Chapter 12 #4
“He is fine, I promise. For insomniacs, it’s a normal part of their lives, no matter how sad it sounds. As long as they don’t get injured during the fall, they’re fine.” There is zero concern in her voice, which makes me feel better.
“Okay.”
“Do you want me to come over?” she offers, but I know she’d rather stay in her cozy bed with her hunky boyfriend. “Alex can come and drag Justin’s ass out if you want. He can haul him away to his place.”
I hear Alex’s “I can? Leave the fucker there.”
I chuckle; it’s so Alex. “No, it’s fine.”
“He can be there for a while. It might take twelve hours for him to restore. Or even longer. I’m not sure how long he went without sleep this time.”
“It’s okay, Freya. Really. I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine,” I say with a sigh.
“Okay. Call me if you need us. Anytime,” she tells me while unsuccessfully trying to suppress a yawn.
“Thank you, to both of you. Night!”
“Wait! Are you ? —”
“Night, guys!” And I hang up on her. There’s no way I can survive an interrogation now, and that’s undoubtedly what was about to follow; I just know it.
I look at Justin. His mouth is slightly open, his breathing is even, and his head is still at a weird angle.
There’s no way I could drag his muscular ass on the couch, so I grab pillows from my bed and lay them next to him on the floor.
Then I carefully lower his torso on them and adjust his legs, so they don’t bend unnaturally.
He looks almost vulnerable like that. A little drool comes out of the corner of his mouth, and eff me, but I find it adorable.
His chest rises and falls. And what a chest it is.
So pronounced and so developed. Those perfect smooth globes.
I saw something similar only on Alex, but Alex is a monster of a man.
On Justin, it looks proportioned and well-defined.
There are no hairs. None. Only a blond happy trail down his navel.
It was so close to making me happy today too.
I stop my pervert-ish ogling and go to grab a comforter for him. I tuck him in, push pillows deeper under his head and shoulders, so he’s comfortable, and admire my work—and his figure—for a while longer before going back to sleep.
I wake up when the sun is already high in the sky. I don’t like to sleep in, but today can be excused. I dread getting out of bed to see if my night guest is still here. I try to peek at the couch from my bed; I live in a trailer, hello, everything’s reachable from one spot.
The big body’s still on the floor in the same position I left it.
I stand up and go to brush my teeth as quietly as possible.
I wash my hair and put some mascara on since that’s what I do every day when I wake up alone, duh.
A very regular thing for me on my day off when I plan on staying at the trailer in my pajamas, right.
I come out to the living room—yes, I consider it a living room, it’s tiny, but it’s there—and Justin’s still asleep. I start a pot of coffee, drink it, and Justin’s still asleep. Today is my rare day off, and I’m not planning to stay here all day. Even if the view is great.
I blow dry my hair, get dressed, and Justin’s still asleep.
I check his breathing and his pulse—he seems fine, so I leave him be and go outside.
I don’t have any particular plans, but my personal space is occupied now.
I wait on people all day, all week , so on my day off, I want to be as far away from them as possible.
The only person I might tolerate today is Freya, but she’d bombard me with questions I don’t have answers to, so I’m in a bit of a jam here.
Just when I’m about to go back inside, my phone rings.
“Hi, TJ.”
“Sup, Kay. The guy who ordered that huge phoenix piece from you will be here in a couple of hours. He wanted to see what else you have.” His smoked-up voice sounds excited.
“Oh, wow. I can send you a few pieces I have now.”
“Nah, I think it’s better if you come here yourself,” he urges me.
“Why?” I usually don’t deal with clients directly; all my designs go through TJ.
“I don’t know, Kay. But I feel like you should be here.
He’s kind of a big deal; I looked him up.
He has a few popular parlors everywhere.
He might become your regular on a bigger scale than us.
” Wow, I’m impressed. As far as social media goes, TJ is an infant.
He doesn’t follow anybody and doesn’t know anything.
“Wow. Okay. Wow.” And I’m speechless. If TJ thinks I might have a shot, that’d be freaking awesome. It’s my dream come true—to make a living out of my drawings. Wow, just wow.
“Yeah, can you take a day off and come here?” He sounds impatient.
“As a matter of fact, I’m off today. I can be there in an hour.”
