Kieran
“THANKS FOR COMING in,” Barbie called out as what would probably be our last customer for the night waltzed out with a big smile on their face, now sporting a tribal band around one bicep.
Simple and basic, but hard to screw up. I didn’t mind those every once in a while, but I’d go nuts if I couldn’t do the creative stuff too. “Good job, kid.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to keep the glum note out of my voice, but I was already tired from acting professional in front of the customer. At least the day was almost over.
She eyed me for a moment before sighing and leaning her hip onto the checkout counter. “Uh-oh,” she said, crossing her arms lightly over her chest. “I thought we were done with that gloomy shit. You’ve been feeling better since you went on that trip.”
“I’m fine.”
“For once, let’s save some time and you just spill it. I’m tired of riding your ass to get the truth out of you.”
Shifting my gaze to the wall beside us, I let out a long breath. “I just… I fucking suck. I hurt him. Again.”
“Your little boy toy?” She questioned, causing me to give her a wry, irritated look.
“He’s not my boy toy, okay? He’s important.”
“I understand that,” she assured me, raising an eyebrow. “Why’d you hurt him?”
“I didn’t mean to. I’m just so bad at everything.”
“If you didn’t mean to, then just apologize. He’ll understand.”
Groaning, I squeezed my eyes closed, pressing my fingers against my eyelids. “I know he will. He always understands.”
“Is this related to that whole can’t really be together thing you mentioned?” She asked, but her tone was genuine and sympathetic. She wasn’t making fun of me, at least.
“Yeah.”
“So? What’s the big secret?” She asked. “Is he married or something? Is this like a side piece situation?”
“No!” I snapped. Now even the offhanded idea of Jordy being married to someone else had my temper flaring up and burning in my guts. “It’s not like that. It’s just…” I stopped, shaking my head. “It’s kind of a…”
Was I really going to tell her? Would she judge me for messing around with my younger stepbrother? And that was even without all the context of him being this perfect golden boy, destined for success and a great life, slumming it with someone like me.
Both of us turned to look at the door with a snap, as the little bell rang, signifying someone had come in.
And there he was, all golden-haired, blue-eyed and doll-faced. He’d put on the hoodie I’d had laying on my bed before leaving the house, so I guess he didn’t hate me that much.
Barbie looked at him, looked over at me incredulously, then back to him with a snort. “Well, aren’t you just adorable,” she noted. “You’re cute enough to be the main character of a web comic,” she added, reminding me of that stupid lie I’d told her when she’d found all my sketches of him.
He giggled, looking a bit confused, but still blinked his long eyelashes at her as he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.
“Thanks!” God, he was such a fucking flirt. It drove me crazy. “Do you… work with Kieran?” He asked, innocence and sweetness oozing from every pore. No wonder everyone was always so charmed by him.
“Kieran works for me,” she explained kindly.
“Oh!” He answered, rocking back on his heels a bit. “I’m Jordy.”
“I gathered that,” she said, with a small, smug grin.
“You know who I am?” He asked, eyes widening as he tilted his head in surprise.
“Jordy, what are you doing here?” I asked quickly, hoping to veer the conversation in a direction that didn’t involve her revealing all my embarrassing drawings of him, though I was sure he’d probably be delighted to see them.
“Ah, well…” And suddenly, he looked hesitant and shy.
The way he could flip like that, from a giggly little sex kitten, to looking so timid, peering at me through his lashes, made my dick twitch in my jeans and my pulse skip.
Everything about him was so… Perfect. Sexy.
Incredible. “I’m here for a tattoo. If you’re not busy,” he tacked on quickly. “I-I mean, if you want to…”
“You want a tattoo?” I repeated, my mouth and throat going dry. Fuck.
He nodded, flushing a little. “I, um, have this picture on my phone of what I want, so…”
He actually, seriously wanted me to tattoo him.
We’d kind of joked about it before, in the truck, but I hadn’t known he’d really want me to do it.
The idea of being the one to break up that perfect, smooth expanse of creamy, unblemished skin was daunting, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone else do it.
I glanced over at Barbie, giving her a questioning look. It was kind of late to start something new. Understanding, she pursed her lips.
“You don’t want a whole sleeve or anything, right?” She asked, and he shook his head.
“It’ll be small,” he assured her, before dragging his finger down to his hip, tapping the pocket of his tight jeans. “Right here.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Her eyebrows raised a bit, before she turned back to me.
