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“What did he do, Gracie?” Hawk demands, moving toward me.
“Um …” Who are we talking about? I lose all train of thought when my eyes take all of him in. Fudge! I want to touch his hard arms. I remember how rock hard they are when he carried me and held me for most of the night. “What?”
Matt makes a snickering sound but doesn’t say anything because Hawk shoots him a killer glare. “Did Matt do something to make you feel uncomfortable, sweetheart?”
Oh, Matt. “No, no I’m fine.” He did, but I don’t want Hawk to get upset. When he stops just a few inches from me I have to ball my hands into fists to keep from reaching for him. “Hawk … can we talk?” I want—need—to apologize to him again.
“Of course.” He holds out his hand, and I don’t even hesitate to take it. “Eat and go home, Matt,” he calls over his shoulder as he leads me into the living room. Hawk sits on the couch and pulls me down beside him.
His hard, jean clad thigh brushes against mine, and I can’t quite contain my shiver. Fudge! Just that innocent contact electrocutes me. “What’s wrong?” he asks, looking concerned.
I bite my lip, feeling my shame consume me again. “I didn’t mean what I said this morning. I would never think those things about you … It just surprised me to find out that you belonged to a motorcycle club.”
His eyes darken slightly but he gives me a small smile. “I know, Gracie. Stop worrying about it, okay?”
I try to return his smile. “Are we okay? Still friends?”
The smile turns into a full on grin. “I don’t normally have female friends, sweetheart. But yeah, we’re still friends.”
Chapter 11
Bash
As soon as Raven is done with Razor’s books, I take her over to Uncle Jack’s. I make sure that Jack is going to be around long enough for her to do her work, and then I’ll head back to get the ink on my back I had told Hawk and Raider I was going to get.
Spider is alone when I get back, still munching down on the chili cheese fries that I had brought him back from Aggie’s. As peace offerings go, it’s not much, but I know that where Spider is concerned those fucking fries are the bridge we need to mend our friendship.
“Dude, you already got that girl’s name on your chest. What else do you want?”
I straddle the chair and pull my T-shirt over my head. Raven’s name takes up the left side of my chest, but I want something more. I need to show her that for me, she’s it. “I want a raven across my shoulders. The wings spread wide. The eyes green—like hers.”
Spider shoots me a smirk and turns to his art table to sketch the design I want. He has skills, that’s for damn sure. Thirty minutes later he’s prepping my back and setting up the ink station for easy access to the colors he’ll need. “This is almost like old times,” he comments, slapping on his black gloves.
“Yeah.” I nod. There were plenty of Saturdays when I’d sit right here, letting Spider ink me to pass the hours that Raven worked on the Originals’ books. The tattoo on my chest is the last one Spider gave me. It’s also the one that tipped the scales and told Raven’s brothers that my hanging around her so much wasn’t exact
ly all innocent like they thought.
I glance down at the scar on my arm, grimacing at the ugly, welted line from the surgery that put my arm back together after Jet had finished with me. I wouldn’t change anything about that beating, except that I never would have let Jet’s emotional beat down affect me so badly. If anything, that had been the last straw and the reason why I had left Raven behind. Jet was right, I’m not good enough for her. I’m not man enough to take care of her. I don’t deserve Raven.
But I will try my damnedest to always be the man she wants. The one that she craves. The one she can’t live without.
I don’t feel the sting of the needle as Spider inks my back. I barely hear the buzzing of the tattoo gun as he spends the next two hours shading and perfecting the art. We barely speak during that time. Spider always gets in the zone when he’s tattooing and I’m too lost in my own thoughts to care.
Finally, he wipes my back down and puts some ointment on it. “Okay, dickhead. My hands are all cramped up. That’s all you get today.” He starts cleaning up his stuff, and I stand to look at my back in the mirror that takes up one wall of the front room. “Well?”
The way he’s designed the eyes to look so much like Raven’s actual eyes—the shape and color—set the raven off perfectly. On the raven’s foot it says: Property of Angel’s Halo Bash. The brand that Raven should have already had on her back, proclaiming her as mine. “You’re a fucking genius, man.”
“Let’s get out of here. I need a beer.” Spider tosses his gloves in the trash and heads for the front door.
“How much do I owe you?” I reach for my wallet.
“About a six pack and lunch for a week.” Spider grins as we step outside and he locks the door behind us. “I’ve never charged you before, not about to start now.”
“Fine. But make it a twelve pack. I don’t want people thinking I’m your favorite or something.” I pull out my keys to my hog. “I have to pick Raven up from Uncle Jack’s. You go on over to the bar and we will meet you there.”
“She’s going to see the new ink and you won’t be getting to the bar anytime soon.” Spider gives me another smirk as he climbs on his hog. “So if I don’t see you in a few, I’ll see you before the run.”
I shoot him the finger, but I have a smirk on my face as I head in the opposite direction.
