31. Shane
Chapter 31
Shane
Sitting in my bar being superfluous made my skin itch. Or maybe that was the fresh ink on my shoulder. Either way, it was clear that I wasn’t needed down here. Vivian had the shit in the front handled, and Cyrus was in the kitchen cursing under his breath as he set everything to rights.
I leaned against the wall and watched with perverse satisfaction as Cyrus shuffled around. In truth, the kitchen hadn’t been that bad. Ethan had done a great job. given the circumstances.
Cyrus turned to me suddenly. Putting his hands on his hips, he looked exasperated.
“I know this was my own doing, but now you see why I don’t want help in here. People touch my shit and they don’t put it where I put it, and then I can’t find it.”
“Or, hear me out, you could train someone to do things your way. But you’re possessive, Cyrus.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You suck. I thought you’d forgiven me.”
“I have, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell you that you’re only hurting yourself with your little possessive caveman routine.”
“I am not a caveman,” Cyrus protested.
“I see you didn’t argue with the fact that you’re possessive.”
Cyrus rolled his eyes and turned away from me. “We’ve established that already. ”
I watched Cyrus for a few minutes, not offering to help because I knew he didn’t want my help. He was probably secretly glad his kitchen hadn’t been left to his standards because it gave him something to focus on.
“You better not hurt him, Shane.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry about that.”
“Well, I’m used to worrying about him. Someone had to. Our parents fucking ignored his existence most of the time. Besides, I won’t be able to work here if you fuck him over.”
“Vivian is the manager now. I’m not going to be here as often.” Taking my chances with Cyrus’s wrath, I crossed the kitchen. “You’re still my best friend, Cyrus. You’re still important to me, even though Archer is also important to me, just in a very different way. If I have it my way, I’m not ever going to hurt either of you.”
“Your tattoo is pretty great.”
“Thanks. You should ask Archer to show you the concept art he showed me. I wonder if he’ll let me frame it.”
“Archer would gladly frame it for you.” Archer’s voice came at me from the entrance to the kitchen. He crossed the distance and slid his arm around me. It was a statement to his brother that he wasn’t going to shy away from me to make Cyrus comfortable.
“The two of you are both possessive little cavemen.”
Archer’s hand wandered south and he pinched my ass. “Don’t you forget it.”
“How about you and Marshall come over for dinner, say… next week?”
“So long as Archer isn’t cooking,” Cyrus teased.
“Hey. I’ve gotten better. I lived alone for years. How do you think I managed? ”
“Takeout and microwave meals,” Cyrus said without missing a beat.
“I’m going to handle the food. It was my idea, so it’ll be my labor.” I draped my arm around Archer and pulled him close. My shoulder twinged, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t tolerate.
“See, he’s the literal perfect boyfriend.” Archer’s fingers flexed against my side, digging their blunt tips into my flesh. “We should get going, though.”
He suddenly produced a bright red sucker. He tore the wrapper off with his teeth and held it for me, waiting for me to take it.
“Dinner next week,” I said around the sucker. “Just the four of us out at my place.” It was about time I started to live in my house instead of using it for a place to crash between shifts. The dinner, more than anything, felt like the real olive branch.
We’d sit around and I’d grill some steaks. We’d drink a few beers and play corn hole or something. Cyrus and Archer would act like brothers instead of parent and child… and all would be right in the world.
It made me want to invite Kieran and my mom too. I’d invite Brodie if he was in town—or the country, for that matter. Maybe I could convince him to come home for a visit so he could meet Archer.
“I’ll text you the details.” Steering Archer toward the back door, I shoved it open and tugged him out of the bar into the fresh afternoon air. There was still daylight left, but I had the urge to take him home and curl up in bed with him for the rest of the day.
“Do you have to stick around or can you come home with me?”
“Business is still pretty slow. I don’t have anything booked, but I was hoping to get to a store today.”
“What kind of store? Grocery? Sex shop? Pet store?”
