I thought of the visceral reaction I’d had when I saw Mav again after so many years. Was that the gut reaction Charlie was referring to? If it was, I didn’t want to analyze what it meant. “I don’t know, maybe.”
“You know.” He sounded confident when he said, “You told me your story, about how you became a tattoo artist and bought this shop. If that wasn’t you following your gut, against all logic, I don’t what the hell it was.”
“Buying this place was just a stroke of luck.”
“We make our own luck, honey. You more than just about anyone I know.”
“I guess we do, but it sure helps to have the Universe backing us up sometimes.”
“Uh huh, and that’s where fate comes in. You think running into your ex again was fate or the Universe, whatever the hell you wanna call it, givin’ you a little nudge?”
“No way. Mav and I are on different paths.” I couldn’t allow myself to believe our chance meeting had been orchestrated by Universal forces, because if I considered that a possibility… I was seriously screwed.
“You sure about that?” He waited until I looked up before he said, “That video…” He whistled long and low. “There were some serious sparks flyin’ between y’all, girl. After seeing it, the Mrs. said to me, that’s the guy for Codie. He’ll treat her right.”
I laughed, trying to ignore the crazy little pitch and roll my stomach was doing. Charlie’s wife, Sylvia, was a doll, and claimed to have some crazy psychic abilities, but I didn’t buy into that woo-woo stuff. Much.
“You tell Syl that ship has sailed. Me and Mav? Not gonna happen.”
“Aww, she’ll be disappointed to hear that. She told me ‘Our girl’s finally found her soul mate, Charlie. You mark my words’.”
I swallowed to coat my dry throat, praying, just this once Sylvia would be wrong.
* * *
I was sliding into bed, my finger hovering over my phone’s screen, trying to decide if I should call Mav, text him, or just feign some mysterious illness this weekend so I wouldn’t have to go to his show at all. But then I thought of my best friend, who’d been so excited when she learned she’d get a second chance to see Trey, and I bit the bullet and connected the call.
“Hey, beautiful. This is a nice surprise. I thought I was on your no-call list.”
I released the breath I’d been holding. Damn. It was good to hear his voice, even though it had only been twenty-four hours since he’d last called me.
“You told me to call when Amanda and I decided if we were coming this weekend. We’d love to, if the offer still stands?”
“Are you kidding? Of course, I’d love to see you.”
Not wanting to read too much into that, I considered keeping the conversation short and sweet, but decided that would be rude since he was comping us a second set of pricey tickets.
“How was the show tonight?”
“Codie, we killed it!”
I had to admit, it was fun to see this version of Mav. It had been a long time since I’d seen him this pumped up about anything. It took me back to his days of playing football, when they’d beat their rivals or won the championship. Those victories seemed so small compared to the ones he was having now, but at the time they’d been everything.
“I’m glad to hear it. Not that I’m surprised.” I wasn’t sure if I should admit I’d started following him on social media, but I’d never been one to hold back. “I’ve, uh, seen some stuff that you and your team have posted online. You sounded amazing.”
“Thanks.” He hesitated before adding, “It means a lot, knowing that you’re following my career. Would it be weird to admit that I’ve done a little digging into your background too? Girl, seriously impressed with all you’ve accomplished.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t need his praise, but getting it made me feel something I refused to analyze.
“I can’t believe they offered you your own show. Why would you turn it down?”
Hmm, he had been doing his homework. Because I was an-against-all odds success story, I’d been interviewed on TV and for newspapers and magazines, when the tattoo culture became more mainstream.
“I like to fly under the radar, and just do what I love, without having anyone breathing down my neck.”
“Makes sense. So, I saw an interview you did on YouTube. It was some tattoo channel, and you said your ex was the reason you got into tattooing? What’s the story there?”
It felt weird talking to Mav about guys I’d dated, but since he asked, I decided to tell him. “You know I’ve always been an artist, but I was waitressing in a bar when I started dating the bartender. He was a part-time tattoo artist. He loved my art and asked me to sketch some tattoos for him.”