“Fuckin’ awesome. See you, kid.” And he hangs up. He never stops to listen to what else somebody has to say, but that’s just how he is. So hyperactive. His mind thinks twenty steps ahead, making him always in a rush. I still have no idea how he manages to ink people being… just him.
Well, if it isn’t a sign from above, I don’t know what it is.
I go back home to collect my bag and check on Justin.
He’s still asleep, but he’s changed his position.
I take it as a sign that he’s about to return to the land of the living.
I don’t have time to wait for that—and, quite frankly, I’m not sure I want to.
Considering what we were doing before he crashed and the animosity that still exists between us, I’m not sure I can face him just yet.
Or myself, at this point. So I’ll just run away, especially when the opportunity to do so just knocked on my door.
I stop by the diner and get a cup of coffee to go. Marina’s happy for me even if she doesn’t show it.
The drive to TJ’s shop is uneventful, and that’s how I like it. I park my car and walk to the building. A familiar masculine laugh meets me at the door. I see broad shoulders and long, lean legs covered in tight black jeans.
“Here she is!” TJ, a big burly guy with a long black beard with a few salty strikes down to his chest, exclaims like an overly excited cheerleader.
The shoulders turn, and here he is.
“Hi, Archie.” I greet him with a tight-lipped smile.
“Kayla?” He looks stunned for a moment, then he recovers quickly. “You are the artist?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but if we’re talking about the phoenix design, it’s mine, yes.” I don’t play coy—I just don’t consider myself an artist yet. I’d like to be one, though.
He smiles, and his face changes in an instant. What did I just say?
“About back there…” He waves his hand behind him like it should explain anything.
I narrow my eyes. “Where?”
“Back at Alex’s place… That felt… weird . I just want you to know that whatever happened, he felt really shitty about it.” He scratches the back of his head, looking extremely uncomfortable.
“Do you know what happened?” I squint at him .
“No.” He looks coy. “But something was in the air?” he half says, half asks. I smile as I shake my head.
“You guys know each other?” TJ’s eyes volley from Archie to me.
“We actually met a few days back,” I answer, moving my attention to TJ.
“I should have known.” Archie snaps his fingers. “The tats on your arms… they’re the same style.”
I look down automatically. “Mmm, yeah, they are kind of the same, I guess.”
“Fuck.” He wipes his face with the back of his hand. “Man, I’m blown away by your work. I want more. I want you to create more designs for me and my team.” He shakes a phone he’s holding in his hand. I guess TJ just showed him my drawings.
I blush like a schoolgirl—I don’t get praised very often, especially for something I’m so passionate about.
“Why don’t you ink your designs yourself?” His brows are pinched together.
“Because I can’t afford school. Plus, I can’t afford to be away for school. So double trouble there.” I shrug. Because duh, there’s no shame in being poor. There’s only shame in being an asshole about it.
“I’ll pay for it if you work for me,” he says like it’s no big deal.
“Em… no, I’m fine just drawing.”
“You could be drawing for yourself and becoming a super-mega fought over artist. You’re fuckin’ raw talent.
” He’s cursing a lot, something I get the feeling he doesn’t often do.
He sounds a little… British? How on Earth?
But he’s so emotional right now, so maybe his real ancestry’s coming through.
And besides that, I get the cursing, Archie .
I so do. In the last few weeks, all I’ve wanted to do and come out to the street and yell ‘fuck’ so loud that they’ll hear my roar on Mars.
I force a grin. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though.”
“Are you a fucking idiot?” It’s the first thing TJ says since our conversation started.
“Excuse me?” I’m half offended, but only half. Knowing him, something good is about to follow.
“She’ll take it.” He turns to Archie, disregarding me. “She’ll go to that damn school even if I have to drag her ass to the class every single day.”
I raise a brow.
“I’ll help. We can switch shifts.” Archie shoots me his megawatt smile, and I can’t resist smiling back. For real this time.
“About damn time,” TJ adds with a nod.
I raise my hands in defense. “I don’t know what’s happening here, but?—”
“Kid,” TJ interrupts me, “take this chance.”
“I don’t want to owe anything to anybody. I’m not some charity case.” My hackles raise along with my voice.
“Nobody said you are,” Archie says in a businesslike voice. “You will have to work for me. Exclusively. For five years.”
“Seriously?” I narrow my eyes.
“Dead serious. Once I put your designs out there, they’ll fight me to get you. That’s why I need exclusivity.” He firmly holds my stare.