Chapter 7 #2
The air in my lungs evaporated when he stood really close to me. I looked into his eyes, and for a second, I couldn’t hear any other sound in the building. I could only focus on Kane and the way he looked at me.
“Make sure whenever you do, you let me be the one to pop your cherry.”
My mind didn’t register what he meant; instead, it went straight to the gutter, reminding me that I was damn near a born-again virgin. At least that was what it felt like.
“Okay.” His work was good, so I would let him do it. It would give me another opportunity to pick his brain.
“Do you have a taste for anything?” His gaze traveled to my mouth as his tongue swiped across his bottom lip.
I told him what I wanted, and he pulled out his phone to order it. We moved to the couch while we waited for the food.
“So how did you get into tattooing?”
“I started drawing when I was young. I got my first tattoo years ago, and it was something about the needle digging into my skin that gave me a rush. I decided that was what I wanted to do, so I found an apprenticeship, then I worked in another shop for a while, until I opened this place.” He looked around the room.
I heard how tattoos could be addictive. I also knew some people liked to get tattoos to relieve stress, and I always thought they were crazy. How could pain help me?
“That’s cool. What made you call me?”
Kane rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the wall across from where we sat. There was a window in the room that overlooked a small pond, unlike the other rooms he showed me.
“To be honest, I don’t know. It’s like when you are around, I feel shit. I can’t explain it right now. Just know I enjoy your company.” He moved the toothpick to the other side of his mouth.
I didn’t know how to respond to what he said.
“Honestly, I’ve gotten used to being around you, and you aren’t so bad,” I teased.
“Damn, you thought I was bad?”
“Well, yeah. I’ve heard things, especially how you run through women.”
Kane chuckled and turned to face me. A second later, his laughter stopped, and he got serious.
“I’m not that bad. It takes a lot to keep my attention, but for some reason, you got it.”
There was a knock on the door before I could ask what he meant by that. Kane got up and grabbed the food from the delivery driver. He tipped him, then came back over to the couch.
“So why are you single?” Kane asked as he took the food from the bags.
“What makes you think I am?”
Kane placed the platters on the small table in front of us. The aroma of the curry chicken and rice made my stomach rumble.
“Because if you had a man, he wouldn’t let you work in the bar of a motorcycle club.”
“Let?”
“Yeah. Let. Not saying it to be controlling, but no real man would have his woman working in that environment. A real man would have taken care of you to give you time to grieve and work if you wanted to.”
I wish I could have the luxury of not working or at least having an option if I didn’t want to work.
“So if you were in a serious relationship, you would give the woman the opportunity not to work?”
“Damn straight. It would be her choice, but I would voice my opinion if it were somewhere like a bar or club.”
“What if it were your bar?”
I scooped some chicken and rice onto my fork and put it in my mouth. I wasn’t sure where Kane ordered the food from, but I would find out because it was so good.
“My bar would be different because I’m there a lot of the time, and niggas know she’d be off-limits, so I wouldn’t have to worry about her there.”
“Interesting. Do you think you’ll even settle down?”
He chewed the food in his mouth, then wiped it.
The toothpick he had in his mouth sat on a napkin on the table.
I noticed it was a jar of toothpicks on his desk, along with a bunch of pen tops.
There was also a jar of hard candy. I wanted to ask him about it but refrained. I was more curious about his response.
“I do think so. When? I really don’t know.”
His response bothered me for reasons I didn’t want to admit to myself.
“You still didn’t answer my question, though. Why are you still single?”
“The last guy I was with was trash. That’s it, that’s all.”
There was no need to elaborate, because my ex was irrelevant.
“Understood. Did you like your food?”
“Yes. I’ll have to get something from there again.”
Kane closed up his container, then put it back in the bag it came in. I still had some left, but I was full, so I closed my container as well.
“As long as you don’t have it with another nigga, we good.”
“And what happens if I do?” I challenged.
The smile that spread across Kane’s face should have made me nervous, but it didn’t.
“I don’t think you want to find out, Munch. Oh, I heard about what happened earlier. You got more spunk than I thought.”
I was surprised he waited as long as he did to bring up the incident with Drizzle. I wasn’t sure who told him, but I wouldn’t put it past her if she called him herself. She seemed like the type who would tattle like he could do something to me.
“Is there a problem I hurt one of your whores?”
Kane chuckled. “Nah. I wish I had seen it. Probably would have my dick hard.”
My breath hitched in my throat. This man just said whatever came to mind, and I wasn’t sure how to take it.
“Anybody ever tell you that you have no filter?”
“All the time.” He laughed. “Thanks for coming to eat with me.”
“Damn, you’re putting me out?”
Kane got up, walked over to the small bathroom, and washed his hands. When he came out, he walked over to the table where his tattoo supplies were and pulled out some stuff.
“Not at all. I do have a client coming in. If they are cool with it, you can stay and watch me work.” He winked.
I didn’t have anything to do, so I told him I would stay. I needed something to take my mind off what I saw on that flash drive, and Kane was the perfect distraction.