7. Chapter 6 – Hannah
Chapter 6 – Hannah
“ I s he asleep?” I whispered, leaning over Lex’s shoulder as she bent her head nearly upside down to tattoo the inside elbow of her client, Jack Potter.
“Probably.” She whispered back, sitting up straight and stretching her neck and shoulders out. “He’s slept through other appointments with me.”
“Wild.” I shook my head, backing up to give her space as she turned her head the other way, trying to stretch it further. “Can I get you anything?” I asked quietly.
“A sip of my water would be divine.” She pointed over to her desk where her bottle of water sat. She hadn’t taken a break in hours, working on the tribute piece to K-9 Arlo without stopping while his handler snoozed on and off. He was no doubt still dealing with the fallout of Arlo’s passing and something told me he didn’t find peace often, so neither of us could bring ourselves to disturb him.
I grabbed the mug and went to hand it to her, but realized that she couldn’t take it with her sterile gloves on. “Oh, here.” I tilted it to her and held her straw out.
I’m not exactly sure why, but as she leaned over and wrapped her bright red painted lips around the tip of the silicone straw, I had incredibly indecent images running through my head. She wasn’t doing anything particularly sexual; it was just that natural sensuality to her that made it look seductive and alluring.
Standing next to her also gave me the opportunity to be taller than her, when her warm brown eyes fluttered up at me, with her lips still on the straw, I finally understood why men loved when women looked at them during oral sex.
Like I really got it.
“Thanks.” She sighed, leaning back and licking her lips. “Keep it up, and I’ll make you stay with me for every appointment.” She joked.
“Hmm.” I hummed, overwhelmed with something akin to arousal warming my body.
Jesus, what would the guys say if they knew a woman as alpha as Lex turned me on? Would they truly be shocked by it?
It was one thing for me to be taken seriously in a polyamorous relationship with two men. But add in the fact that for months now I’d been battling random intrusive thoughts leading me to believe I could be bisexual too. God, what would my father say?
“You okay over there?” Lex’s velvet voice brought me back to the present, and I snapped out of my stupor, setting her bottle down on the desk and turning back to her.
“Yeah. Sorry.” I smiled. “Lost in thought.”
“What about?” She asked, focused on her work.
“Uh—” I wracked my brain for an answer that didn’t include, oh, just imagining what it would look like to see you looking up at my boyfriends with your bright red lips wrapped around their cocks as you gave them blow jobs . Or, how freaking hot that idea made me. “The layout for the pictures of this project.” I lied.
“Does your art play out in your mind like mine does?” She asked, bending around Jack’s arm again and getting the work done that was necessary. “Is it like a movie?”
“Yeah,” I rubbed my hands down my pants and sat back down in my chair, “I can feel the flow of the article and the images mentally long before I even write a word down.”
“I think all mediums of art are so cool. I love how different they all are, yet the end goal is always the same. Expression.”
“I’ll be honest, some pieces are more enjoyable than others,” I joked, “They put me in the obituary section when I first started and that kind of sucked. ”
She grimaced, glancing over at me. “That sounds brutal.”
“The worst.” I shrugged, “But everyone has to start somewhere.”
“True. I started in my dad’s shop, sweeping floors and running across the street for cheeseburgers.” She laughed. “Looking back, I still believe I learned the most in those years because I learned about the business and the art.”
“That’s fundamental. Have you ever thought about opening your own shop?”
She scoffed lightly and then froze when Jack snorted, “Lex is a lot of things, but organized isn’t one of them.”
“Hey.” Lex cried, sitting up and pulling her hands free of the man. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“Impossible with your heavy hand.” He cracked one eye open and smirked, giving himself away to his lie.
“Anyway.” Lex rolled her eyes and looked over at me. “He’s right, I can’t imagine keeping all the moving parts of a business in line and running smoothly. I manage a lot around here, but Dallin’s mind is always working at hyper speed.” She shuddered, “It’s exhausting just thinking about it.”
“I feel that in my soul.” I relaxed back into my seat, “My boyfriends own a garage, and they primarily work on custom design jobs, and I used to run the books and do the admin stuff when they first opened and my brain literally melted by the end of the day.” I paused when I noticed Lex and Jack both stared at me, silently just blinking for a moment. “What?”
“Did she say boyfriends?” Jack raised one bushy brow as he leaned toward Lex like they were having a private conversation.
“They, to be exact.” Lex added with a wicked smirk on her face. “And now it all makes sense.”
“What does?” I scowled suddenly on edge.
