“It was bad.”
I raised my brows with a smile. “I hope you’re better at it now.” Otherwise, I was walking back out that door.
Welland smirked. “Yeah. A bit. Tattoo virgin?”
I nodded.
Addie snorted. “On the tattoo awards site, he won ‘Artist of the Year Leaderboard’. That’s like getting crowned king of the world.” She nodded at the photos. “That’s all his work.”
Welland shifted his weight as he glanced up at the oversized, black-framed photo of the girl with the teardrop tattoo. His jaw flexed and he cleared his throat. “Let me just finish up on my customer. You know what you want?”
I nodded.
“Okay, give me ten. Help yourself to tea, coffee.” Welland walked back to the blonde girl sitting in his leather dental chair.
“I’m grabbing a coffee. Want anything?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m already too jittery from the amount of coffee I’ve had.” I’d been up working on a song until three in the morning. And Vic had been with me. He’d sat quietly in the chair across from the couch and listened. I’d asked him to sit with me, but he wouldn’t. Said he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me. I’d been okay with that, but he wasn’t. Not with Jackson in the next room.
Her brows lifted and she tilted her head with a smile. “When are you going to admit you’re fucking him.”
My mouth dropped open. “Oh my God, we’re not sleeping together.”
Addie flitted her hand in the air as she walked away, saying over her shoulder, “You will be.”
I hoped so, but Vic was careful in everything he did, and he was adamant that we keep it cool until he talked to my brother about us. I knew they’d been friends, so it was probably out of respect, but as far as I knew, they hadn’t spoken in years.
I sauntered over to the waiting area and snagged a glossy magazine off the coffee table. It had a hot, tatted biker-type guy plastered on the front that looked a lot like Welland. I looked closer. Yeah, definitely Welland. Huh.
I sat on the leather couch and flicked through, amazed at the incredible tattoos these artists did. It was one thing to paint on a flat canvas, but these artists worked on the body where there was all kinds of hills and valleys and movement. Not only that, but every canvas they worked on was different.
Addie plopped down beside me with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. I showed her the cover of the magazine and she laughed.
“Yeah, Welland’s pretty famous in the ink world.”
“You ever date him?”
“No,” she said, glancing over at him. “Just friends. We’ve gone to school together since kindergarten. Avalon too.” Addie set her coffee on the table. “Welland and Avalon had been a thing since they were in diapers.” She nodded at the black-and-white photo above us. “She begged him for that tattoo, but he refused to do it. Never does tats on faces. His rule. He gave in when she threatened to go to another tattoo artist if he didn’t.” She peered over at Welland where he was leaning over the girl with the tattoo gun on her collarbone. “He’d never let another guy touch his girl, let alone permanently ink her.” Addie rubbed her wrist. “She’s gone now.”
I looked over at Welland. He held a mirror in front of the girl’s collarbone as she admired her new tattoo.
There was a coldness in him. Something untouchable, as if you were only scratching the surface of who he was. Black N Heart. Was that why he chose that name?
She sipped her coffee and told me about Jackson rock climbing the other day. And how he talked about Vic showing him how to put a hole in the door. Which led to…
“So, why did Vic ask Jaeg to take Jackson for the day and not to come back until he texted if it wasn’t to have sex?”
“We kissed.”
Addie’s jaw dropped. “I knew it!” she yelled, drawing the attention of everyone in the shop. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I can, because I’ve seen the crazy attraction between you guys, but this is Vic. Oh my God—Hettie. Wait until Hettie hears.”
I put my hand on her forearm. “No. Don’t tell her. Or Jaeg. Or anyone. Not yet. Vic wants to talk to my brother first, and I…. Well, I just need a bit more time.”
Addie frowned. “Why? Time for what?”
I didn’t have time to answer before Welland approached. “You ready to lose your tat virginity?”
I nodded with a smile and stood up.