Chapter 12
SOPH
Currently playing: Issues by Julia Michaels
It’s my fourth day at King Tattoo, and I have lunch plans with Haisley and our mutual friend Marianne. She used to be Haisley’s roommate before she moved together with her partner Fred. They’re having a baby soon, and I can’t believe how I’m at that age where my friends are growing their families.
We meet at one of my favorite lunch spots in Brooklyn—the restaurant serves the best avocado toast I’ve ever eaten. Walking in, I spot my friends immediately because Haisley’s bright red sweater is hard to miss.
“I’m glad I can always find you, no matter what.” I laugh as I walk up to their table. Haisley dusts off her shoulders and fluffs her hair while flashing me her beautiful smile.
Next to her, Marianne gets up and hugs me. “It’s so freaking good to see you, Soph. I’m sorry I haven’t had time to visit the shop yet.”
“It’s all good! You’ve been busy with your own business and creating a life,” I tell her, motioning to her growing baby bump as we sit down. Marianne owns a photography studio, and her days are busy as she’s booked months in advance.
“You have no idea. The baby keeps me up at night—and they aren’t even here yet,” she exclaims. “But that’s enough about me. I want to know more about how and, most importantly, why you work with Jax.”
“You’re nailing the mom routine already.” Haisley chuckles as Marianne looks at me sternly.
I chuckle with her. “You are! But honestly, I have no idea what’s going on with my life anymore.”
“What do you mean by that?” Haisley asks.
“Well, things are weird with Jax, and I don’t want to be Tiffany 2.0.”
Marianne looks at me with curiosity in her eyes. “But isn’t your situation different as you two aren’t dating?”
I hate when she makes sense. But she has no idea how hot I think Jax is. “Ugh, I know. I don’t know how to explain it. Let’s order food, and we can talk more about it later.”
After the waiter has taken our orders, Marianne turns to me. “Why didn’t you invite Rose?”
I wince because I knew someone would ask me this. “Rose doesn’t want to take sides. She’s known Jax for a long time and loves him like a brother. I wanted to talk without her saying how great he is every two minutes.”
Marianne nods understandingly. “Definitely. She always wants people close to her to be happy. I love that about her, but it doesn’t always work out the way she intends.”
“And that’s why we all love her. But it wouldn’t have worked to have her here today.”
“Why not? She could tell you all the good things about him and make you see that you might have overreacted when you stole his bike,” Haisley reasons.
“Can we please talk about something else? I regret my actions and don’t need another reminder of what I did. I’m hopefully getting my sling off this Saturday, and I can’t wait.”
“Okay then,” she says, playing with her cutlery to avoid my eyes. “But know that I was worried about you for a moment there. Sitting in that hospital waiting room sucked.”
I grab my best friend’s hand and squeeze it. “I know, and I’m sorry. I never meant to worry you or anyone else.”
Before I can say anything else, the waiter brings our food, and we start eating. My avocado toast tastes even better than I remembered. “Damn, this is beyond delicious. How’s your food?”
“It must be good because the baby just started kicking like they’re playing soccer. Want to feel it?” Marianne asks. Haisley quickly moves her hand to Marianne’s belly and I know the moment the baby kicks as Haisley’s eyes brighten, and it looks like she might cry.
“Mari, that’s so beautiful,” my best friend whispers, her voice breaking.
“Oh honey, don’t cry. If you do, I’ll cry, too.”
Haisley sniffles. “I’m just wondering if I’ll ever have that. I’ve always wanted to be a mom, but my dating prospects are non-existent. And if I wait much longer, it’ll be a geriatric pregnancy.”
“But you aren’t even close to being geriatric, H!” I almost shout, and the family next to us looks our way.
“In terms of pregnancy, it’s considered a geriatric pregnancy when the birthing person is older than 35. I just turned thirty-three, so my clock is ticking.”
“Your day will come. There are also other options if the traditional way of baby-making doesn’t work for you. Until then, you can be the best auntie to our little one,” Marianne reassures her.
“Hell yeah, I’ll be the best auntie they’ll ever have!”
“And what am I?” I ask teasingly, knowing full well what she meant.
“Oh hush, you already have your sisters’ babies to spoil. My brothers are nowhere near breeding age if you ask them.”
Marianne chuckles. “You talk about your little brothers like they’re dogs or something.”
“I sometimes think they are. All three of them. I can’t believe they are adults because they surely don’t act like it.”
Marianne turns the conversation back to me. “So, now that we know the breeding status of Haisley’s younger brothers, is it that bad working for Jax?”
I groan, which makes Haisley snicker. “Better keep your head in the game, bestie, and stop thinking about how great he must look naked.”
“H, you can’t just say that,” I shriek and toss my napkin at my best friend.
“I was just voicing what you’re thinking.”
We all laugh and continue our lunch. It’s good to be with my girls, even if they keep asking about Jax, and I don’t know what to tell them.
Tonight was supposed to be the evening when we all did inventory before the big party next week.
But both Spade and Dom are ill with the stomach bug that’s going around.
Nelly and Rogue had long shifts to cover for them, and they are gone for the day.
That leaves Jax and me. All alone. Just like in my dreams.
Get your head out of the gutter, Soph. He’s still your boss and doing anything would be stupid. Think with your brain, not your damn vagina.
The only problem is that my boss hasn’t said a word to me since we closed the shop two hours ago. He has been doing God knows what in his office. There was some talk about needing to clean his cabinets, as he hasn’t done that since the shop opened.
I’m busy counting the ink bottles and marking the number of different colors on the spreadsheet when Jax walks into the storage room. “I was wondering if you’re hungry. It’s getting late, and we haven’t had dinner yet.”
Wow, he knows how to speak.
“Actually, yeah, I am. Can we order something from the deli? Maybe those subs?”