“Uh, yeah, I mean… I’m not, you know, busy or anything,” I managed to stutter out.
She sped through the preliminary process of checking his ID and making him fill out liability paperwork.
“Well,” she said as she took his finished form to file away, gesturing down the hall to the room where my station was set up. “Get to it, Kieran.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Uh, yeah. Okay. Come with me,” I ordered, jerking my chin toward the hall. He scampered to my side, following me.
“You know,” Barbie commented, falling into line behind us. “For a hip tattoo, most people wear something loose they can kinda hike up or down, so they don’t have to be ass out for the whole tat.”
“Ah, sorry,” Jordy said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I’ve never done this before, so…”
“It’s alright,” she said, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. When we got into the room, she stopped at the door. “I’ll just close this so you can have some privacy. And Kieran,” she added.
“Yeah?”
“Please don’t commit any health code violations.”
I felt heat rise up to my skin all over my body. “Jesus. I won’t, okay?”
“Just making sure,” she said, smirking again as she clicked the door closed.
“She means don’t fuck me on this table thing, right?” Jordy asked, hiking his butt up onto it as he eyed me.
“Right.”
“You weren’t thinking about that, were you?”
“No.” Just a little.
He grinned, seeing through my bullshit lie. “So should I…” He trailed off, toying with the button of his jeans, looking at me for guidance.
“Ah, first show me what you want to get,” I suggested.
He handed me his phone, where there was an image pulled up on the screen.
A tiny pair of cute and bubbly wings, with a simple gold halo hovering over the center where the inside of each wing nearly touched.
Angel wings. He wanted to be branded with my pet name for him.
Touched beyond belief, I had to keep my fingers from trembling as I handed it back to him and cleared my throat.
“Do you mind if I sketch something up really quick?” I asked. “I’ll keep the same general idea, but…” If he was going to wear it on his skin forever, I didn’t want it to be something made by someone else. I wanted it to be mine. Like he was mine.
“Of course,” he said. “I would love that.” And he really did look happy about my request. Maybe he felt the same way I did. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Sitting down at the little desk, I picked up my work tablet and started drawing.
“Hey, so about earlier… I’m sorry,” I said, but kept my eyes down on the device. He wanted it simple and cute, so it wouldn’t take long, but I wanted it to be perfect. “I’m really, really sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, like I knew he would. But I still felt like a complete dick, especially because he still sounded a bit sad. “Were you upset because my dad interrupted us?”
“It wasn’t that he interrupted us. I just… He’s been really good to me, Jordy.”
“Yeah. He loves you,” he said, sounding slightly confused by my statement. “You know he does.”
“That’s my point. He’s been a good guy to me, and I’m just… Going behind his back and betraying him.”
“By being with me?”
“Yes.” I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head, but I kept my eyes down, carefully rounding out the top part of one wing with my stylus. “Can we talk about something else?” I asked. “At least until I’m done with this.”
“Sorry,” he said, and I heard him hop down from the table. He came up to my chair, hugging me from behind and laying his chin on my shoulder, peering down at the tablet in front of me.
“You think that’s going to help me focus?” I asked, but I couldn’t bring myself to nudge him off. He was too warm, and he smelled too sweet.
“Sorry,” he repeated, groaning a little as he nuzzled his lips into the side of my neck. Like it was a compulsion he was helpless to stop, like he needed to be touching me, absorbing me through his skin. “It’s just… You hurt my feelings earlier.”
My brows drew together, guilt blooming in my stomach and spreading through my body. “I hurt your feelings, so you want to hang all over me and kiss my neck?”
“I was sad,” he explained. “When I’m sad, I want you. Even if you’re the reason.”
How could he admit things like that so… casually? And something so… needy. Fragile. As always, he gave me too much power over him. To come to me for comfort after I was the one who’d hurt him. I couldn’t fathom it. I didn’t deserve it.
“I’m the biggest dick in the universe,” I muttered, but when I set down my stylus and tried to turn toward him, he nudged me back to face the desk.
“I’m okay. We can talk about it after. For now just focus on making something cute you can look at when you’re blowing me.”
Snorting, I nearly fumbled the tablet at the mental image. It was definitely a good one.
“Did you have to say it like that?”
Retreating back to the table, his playful giggle indicated that he was already feeling a little better. At least, I hoped he was.
“I’m kidding. It’s not really about that.”