She sighed. “It was the worst.”
“Why?” I traced my pen around the lines of the stencil while I waited for her to respond.
“He ordered for me.”
I pretended to gag. “Ugh. Why are men? Well, what did he order for you?”
“Wine and steak!” she cried.
I looked up from my work. “You hate both of those things.”
“I know! I told him I was veggie and everything. Ugh. Any hot hockey players you want to hook me up with?”
I laughed. “Hmm…not sure. Blaise might have a single brother…actually no, that’s Ayden, and I’m not subjecting you to that.”
She laughed. “So things with Blaise are good?”
I glared at her. “You know what it’s like.”
“Hmmm…okay…” she trailed off, unconvinced, and smiled at me like she was up to something.
“What?” I demanded.
“Why are you so tired?” she asked.
“Because I was talking to Blaise last night.” She got the giddy look on her face again. “NO!”
“But what if it’s turning into something more?”
I shook my head. “It can’t.”
“It could.”
“You read too many romance novels.”
I finished with my artwork just in time because my client showed up a few minutes later, standing at the reception desk waiting for Liv. I nodded at her, and she got up to prepare him for his appointment.
As much as I enjoyed my time with Blaise, I knew we would part ways in a couple weeks after asshat’s wedding, and that would be that. No muss, no fuss, just the way I preferred.
So why did my chest hurt whenever I thought about it?
“Logan, right?” I asked the lanky redhead standing in front of me and held my hand out toward him.
He smiled at me and shook my hand. “Right. Um…Blaise probably called me Cully, though?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it confused me when you made the appointment. I didn’t realize you guys got back already.”
Was I upset that Blaise hadn’t told me he got back to town?
No.
I wasn’t right?
“Oh, we had practice right after we got off the jet. Blaise and Riley were still in the weight room when I took off, but I think they had plans to watch game tape with Cap for the rest of the day.”
“Oh, right.”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I saw the work you did on Benny and Blaise, so I’m excited,” Logan said with a grin.
I showed him the stencil. “Okay, you said you wanted a more traditional black and grey piece. What do you think?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“You sure?”
I loved doing flower tattoos, but when I got the call Logan wanted to get a rose tattoo done, I had some questions. Not that it was weird for men to want flower tattoos, I did them all the time, but this was his first tattoo.
“It’s for my sister,” he explained.
“Oh?”
“She died.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged and took his shirt off. Geez, were all these hockey boys made of pure muscle? I could appreciate the male physique, but seeing him shirtless didn’t affect me quite as much as when Blaise had his shirt off. Logan looked lanky, but underneath he was lean and athletic, different from Blaise, who had muscles as big as my head.
I put the stencil on his arm and made him look in the mirror to make sure the placement was good. “Remember to breathe, okay? And let me know if you need a break,” I said as I turned on my tattoo machine and dipped it into the ink.
He nodded and gritted his teeth. I tried to distract him while I worked, and that seemed to help for a bit.
“Tell me about your sister,” I said.
“Her name was Rose.”
Ah, now the tattoo choice made sense.
“If you don’t mind me asking…” I trailed off as I moved the machine across his skin, etching the flower on his pale white skin.
“It was a car crash,” he hissed. I motioned for Liv, and she came over with a bottle of water for him and asked if he wanted to hold her hand.
“Am I that pathetic?” he asked with a laugh.
I shook my head. “You saw the cherry blossom I did on Benny’s chest, right?”
He nodded and pretended the needle wasn’t hurting. Tattoos hurt. Anyone who told you differently was a liar.
“Pretty sure he nearly broke Rox’s hand. That chick takes tattoos like a champ.”
That got a smile out of him, and Liv offered her hand again. “I think I’m good,” he said.
She smiled at him, her dimples popping out. “Let me know if you need anything, and remember to breathe.”
I wiped at his skin and went back in, working through the petals of the flower.
“Her husband was abusive,” he admitted in a small voice I barely heard over the sound of the needle.
I felt my eyebrow rise but kept my head bent on my work.“Oh, shit. You think he had something to do with it?”
“He was drunk. I guess the cycle repeats itself. I was trying to help her get out.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine that, man. That must have been hard.”
“I have custody of my nephew now.”
“Wow, Logan, that’s… How do you manage with all the travel?”
He sighed. “My teammates have helped a lot. Nannies, too. Although, I’m desperate for a reliable one. You know anyone good?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, can’t help you there. Is it hard being a single dad and playing hockey?”
“Yeah, it’s hard, but I know I have to be the best for him.”
“That’s great, man. He probably needs a good male role model.”
He nodded. “I want him to see that men aren’t like his dad or my dad, that we can be decent people.”
I didn’t know what to say, but I thought what he said was admirable. He seemed like a decent guy. Blaise said he didn’t know him that well. He was still a rookie, and Logan was worried about staying on the team.
I wiped at his skin and went back in to start the shading. “You doing okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “Good. Blaise said you’re good at distracting customers.”
“She is,” my brother’s voice said behind me. “That’s looking good.”
Logan grimaced. “Painful, though.”
“We suffer for our art,” I said.
Alex laughed. “Okay, goth girl.”
I mentally gave him the finger and finished up. I explained the aftercare treatment to Logan and walked him back over to the front desk. Liv helped him check out and shamelessly flirted with him while I cleaned up my station.
“You got a minute?” Alex asked. He chewed on his bottom lip, the light above him reflecting off his lip ring.
I nodded but hoped this was work stuff and not personal stuff. I wasn’t ready to forgive my brother. Not yet.
“You liked Kelly, right?”
Kelly was one of the artists we interviewed last week. She worked at the shop over in Kensington that one of my friends was at. She did a lot of cool pin-up style tattoos, and she would bring a unique style to the shop.
“Sure, I like her style,” I said.