Lex shook her head and then turned back to Jack’s arm. “You’re all done.” She cocked her head, looking down at it. “I think it’s my favorite piece that I’ve done to date.”
“You say that to all the boys.” Jack pursed his lips, joking as he got out of the chair and went to the mirror .
But I knew without a doubt that she was telling the truth, because the piece was so moving and meaningful. There was a large portrait of Arlo, dead center of Jack’s upper arm, and the detail was insane, right down to the reflective light in his eyes from the flash of the camera taking the picture. Then, all around the centerpiece, from his shoulder to his wrist, on all sides of his arm, there were pieces of his life and journey as a police K-9.
Pictures of him as a pup, dragging a toy twice his size. One of him laying upside down sleeping in the middle of a bed. There was one of him riding in a motorcycle sidecar with doggie goggles on and Jack driving, and one of him licking an ice cream cone out of a little boy’s hands as he giggled and grinned back at the pup. Then there was the police badge for his department with a significant black band across the center, symbolizing the loss of an officer. The dates of his first night of duty and his end of watch date, also the date of his death.
“I’m at a loss for words, Lex.” Jack blinked rapidly to keep the moisture in his eyes at bay. “There’s never been a more beautiful tribute to all the different roles Arlo had in his life. He was so much more than just an officer and you really captured that. I’ll cherish this for the rest of my life.”
“It was an honor to be a part of.” Lex smiled sadly, rubbing her hand over his back affectionately. “I hope your boys love being able to see their buddy whenever they see your arm now.”
“They’re going to love it.” Jack agreed, pulling lex in for a big hug and holding onto her for a minute.
It was beautiful to witness the exchange of such a gift between artist and canvas. The weight of being responsible for something so powerful mystified me.
I hated to interrupt the moment between them, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not getting pictures of the piece in complete detail, to share with the world in honor of both K-9 Arlo and Lex’s talents.
“Do you mind if I document this?” I held my camera up, fully prepared to capture the tattoo today unlike yesterday, and Jack proudly stuck his arm out for me.
“How do you want me? ”
“Just like that.” I nodded to the beautiful backdrop behind him as Lex adjusted the lighting for me in the room.
It photographed amazingly, and as I worked, Lex watched over my shoulder, approving, and recommending different angles and shots until we were both confident we got them all. “Thank you so much, again Lex.”
“I wouldn’t have had it any other way, Jack. Come back whenever you want more.” She patted his shoulder as he headed out.
“You know me, every couple of months I darken your doorstep.” He joked, saluting us once as he left.
With him gone, the room instantly felt smaller and sadder, like the weight of the day and the meaning behind it was heavier to burden without Jack’s charismatic presence there to buffer it. He was the one grieving, yet he had joked and lightened the mood for us, as though our feelings were important.
Lex collapsed into the black wing-back chair I sat in all day and sighed, and I knew she felt it too. “I’m not really sure what to do with myself now.” She admitted before looking up at me where I stood by the wall. “It seems wrong to just go on with my day, even if it is already evening.”
Jack had been a trooper, sitting through nearly eight hours of tattooing with only one brief lunch break and a few stretch breaks, more for Lex’s well being than his own.
And Lex, dang. The endurance and stamina to tattoo that long was extraordinary and magical to watch.
“Do you have any other appointments today?” I sincerely hoped she wasn’t booked for anything else; she deserved a break.
“God no,” She scoffed and then stood up and started stretching her body out, bending over to touch her toes and then folding her arms over her chest. “I knew even if I physically could tattoo after that, which I can’t, I wouldn’t want to mentally. I think clearing a whole day for Arlo was the only way to handle his tribute.”
“I agree.” I warmed at her tenderness for an animal she never met. Her exterior was hard, yet her personality was soft and thoughtful whenever she showed me a piece. “How about you let me buy you dinner?” I asked, not even processing my words before they were out of my mouth. “You hardly ate anything all day, and it’s the least I can do for your hospitality today.” She watched me with that penetrating stare, making me wonder if I once again overstepped the boundaries of this professional arrangement like I had last night when I asked her about her relationship status with her client. “You can say no!” I hurried on, “I just thought maybe—”
“I’d love to.” She cut me off, taking pity on me as I started rambling and back peddling so fast, I was sure to land on my ass. “But not because I feel you owe me anything. But mostly because I’m starving and if I don’t eat soon, I’ll turn into a wild, angry monster.” Her eyes widened dramatically as she curled her lip up and pretended to show me her claws.