“I’ll go pick them up; no need for the app. Italian Sub is your favorite, right?”
Wait a minute, how does he know that? I never told him that. “Um, it is. Thanks, Jackson.”
I’m taken aback by all that consideration. Jax smiles hesitantly and walks out of the room. And I’m left thinking about what just happened. Is my boss a nice guy?
Fifteen minutes later, I’m taking a drink out of the fridge when I hear Jax calling my name from the hallway. I drop the bottle as I wasn’t expecting him back yet—the just-opened water splatters on my jeans and shoes.
“Fuck a duck,” I mumble as I grab a hand towel and try to dry my clothes.
“Did you just say fuck a duck,” I hear him asking me with laughter in his voice.
I turn around, but before I can get a word out of my mouth, I get a clear view of him leaning against the door frame, looking at me with enchanting eyes. How can eyes be so damn seductive? I try to hide my reaction to him, but he can read my thoughts too well based on his smirk.
“You know, Sophia, if you aren’t careful, I might think you actually find me attractive. Your eyes tell me everything.”
“You’re so full of it, Jackass.”
He lets out a tsking sound. “And you love it.”
“Oh, you wish,” I huff and start to take plates out of the cupboard in the break room.
Jax comes over and helps me, as he’s almost a foot taller than I am if I'm not wearing heels. When our hands touch, I can feel the charge buzzing through my body, just like the first time I touched him a year ago. Apparently I’m not the only one who feels it, based on his sharp intake of breath.
After a moment of hesitation, Jax hands me the plates, and I take them, ignoring how my body reacts to his. We both walk over to the table and sit down on opposite sides.
Opening my sub, I get my dinner ready and my eyes land on a comic someone left on the table. “I’m more of a DC girl myself.”
Jax follows my gaze and chuckles. “Thank fuck. My cousins are more into Marvel, and I get tired of discussing those movies every time I see them.”
“I mean, I don’t mind Chris Evans as Captain America.”
“I should have guessed that he’s your favorite.”
I swear, I could feel him rolling his eyes when he said that. “And many others agree with me. He’s the sexiest man alive, after all.”
“So I have heard,” Jax says playfully and hands over my water bottle. “Do you mind if I play some music?”
“Sure, whatever you like,” I tell him.
It doesn’t take long before the speakers in the corner of the break room play Alice Cooper’s Trash album. I smile to myself as I knew Jax was going to choose rock music—everything about him screams rock’n’roll.
“What got you interested in tattoos?” I ask Jax after I’ve counted the last item in the storage room and get ready to leave the shop for the night.
It’s taken us way over the three hours that I was promised.
But I haven’t minded spending more time with him—something I didn’t see coming only a few weeks ago.
Jax smiles before clearing his throat. “Since I was a kid, I’ve been interested in tattoos and how permanent they are.
There’s no other way to put it. My uncle Joey has both his arms covered in them, too.
Growing up, I would take a crayon and trace the lines of his body art.
It stuck with me. It did also help that King, who I have always looked up to, started his tattoo shop when I was only eleven.
I would spend hours watching him and others tattooing if their clients were fine with it. ”
“Is that how you discovered your love for art?”
“Nah, I have loved all types of art for as long as I can remember. I remember finger-painting back in elementary school and loving every moment. I also loved seeing photos and spent hours studying paintings online because my mother didn’t have money to travel to art galleries and museums. I wish museums had online galleries back then like many do these days. ”
I get what he means. “That was me growing up too. I loved art classes and everything related to drawing, painting, and such. My parents were happy that I found my two passions early. But we didn’t travel much, so I mostly got my fix online.”
“You mean art and singing as your two passions?” he clarifies.
“Yeah, those two things have kept me happy for as long as I can remember. I have a big stack of sketchbooks filled with my drawings in the back of my closet.”
Jax chuckles. “Same. Funnily enough, art and music are two things I couldn’t live without either. We have more in common than you would expect.”
My cheeks feel warmer at his words. “So, did you always know you wanted to be a tattoo artist?”
“That or a rock star. But I quickly realized that making it as a tattoo artist would be easier and less time-consuming. However, I underestimated how much training it takes to get to the level I want.”
“But aren’t you like one of the best at King Tattoo?”
He looks bashful. “I wish, but there are far more amazing artists in our other locations. I hope you meet them one day and see what I mean.”
“I think it’s cool that you found what you want to do in life. I would love to perform, but I can’t take the risk of following my dreams right now,” I admit, and want to take my words back as soon as they leave my mouth.
“Why is that?”
“My family needs me more than my dreams do. If I tried to make a go of performing, I would need at least some savings, which I don’t currently have.”
Jax ponders my words for a bit before nodding. “You know, doing what you love every day is something special. If you ever have an opportunity to sing full-time, I recommend it.”
“It sounds like you speak from experience, which makes me jealous.”
“I honestly never expected to be in this situation in my life. I always thought I would end up in prison with my quick temperament and terrible life decisions. But here I am instead, in New York, living the dream.”
“You make it sound so damn easy.”
His expression grows serious. “It’s anything but.”
“I know, but somehow your entire being screams confidence in your talent and where you are in life,” I tell him as I flatten my palms against my dress.
“They say that you should fake it until you make it. That really stuck with me. At times, I’m as insecure as the next person. Then I think about how I can fix that, make changes, wait for the positive results, and move on.”
“What if things go wrong?”
“It’s called personal development; you should google it,” he says as an easy smile plays at the corners of his mouth.
I let out a small chuckle. “Aren’t you just a funny guy, Bennett?”
“Not as funny as you are, Kennedy.”
We finish our break in silence after that. Two hours later, when I get home from the shop, I think about how Jax is nothing like I imagined him to be after he ghosted me. There’s so much more to him than I expected.