Was he serious about my artwork or was he trying to get me to stop going into his tattoo parlor?
My head was a mess, so I drove around for a few hours and had a cheap fast-food lunch. I still wasn’t ready to face anyone, not really, so I went to the beach and stared at Lake Ontario. Soon it would start getting cold and days like this would be a thing of the past. As the afternoon dragged on, I finally started to be able to take deep breaths without feeling as if I was dying, so I pointed my car toward Barber’s shop.
PD was just upset that I’d come to his house again. That had to be it. He didn’t mean anything he’d said. My gut churned. Or did he?
Luckily, I found street parking near the shop. I sat there with the AC blasting on my hot face for what felt like an hour as I replayed the clusterfuck at PD’s house on a loop in my mind. After a while, I finally managed to drag myself out and head down the sidewalk to the shop.
Part of me wanted to go inside and complain to Barber, but he would just give me shit, too, and tell me that PD should’ve beat my ass for what I’d said to Will, which was fair. Sometimes it was hard for me to remember Will still had days when he wasn’t okay because usually when I saw him, he was fine. Or at least, he seemed fine. Hell, Barber might even give me some shit work to do just for bothering PD again.
No, if I wanted to make up for pissing off PD and show him I was ready to be his apprentice, I needed to do something to prove myself to him.
How was this my life? It wasn’t fair.
The gears in my brain were turning when I walked by the big window that looked into the shop. My feet stopped withoutconsulting the rest of me. I caught myself on the window, palms splayed on the hot glass. KC was sitting in a chair in front of Barber, who was finishing up a trim. And he was laughing about something. So was Barber.
KC was as sexy as always, short red hair glinting in the sunlight that filtered through into the shop. His cheeks creased with laughter and his biceps flexed in his black V-neck T-shirt as he laced his fingers together.
God, those arms were something else.
Hair was getting on KC’s shirt because Barber had the black cape on him crooked. Part of me was happy to have such a good view of KC, but he would be uncomfortable later. I bit my bottom lip. Would he go shower off the hair? My cock got involved, nudging at my boxers, as soon as I imagined soapsuds on those muscles.
Warm heat filled in that spot in my stomach that PD had hollowed out with his awful words. It felt so good to look at KC that it made my heart hurt. My pulse rushed in my veins and my tongue turned to stone. My ab muscles went tight and I could barely breathe. It had been this way since the very first day I’d met him when we were both still in high school. I spied on him for a little while longer before I started feeling like a creep and went inside.
“What do you think?” Barber set his trimmer down on the counter with one hand while undoing the cape on KC’s neck with the other. He removed the cape, dumping red hair on the floor, and shot me a crooked smile as he spotted me because he knew I would clean up his mess. “Could you get the broom?”
“Right on schedule,” I mumbled, but instead of doing that, I got a damp towel out of the warmer along the far wall. My heart flip-flopped as I took the towel over to KC and gently wrapped the cloth around his neck.
“Oh yeah. This is the best part,” he said with a big grin. His tone gave my dick a few ideas and it tingled and firmed up while he tipped his head forward and exposed more of his solid neck. When I glanced up, my face was flushed, but KC’s eyes were closed, so that was fine.
“Glad you like it.”
“Thanks, Oli. You’re so good at that.”
White-hot heat punched me in the stomach and slithered lower to make my dick pulse. Shit, if I wasn’t careful, I would melt into a puddle at his feet.
Barber was smirking when I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, and despite being one of the laziest people on earth, he’d grabbed the broom and was sweeping up the hair on the floor to give us some privacy.
“Y-you’re welcome. Anytime.” I stepped back and scowled at Barber, who stuck his tongue out at me. Then, he made a kissy face, and I froze in horror. I would stab him with his own scissors if he said something.
Stab himdead.
“So, you’re spiffed up for your big date. Where are you going to take him?” Barber asked as he bent down to sweep the hair onto a dustpan.
“Date?” I asked, staring at KC in the mirror. He didn’t open his eyes, too busy enjoying the warm towel. The bliss on his face ravaged my insides and had me crossing my hands over my crotch to make sure my problem stayed hidden. Or would it draw more attention? I shoved my hands in my pockets.
“Yeah! Can you believe it? The hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life asked me out after I splattered an entire smoothie on my shirt. It was such a gross mess.” He chuckled, and the warm sound stroked across my skin, lighter than a kiss, raising goose bumps. Even as the horror of what he was saying sank intomy brain, I couldn’t stop wallowing in how much I loved being around him. “I’m done with the towel. It’s starting to get cold.”
I felt like a robot as I peeled the cloth off him and took it over to the hamper next to the warmer to drop it in.
“He was covered in tattoos.”
“Oh, those kinds of guys are the best lay.” Barber leaned the broom on the counter and ran a finger down his arm, showing off his tattoos. “You should pound him into the mattress. I bet he’d love it!”
I thought about getting that towel out of the hamper and strangling my boss with it.
“You’re going out with some guy you just met?” I tried to make the question sound casual, but Barber cut a long look in my direction.
KC hopped out of the chair, still grinning. “Yeah, why not? What do you think of the cut? It’s a little shorter than I usually get.” He blasted me with that amazing smile of his and the urge to just crawl across the floor to him smacked me.
