“Because I got traded.”
He pierced me with the ‘dad look.’ “You’re old enough to have your own place. You didn’t have to move back in here.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Because we’re all worried about you being alone. Okay? That’s the real reason I moved back in.”
Michael nodded in agreement. He slid his phone over to Dad. “Here, I’m making you a dating profile.”
Dad groaned. “I’m not doing that.”
“Yes, you are, old man,” I teased him.
He glared at me. “Get out of my house!”
Micheal and I shook our heads. “No way, old man. Mom wouldn’t have wanted you to live like this. We should have done this a long time ago.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at us, but he appeased us when we called a family meeting over video chat, and the rest of my siblings razzed him until he gave in. Even Maja’s boyfriend Julien got in on the action. Dad shook his head, but the smile on his face might have been the first one I had seen in a long time.
Dad and I clashed. We were too similar, but laying it all on the table this morning had been good for us. I just hoped I didn’t disappoint him when he realized what Veronica and I had wasn’t real.
Chapter Eighteen
VERONICA
“My appointment didn’t show. You wanna get a coffee?” my brother asked while I was finishing up working on the stencil for Blaise.
“Busy,” I muttered. I still wasn’t on speaking terms with him. Us Irish girls knew how to hold a grudge.
“How about I get us a coffee, and then we can talk?” he suggested.
“Hard pass,” I said and checked my phone. I smiled at a text from Blaise.
BLAISE: OMW
BLAISE: Are you excited to stab me with things?
“Veronica, I’m trying to apologize here,” Alex sighed.
My eyes snapped up to him. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have opened a shop with only three reliable artists. Or you should have listened to me when I said Andy was too green and needed to apprentice first.”
“I’m sorry.”
I sighed. “I know, but…Seth broke my world apart. Do you understand what it’s like walking in here and having to see him working at one of the other stations? Do you understand what it’s like to wake up one day and have your entire world turned upside down?”
“Everything okay here?” Blaise asked from behind Alex.
I nodded. “Yes.” To my brother, I said, “Shoo. I have work to do.”
Alex sighed but did as I asked. Blaise shed his jacket, but then he bent down to kiss me. I had no doubt doing it because Seth was watching us, but I leaned into the kiss. His lips against mine made me relax, calming the raging storm inside me.
He pressed his forehead against mine. “You okay?”
I nodded and stole one last kiss. “You ready?”
He nodded and pulled away. I had to bite my lip when he shed his long-sleeved henley. This man was ripped. Blaise lay down in my tattoo chair, and I paused when I noticed he had already shaved the area and his entire chest.
“I know the drill,” he explained at my surprised look.
“One-second. I need to wash my hands.”
I washed my hands, and when I came back to my chair, I donned my gloves. I laid the stencil down on Blaise’s chest and carefully peeled it off to get the transfer onto his skin. I held up a mirror for him to see. “Okay with the placement?”
He nodded. “You’re the boss.”
“But it’s your tattoo.”
He smirked. “It’s good, sweets. Do your thing.”
I grabbed my machine and dipped it into the ink. “You know I’m gonna need you in my chair for a couple of sessions, right?”
“I know.”
“Ready?”
“Hit me.”
I laughed but got to work. I had to admit Blaise took it like a champ, but I saw him gritting his teeth. “Breathe,” I reminded him as I went over my line work carefully.
He sighed. “Sorry.”
I wiped away at the area and then went back in. “Liv?” I called out.
“Yeah?”
“Can you get Blaise water?”
“Sure,” she said cheerfully and grabbed a bottle for him.
He sipped on his water while trying not to move as I tattooed his chest. Olivia took her phone out and snapped pictures. Alex had her doing the admin and social media stuff now since he wanted me to focus on my artwork as much as I could. I still did the books, but he was looking for someone to take over soon.
“For our social pages. You don’t mind?” she asked him.
Blaise shook his head. “Nah. I’ll post something too when we’re done.”
“Practice good?” I asked, trying to distract Blaise from the pain while I worked.
“Yeah, especially after our win last night. Did you see I got a goal?”
“I did. We were too busy last night. I forgot to congratulate you.”
“Aw, look at you, becoming the good little hockey girlfriend.”
I stuck out my tongue and focused on my work. “You’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah, hashed some things out with my dad today.”
“That’s good.”
“My siblings and I had to twist his arm to set up a dating profile. He’s still in love with my mom.”
“My dad was like that, too,” I admitted.
“Oh?”
“My mom ran off when I was two months old.”
“Three months,” my brother’s voice said behind me. “And it broke dad. He was already broken from my mom’s death, but it made it worse.”
“How’s your dad now?” Blaise asked.
Without thinking, Alex shrugged and said, “He’s gone now.”
Blaise frowned.“Oh, sweets. You didn’t tell me.”
I didn’t answer, just continued with my work. “Was there something you needed?” I asked my brother.
“Nah, just checking your work.”
I wiped at Blaise’s tattoo and started working on the greenery. “I don’t need help.”
“It looks good. You can’t see the script anymore,” he praised me. “Don’t you grow flowers like this?”
“Yeah. They’re my favorite flower.”
“Really?” Blaise asked.
“I thought that was why you were getting this?” my brother asked and knitted his eyebrows together as he surveyed my work.
“No…they were my mom’s favorite, too,” Blaise said.
Thank God I had to focus on my work and not his eyes, which I knew were boring into me. I bent my head and added in more color, laser-focusing on my task at hand and not the conversation.
“Well, in any case, it’s looking good.”
“K. Bye!” I dismissed Alex and continued working.
“Sweets,” Blaise said softly. “You need a minute with your brother?”
I shook my head. His voice was soft and kind, and it was so damn nice of him to think of my needs right now. But I was here to do a job, not deal with my brother.