I giggled at her animation and felt a little more confident about my invitation. I turned around to grab my things. “We can’t have that. There’s this fantastic Mexican place down the street if you’re up for some tacos?” When I faced her again, there was that predatory look in her eyes that instantly sucked all the air from the room like it had last night when we were alone.
Then her red lips curled up again into a grin that made my knees weak. “I love tacos.”
Something about the way she said the word, made me think she wasn’t talking about food anymore, but instead of embarrassing myself by asking for her to clarify, I swallowed down a gulp of anticipation and silently nodded for her to grab her things and lead the way out of the shop.
She meant food, right?
What on earth else could she be talking about?
I thought watching Lex tattoo was a sight to behold with her movements and grace, but it didn’t hold a candle to watching her eat. She was one of those people who ate with their entire soul.
She closed her eyes and groaned when she took the first bite and danced in her seat on the high-top chair where we sat against the wall in the back corner of the busy place. Not an inch of red lipstick was out of place as she ate her first taco either.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Sorry.” She smirked, holding her napkin over her mouth as she chewed. “I was starving.”
“No.” I blinked, focusing on my own untouched food, “I love it.” I picked up my own shredded chicken and guacamole taco and took a bite. She was right, the food was damn good and deserved to be praised after a long day. “Gosh, I have to come here more often.”
“How’d you find it?” She looked around before taking a sip of her margarita. It was an old industrial space made to look like a trendy garage, with big overhead glass garage doors that opened up to let the two environments inside and out mingle while patrons visited. “I didn’t know it was even here.”
“Knox found it by total accident one day.” I grinned at the memory. “He was meeting Dallin for something after work one night and stopped in here for a drink before.” I shrugged, “He came back the next night because of how good the food was.”
“And Knox is—” She paused, raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“My boyfriend.” I blushed because I was so absolutely in love with him, that I couldn’t help but go full schoolgirl anytime I talked about him. Even if we’d been together going on ten years.
“One of two—” She left the ending open and grinned at me. “I need to hear that story.”
I opened my mouth to talk about Knox and Brody, but for some reason, talking about them with Lex made me feel slightly guilty. I felt as if I had been caught with my hand in the hypothetical cookie jar, and I knew I was going to get in trouble.
So I blew it off as best as I could, “Knox, Brody and I were all best friends in high school and eventually we kind of morphed into a new dynamic and haven’t looked back since.”
“I didn’t mean to pry.” She straightened up, wiping her hands on her napkin. “If anyone in the world knows what it’s like to be unconventional,” She waved her hand over her appearance, “It’s me. So I should have thought better about digging into it. I’m sorry.”
“No!” I sighed and smiled at her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I guess I haven’t always gotten the warmest responses from people finding out I’m in a polyamorous relationship. Often people think I’m a sister wife in a weird cult and even after they find out I’m the luckiest girl in the world who is loved by two men equally with zero competition or love triangles included, I’m left feeling icky from it all. So I’m naturally reserved, but I don’t need to be with you. Because I know you’d never make me feel odd for it.”
“You’re not odd for finding love, no matter the label.” She asserted, taking a sip of her drink.
“What about you?” I asked, toeing that line of weird comfort I’d felt in her presence. “Are you in a relationship? Or two?” I joked, trying to lighten the conversation.
“Ha.” She chuckled, “I’m most definitely not a relationship kind of girl. It took me a long time to figure out what I was in life, but I knew pretty early what I wasn’t. And monogamous or straight, wasn’t it.”
“So you’re poly?” I questioned with surprise.
“Opposite actually.” She shrugged, “I can’t stand the idea of being committed to anyone ever, let a lone multiple people.” She leaned forward on the table. “How do you do it with two?”
Now it was my turn to laugh, “I’d like to say it’s hard, given that Brody and Knox are both over the top sometimes, but it’s really not. We all kind of have our role, and it works.”
“What’s your role in the throuple?” She asked and then held her finger up, “Wait, are they together? Or just with you?”
“We’re all together.” Taking a bite of food, I went on, “I guess, in technical terms, I’m the submissive one. I more naturally follow their lead without hesitation.” I hesitated for a second, “Brody’s the alpha if I had to put a label on him. He’s always in charge. Like always.” Feeling the effects of the margarita, I giggled and relaxed the day away. “And Knox kind of falls in between those two roles somewhere. Some days he’s in charge with Brody and taking the lead, and other days he falls in line with me and is easier going. He balances Brody and I out in a way.” I shrugged. “God, I never really looked at our relationship from the outside like I am right now, but it’s kind of cool.”
