Chapter 6
six
Ryder is sitting at the table across from me, boots kicked up on an empty chair, unwrapping a turkey sandwich. He glances up, giving me a look that says he knows there’s something going on with me, but he’s waiting for me to bring it up.
I lean against the counter watching yesterday’s leftovers heat up in the microwave. The smell of coffee lingers with the tang of antiseptic and ink, familiar smells that are a permanent part of the vibe here at Skin & Ink Tattoo.
“You gonna tell me why you’ve been glaring holes through the microwave for the past five minutes?” he asks.
“Maybe I’m just hangry,” I mutter, grabbing a fork from the drawer.
He smirks. “You’re so full of shit.” He takes a bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly. “You only get this quiet when you’re pissed off or you need to get laid.”
I shoot him a glare. “Can’t a guy heat up his lunch without being psychoanalyzed?”
Unfazed by my sharp retort, he shrugs. “Not when that guy’s been pacing the shop all morning like a caged wolf. What’s up?”
Exhaling through my nose, I drag my hands down my face. “It’s Sasha.”
Pausing, Ryder sets down his sandwich and leans back in his chair. “Oh.”
The microwave dings and I take out my lunch.
“Yeah. Oh.” I drop into the seat across from him. “Kinda ran into her yesterday morning.”
Amusement sparks in his eyes. “Ran into her or went looking?”
“Ran into,” I bite out, stabbing at a piece of chicken. “Turns out she bought the house next door to mine.”
He arches a brow. “Seriously?”
“Yup.” I point my fork at him before he can say what I know is coming. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” His lips twitch. “Say it’s fate? Karma?”
I scowl. “You’ve been hanging out with your girlfriend way too much.”
“Maybe. Noia’s good at what she does. When it comes to how I use my words, I’ve learned a lot.”
The laugh that escapes my chest sounds more like a frustrated grunt. “Six months,” I finally say. “Six damn months, and I still can’t get that night or her out of my head.”
“So what happened?”
My pulse kicks up just thinking about it, and I give him a wry smile. “Well, I was minding my own business, playing video games, when I heard someone struggling to open the moving pod that’d been dropped off next door. So, being the gentleman that I am, I went over to offer my help.”
“And?” he prompts, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table.
I shake my head, recalling the look of surprise on Sasha’s face when she saw me. “I had no idea she was the one moving in. Twice in two days I’d been woken up by moving trucks and never once did I see anyone other than the movers.”
“What are the odds?” Ryder muses, a hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
I shrug, trying to play it cool even though my heart is racing just thinking about it. “So, I helped her unload the rest of her stuff. We talked a little. Turns out she’s opening a Summit Studio across the street.”
“Actually, now that I think about it, Noia mentioned something about it a few months ago.”
Nearly choking on my chicken, my jaw drops. “Are you fucking kidding me? You knew?”
He holds up his hands in defense. “Whoa, man. I didn’t know she was moving in next door to you.”
“But you knew she was setting up her business across the street?” I toss my fork down. “What the hell, Rye? We’re supposed to be best friends. That’s the kind of shit you tell someone. Especially when you know what went down between us.”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” he shrugs, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes. “Besides, Noia mentioned it in passing. I figured you’d find out eventually.”
“Eventually? Like when I just happen to look out the window and see her hanging up the fucking sign?” I run a hand through my hair in frustration. “Jesus Christ, man.”
“Look, I’m sorry.” Ryder leans back in his chair, studying me with stormy gray eyes. “But let’s get real here. Would it have changed anything if I’d told you? What would you have done?”
I open my mouth to argue, but nothing comes out.
He’s right, and we both know it. What would I have done?
Tried to stop her? Confronted her? Neither of those options would’ve gone over well.
Not to mention, it’s just not my style. I’m not supposed to give a shit.
At the time, I’d planned on leaving that night behind me.
But the universe? That bitch seemed to have other plans.
“That’s what I thought,” he says, a smug grin playing on his lips. “You’ve been chubbed-up about her since the moment you first saw her.”
I flip him off and take a sip of my Coke as Lizzy walks in.
Picking up on the tension, her green eyes dart back and forth between us. “Who died?” Pulling out a chair, she takes a seat and starts unpacking her lunch. “You guys wanna tell me what’s going on in here?”
No longer feeling chatty, I stab another piece of chicken.
Ryder clears his throat. “Jax found out Sasha is his new next door neighbor.”
“And,” I cut in through gritted teeth, “she’s opening a Summit Studio across the street. Which apparently everyone knew about but me.”
Lizzy freezes mid-bite, fork hovering in the air. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. Oh shit is right,” I mutter.
Setting her fork down carefully, Lizzy asks, “Did you talk to her?”
“Yup.” I tell her about what went down.
“Ah.” A knowing look flashes across her face. “That explains the attitude.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “What attitude?”
Ryder snorts, and I shoot him a glare.
“For what it’s worth,” she says, taking a sip of her water. “We had a girls’ night at her place. It seemed she had no idea you lived next door. So we told her.”
My head snaps up.
She pops a cherry tomato into her mouth.
“It is so not cool that I’m the last one to know,” I growl, throwing my hands up. “Some friends you are.”
Okay, so, yeah. I knew Sasha was moving to Lakeside. Ryder brought it up a couple of months ago. But had I known she was going to move in next door, it might have given me a chance to figure some shit out instead of being blindsided.
Despite her being in my head for months, I had no plans whatsoever to try to get in her pants again. At least, not until I saw her again yesterday.
And the last thing I’m going to do is tell these two wack jobs I plan on making her mine. Maybe I can play into the annoyance a little more to throw them off.