Archer walked with me to my truck. “Art supplies. I had an idea for a new piece for my wall. But I don’t have the materials I need. ”
“Then I guess we’re going shopping.” Unlocking the door, I pulled it open for Archer. Heat flared in his eyes when he looked at me. It was almost enough to tempt me to take him straight home and let him have his way with me, but I wanted to know everything about Archer.
He told me where he wanted to go, which turned out to be a stationery store that I had no idea existed. It was near the library and it wasn’t like it was hidden, but I simply didn’t have a reason to notice it before now.
“You can wait here. I promise I won’t be long.” Archer undid his seatbelt and got out of the truck. When I followed him inside, he looked at me and quirked an eyebrow questioningly. “You didn’t have to come inside. You’ll be bored. It’s just art stuff.”
“I wanted to see you in your element.” I loved the way his face turned red when I said that. “This place is clearly your version of a candy store, so show me your favorite candies, Archer.”
He shoved me gently and playfully, but his eyes crinkled the way they did when he was pleased with something. He grabbed a shopping basket and set off toward the art supplies. I followed, trying to watch for the things that caught his interest. He spent a few minutes checking out the stretched canvases before pulling out a few of various sizes.
“I can take those for you if you want. Might make it easier to keep looking.”
Archer surrendered the canvases to me. “I need some new paint.”
“Lead the way. I am but your humble servant.”
“Oh, my God, shut up.” Archer turned away, but even the tips of his ears were red now.
“Did you always want to be a tattoo artist?”
He scoffed. “Not especially. Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do. But…” Archer stopped and took a breath. His fingers danced ov er the rack of acrylic paints. “My parents weren’t supportive of me. Cyrus could do no wrong, but I could do no right. They were convinced art was a waste of time. That it could never be a career. So I became a tattoo artist. Because if you’re good, and I am, you can make a decent living.”
Archer deserved more than a decent living. He deserved the world and I wanted to be the one to give it to him. Which meant I was going to hire someone to help convert the attic space into a studio for him so it could be completed faster. The idea of Archer having a space in my home settled the flutters in my stomach. This was it. Archer was the one for me. Forever.
It was too early to make those kinds of promises. He deserved time to get on his feet. Once his life was sorted, with his business off the ground and working steady, I could bring up the idea of him moving in with me. He could keep the space above the bar for his business, but I wanted my home to be his home too. Which meant paying attention to the kinds of supplies he worked with so I could deck out his studio with everything he could ever want or need.
Turning my attention back to Archer, I watched him look at different colors. He picked a few and put them in the basket and seemed to be trying to decide on what else to get.
“Why don’t you get one of everything?” I asked.
Archer made a choking sound. “I can’t afford that. I’ll just get the basics for now.”
“What if it was my treat?”
Archer turned and looked at me. Instead of a happy expression, his brow was pinched and he seemed annoyed. “You don’t have to do that, you know. ”
“I know I don’t have to buy you things, Archer. But I want to. I like being the one to give you what you need. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I can try to rein it in.”
Archer ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up. “I don’t want you to think I’m like taking advantage.”
Turning to the rack of small bottles of acrylic paints, I started at the top row and, one by one, grabbed a bottle and dropped it into his basket.
“I’m offering,” I said, moving down to the second row. “You’re not taking advantage of me. Anything I want to do for you, I want to do it because I love you and making you happy makes me happy.”
I dropped in more bottles of paint. “Some people might think I took advantage because I never paid you for the tattoo.”
“You don’t have to pay me. It was my idea.”
“And this is my idea. If you need to, you can consider it payment for the tattoo. Though I’m still getting the better end of the deal.”
Archer adjusted his grip on the basket. “I’m not going to win this argument am I?”
“Who’s arguing? I’m not. I’m just telling you that I’m allowed to buy you things and do nice things for you. It didn’t stop me before we were together and it’s not going to stop me now.” Ducking down, I kissed him before I could think about whether or not he was into PDA. By the way he chased my mouth, he clearly wasn’t against it.
“I guess I’m going to have to get used to this.” Archer stared up into my eyes.
“I plan to spoil you for as long as you’ll let me.” It wasn’t quite the promise of forever that I’d wanted to make, but it was close enough for now.