Lex widened her eyes, “You mean you’re enlightened by what you see?”
“Yeah, in a way I am. I always go to Knox as mediator when Brody’s pissing me off and I think Brody does too, and it makes more sense now, because Knox is the levelheaded one.”
“He’s the switch.” She mused, with a smirk on her face. “In my experience, relationships always work best when there’s a switch involved.”
I contemplated that. “Why do you think that?”
She shrugged, chewing a bite and then washing it down. “I guess it makes it easier for everyone to get what they need from the partner when that partner can fill multiple roles.” She waved her hand toward me, “In your case, when you need someone soft and reasonable, Knox is that person for you. Or when Brody needs someone to challenge him and put him in place—”
“He’s that person for him.” I finished for her, completely enlightened. “Interesting. Did you think you’d be dissecting a poly relationship over tacos tonight?”
She snorted and covered her mouth, “Can’t say it was on my bingo card at all.”
I tipped my head back and laughed, loving the easiness of her humor.
“Well, that’s a laugh I haven’t heard in a minute.”
I whipped my head around to find Knox himself walking toward our table with a beer bottle in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face. God, he looked so freaking good. Tall and built like a man who used his body every day for work, with tight blue jeans on and a dark green t-shirt that hugged his enormous arms, showing off his tattoos.
Tattoos I had a much bigger appreciation for after watching Lex spend hours crafting ideas into permanent art.
“Hi!” I gushed, flinging myself off my stool and into his arms. “Hi. Hi. Hi.” I repeated as he caught me and held me tight to his chest. He smelled so good after going so long without him. “What are you doing here?”
“I just got back into town, found the house empty, so I came to get some food until you got off work.” He glanced at Lex over my shoulder and then raised a brow at me. “Or until I found you in a bar, drinking and eating tacos with someone I don’t know.”
“Lex,” I turned back to the table and found Lex watching us with a mask of indifference on her face that wasn’t there a minute ago. “This is Knox. He’s been out of town for the last two weeks. I had no idea he’d show up here. Knox, this is Alexi Donovan, the tattoo artist I’m interviewing for the paper. She works with Dallin.”
“Nice to meet you.” Lex held her hand out to him with a blank smile on her face and Knox took her hand, shaking it.
“Pleasure’s all mine. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He said thickly, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up at his tone. I looked up at him, confused, but they both just gave each other a lingering stare.
“I thought you weren’t coming back until Saturday.” I drew his attention back to me, catching the way his nostrils flared slightly before he smiled and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me tight to him.
“I missed you. I didn’t want to spend another night apart.” He leaned down and kissed me, sliding his hand over my cheek and around the back of my neck, anchoring me to him so I couldn’t pull back. Not that I would have, because I missed him so much, I ached for him. But I also was super aware of where we were and who was sitting a few feet away, watching us. I just didn’t understand the feelings burning inside of me.
“I missed you too,” I pulled back, creating just enough space between our lips to speak. “Pull up a chair, I’ll go order your favorite.”
“I was thinking more like we could get the hell out of here and go home.” He slid his hand down my back to my ass and squeezed. “I missed you, Han.”
“I know.” I sighed, blushing from his unusual display of affection, and feeling torn about what I was going to do.
“You can have my chair; I was just about to leave.” Lex interjected, forcing Knox to acknowledge her again. Something ignited inside of me as she pushed her mostly uneaten meal to the edge of the table and tossed back the rest of her drink .
“No.” I panicked, hating how anxious the thought of her leaving because of Knox’s arrival made me. “Stay. You haven’t even finished. And you were starving when we got here.” I smiled, hoping she’d change her mind.
“It’s all good.” She gave me a nod and stood up, turning to Knox again. “I’ve taken up enough of her time the last few days.” She glanced my way. “Have a good night.”
“Well, wait.” I chuckled, running my hand over my hair as I fought to come up with something else to say. “What time do you want me at the shop tomorrow?” I paused, waiting for her reply, but she hesitated too long, and I knew what she was going to say.
“I think you’ve got enough to write the article. You interviewed me nonstop today.”
“I don’t.” Cutting her off, “Not near enough. I need more pictures of your art and more about the impact being here in Nashville has made on you, and how you’re dealing with the growing concerns amongst public officials that someday the appeal of vacationing here will fizzle out and it will be a ghost town—”
“Hannah.” She spoke firmly, with a stern look on her face. That same damn look Brody gave me when he was about to give me a command. “It’s okay.” She walked around us and then turned back before she left. “If you need anything else from the shop, give Dallin a call. Have a good night.”