“Besides, it’s not like we were hiding it from you on purpose,” Lizzy says in defense.
“Right.” I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Don’t be such a drama queen,” she sighs, rolling her eyes. “Why’s it such a big deal anyway?”
Ryder snorts. “They hooked up at the anniversary party.”
“Dude!” I glare at him again.
“What? It’s not like it’s a big secret. I’m sure the whole town knows by now.”
“The whole town doesn’t know,” I argue incredulously, though I’m not totally convinced.
Fucking hell.
Lizzy smiles and shrugs. “Okay, so maybe not the whole town.” She waves her pointer finger in the air between her and Ryder. “But we had a pretty good idea.”
“You guys keeping track of me now or something?”
“Oh, come on,” Lizzy quips, shaking her head. “Do you really think after spending the whole night dancing and hanging out with her, we wouldn’t notice when you both completely disappeared for like half an hour?”
Ryder looks at me as he points a finger at Lizzy. “Exactly.”
“Not to mention how you moped around for a couple of weeks after she left.” Lizzy is on a roll. “I figured you were over it when I saw you leave with that hot bartender from The Brew. What’s her name? Melody?”
“Whatever. I was just trying to get Sasha outta my head by getting with someone else,” I volley back.
“And look how well that turned out for you,” Ryder chuckles.
“She did get all weird when I brought it up,” Lizzy sighs.
Suddenly very interested in what she has to say, I lean in. “Weird how?”
Clearly enjoying having the upper hand, she smirks. “Just, you know… flustered. Blushing. Trying to change the subject.”
Something warm unfurls in my chest. So… It seems I’m not the only one still messed up about what happened between us.
“Why would you even bring it up?”
“It was girls’ night.” She looks away, but not before I notice her eyes get all shifty. It’s her tell when she’s being evasive. “Women talk.”
“Come on, Liz. There’s something you’re not telling me. How did the subject even come up in the first place?”
Looking up at the ceiling in exasperation, she closes her eyes. “She made us watch a Rowan Cole movie.”
Uh oh. Not too many people know about Lizzy’s connection to the famous actor.
“Anyway,” she sighs. “When I got weird about it, she started asking a bunch of questions, and instead of answering I threw her questions back in her face.”
“You didn’t,” I groan, dropping my forehead into my hands.
“I just pushed for details to verify what I was sure I already knew.”
“Jesus, Liz.”
“What? She was getting all up in my business. Plus, I wanted to see her reaction.” Completely unapologetic, she shrugs. “And boy, did she give me one.”
I can’t help myself. “What else did she say?”
“Not much.” She takes another bite of her salad, chewing slowly, savoring the fact she’s making me wait. Figures.
“Come on,” I say, frustrated. “Don’t hold out on me.”
“Just that it was a one-time thing,” she answers with a shrug. “But between you and me? I think she’s full of shit. The way she got all twitchy when I mentioned your name...” Lizzy wiggles her eyebrows, making me shake my head and huff out a laugh. “I’d say there’s definitely something there.”
Ryder chuckles. “Noia says the same thing.”
My heart does a stupid flip-flop when my mind flashes back to our make-out sesh this morning—how she melted against me before freaking out and pushing me away. Yeah, there’s something there. Whether it’s just residual or ongoing, I’m not sure. But I’m going to make it my mission to find out.
“So what are you gonna do?” Ryder asks, wadding up his sandwich wrapper and tossing it in the trash.
“Not sure yet.” I start stabbing at my food again. “She made it pretty clear she’s not interested.”
Lizzy snorts out a laugh. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”
“This is different.”
“Different how?” Ryder challenges.
Suddenly not hungry anymore, I toss my fork into my half-empty bowl. “Because I actually give a shit about her, okay? She’s not…”
Damn it. There goes my promise to keep shit to myself.
Shoving my face into my hands, the rest of my answer comes out muffled. “She’s not just some random hookup. Okay?”
The room goes quiet. I can feel both of them staring at me, but I refuse to look up.
“Holy shit,” Lizzy finally says. “You’re serious.”
“Yeah, well.” I shrug. Uncomfortable with how vulnerable I feel all of a sudden, I sit back in my chair. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. She said she’s not interested in hooking up again.”
“Did she actually say that?” Ryder asks.
I think for a second. “Not in so many words. She said being neighbors with benefits would be a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Technically, that’s not a no,” Lizzy points out.
I look up to find her grinning at me. “You think?”
“Trust me,” she says. “She’s into you.”
“Then why push me away?”
“Probably because she’s scared?” She says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You do have a reputation, you know. And I have a feeling she’s been hurt in the past.”
I frown. “What reputation?”
I know exactly what reputation.
Ryder laughs. “Dude. You’ve never been one for long-term relationships.”
“Two commitment-phobes living next door to each other?” Liz chimes in. “Recipe for disaster is right.”
Thankfully, they finally shift the conversation to upcoming appointments and new design ideas, while my thoughts keep shifting back to how Sasha’s lips tasted like honey, and about the little gasp she made when I pressed her up against the counter.
The rest of the day goes by pretty quick. I finish a half-sleeve on a regular client and sketch out some designs for tomorrow’s appointments. By the time I lock up the shop, the sun is setting.
As I walk to my truck, I glance across the street at the empty storefront, soon to be a Summit Studio. The windows are covered with brown paper, and there’s a small sign in the corner that reads “Coming Soon.”
I wonder what she’s doing right now. Is she still unpacking? Maybe I should drop by, see if she needs any more help.
Nah. Better to just bide my time. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve, and I plan on using them all.