“Did you find my present, by the way?” she asks.
I dab my face dry with a towel. “What present?”
“I left you a little something-something behind the coffee machine.”
“What?” I put the eye pads back into their case, and rush into the kitchen. I basically throw the eye pads into the fridge before I pull out the coffee maker and find a small plastic bag. When I turn it over in my hand, my eyes grow huge.No fucking way!
“Lou,” I say, voice low. “What have you done?”
“Have you ever tried?”
“Have I ever tried Molly? No, but apparently you have. Been holding out on me, bitch?”
“Yes. Now listen, do it at home, Seth,” she says. “Maybe bring Kaden. Or someone. And don’t do too many at once.”
I like to organize my clothes by color, but sometimes I don’t think about it when I’ve done laundry and then I have to fix it another day. ‘That’s future Seth’s problem’ kind of thinking.
Well, future Seth just stumbled upon the box I picked up at Andrew’s. So now I’ve been staring at it for a while. Debating whether I should open it or not. Thinking back on when I packed it, scribbledAnal toyson it in hope it would scare off Andrew before I shoved it in the far back of our shared storage.
Now I wish it were full of anal toys, then my spiked pulse would be for a whole different reason.
But it’s not. It’s my own personal hell.
I scratch my eyebrow, drag a finger across my lips, and then shove it in darkest corner of the closet, and slam the door shut.
Forget about it!
Set the whole thing of fire, and forget about it.
When I get to the studio the next day, Kaden’s with a customer. Completely in the zone. No wonder his back and neck are killing him, if it was only up to him, he’d never even take a break.
He’s wearing black gloves and a black face mask. The sleeves of his Henley are pushed up, and the ink on his forearms are in deep contrast to his pale skin.
There’s a tattoo on the inside of his wrist that I did on him one drunken night a couple of years ago. Just the word ‘reverse’. And then he did the Uno reverse-card on the inside of my left bicep. I don’t even remember whose idea it was to get wasted and tattoo each other and if Kit knew, he’d probably fire us both.
I loved being his apprentice. Learning from him and watching his strong, veiny hands create the most delicate lines was like observing the epitome of art.
Kaden pauses, wipes some ink off and then whips his head my way. And there’s my Achilles heel—his eyes.
Fuck me!
I need to bury this crush, it’s getting out of hand again, and my self-control is slipping by the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself on my knees in the next couple of months, confessing my undying love for him.
This needs to stop.
Right the fuck now!
14
Kaden
Eversinceweopenedup again, Kit’s been very strict on the cleaning routines, so every other Saturday, we all gather in the studio and scrub it clean. Floor to ceiling. It’s tedious as hell, but I appreciate the level of concern on his part.
Since Diaz left, it’s only me, Seth, Iggy and Kit. But Kit’s not here today, so there’s even more for us.
Oh, joy.
And Iggy obviously woke up on the wrong side this morning because she’s scowling like hell. Her eyebrows are drawn low under her short bangs; mouth thinned to a line.
