her toss it all aside for a little cock.

“Hey,” Kat said as she started prepping her station for her first client. “Can I bring a guest Saturday?”

“Sure,” Anthony told her as he finally pulled out his phone, going back into isolation mode. “Who?”

“My boyfriend.”

“Cool,” Joe said, but none of them had any idea who that boyfriend was except me.

Max, Suzy, and Mia were going to pass out when Kat showed up with Cypress on her arm. I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces.

Sometimes those cunty bitches needed a reality check. I couldn’t wait for the cold, hard truth—or the sexy hot body of Cypress—to slap them back into reality.

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough.