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Hunter
“YOU NEED TO GET another box of condoms,” Annette announced just outside of my bedroom. Layers of my clothes crumbled up on the living room floor and I listened to Riley sniff them. Annette had already brushed her raven black hair into two pig-tails and she was in a new shirt she’d carried with her, the same jeans and sneakers she’d had on yesterday night. After pulling all-nighters last weekend to finish my research paper, I felt like a zombie.
I nodded. “Did you take her for a walk?” I liked to walk Riley in the mornings, since I spent most of my time with her on the nights and weekends.
Annette’s lips curved into a self-satisfied smile. “You earned it! I won’t charge you for it.” I swung my legs over the bed and pulled myself up from the bed. I shot her a glance as I passed through the door.
We’d fucked in the living room on and off all morning long, but between breaks I couldn’t stop thinking about Mariska taking Scott to her hometown for her friend’s party. I’d thought about how far their date might have gone and if they were going to have a second date. I hadn’t asked Beth, though, when she’d brought it up earlier this week.
Annette was conveniently in this area at one o’clock this morning. We’d started messing around two months ago, when she’d become Riley’s dog walker and sitter. When I’d asked the shelter if there were dog-walkers they’d recommend, they’d given me a list of known dog-walkers and sitters in my area. Annette had been on the list. She and I hadn’t laid down, held each other, or cuddled. None of that shit. My concern was that Riley was thriving while under her care. And we hadn’t had to set ground rules.
***
“HEY HUNTER,” VINCE ASKED me as he entered my tiny space at the back of Lasting Impressions. “I feel like I’ve been glued to my chair lately. How you been?” He was a short guy with curly black hair and had ink from his neck to his toes in different colors, textures, and styles. His specialty was abstract Asian inspired designs and I aimed to one day emulate some of his techniques.
“Alright. Doing my school thing.”
He shook his head. “With the school breaks and holidays coming up, the phones have been ringing off the hook. And then we got to handle the walk-ins ‘cause they’ve been giving the best business and referrals.” He pulled in a deep breath. “You still got Riley?”
“She’s a member of my very small family.” I tipped my chin up to him. “Clarissa still like that poodle you got her?”
“Yup, and the kids can’t get e
nough of Mimi either.”
“You told me the poodle’s name was Enzo.”
“It was.” He squared his shoulders. “When you’re outnumbered by one woman and two little women in training, everything is up for negotiation.”
“There’s time to turn them over to your side, Vince,” Manny said in his booming voice. “You can’t be letting ‘em pull them sad puppy dog eyes on you. That’ll getcha every dang time.” Manny’s gaze veered to me. “You got a walk-in.”
I was getting ready to go home, shower, and get some work done at my school’s library. Nothing about the library made me want to relax. It inspired to get my work done, so that I could go home and chill.
Ari stood behind Manny with a wide grin on his face. “How’d you get here by yourself?” I questioned him and he tucked his black and red hair into a ponytail.
The black leathers and combat boots were his signature style, but many dudes tried to dress like him and looked like dorks. He was one of the lead singers of Tainted Virtue, a country and rock band from Georgia. We’d met five years ago when we were patients at an inpatient treatment facility. People had known that he was in a band, but they hadn’t cared. Over the years, we’d stayed in touch, as much as we could, given his busy life. I didn’t have to talk to him daily to know how he was really doing. We called each other on our shit when it was necessary.
“No more customers in here for tonight; we got the shop closed just for him,” Manny said to me, and he left Ari and I were by ourselves in my room.
Ari hummed to himself and bobbed his head to a beat that was germinating in his head, after my area was cleaned and I put my disposable gloves on. I pointed to the new tattoo on his arm.
“What’s that supposed to be?” I tried to smother my laugh. I’d inked the swirls and the symbols on his shoulders and arms two years ago out in California.
“A python.” He shook his head.
“The shading is jacked up. It looks like a damn lizard. And the lines aren’t clean either. You want a cover up?”
“I want an embroidered band with a compass in the middle of it. Can you do that all tonight?”
I finished Ari’s new tattoo late into the night and rolled my chair away from his. I could tell his arm was a little sore and stiff, but he wouldn’t admit it. He was a very particular dude and he only wanted the ointment I’d given him to soothe his skin. Besides us, Manny was the only person left in the shop.
“How are Sage, Renner, and Austin doing?”
Ari’s easy carefree expression vanished and became strained. “They’re good. They’re in Georgia right now. That’s where our show is at.”
“And you’re here. You’ve done shows with a fever. I know you wouldn’t miss a show—for a cover-up.”
He avoided my eyes. “This weekend I slipped up,” he chocked out and gazed at the ceiling with dampened eyes. There was relative silence for minutes and my chest tightened for him. He had come a long way from the dude who had been apathetic about his future after we’d come out of our detox phase at our rehab. Sage, Renner, and Austin had saved him from himself; the self-destructive fiend that lurked in him. They’re the reason he pulled through treatment and committed to staying clean. “A groupie came to my room Saturday night,” he gulped through a dry throat, “and she took out a bottle of Ox from her bag. I was a goner; I didn’t try to refuse. The guys came yesterday morning, and got the hotel manager to open up my hotel room. I was given an ultimatum from them; I shape up— or they’ll give me a settlement, since I co-wrote and co-produced most of our songs, but…but that’s it. I’ll be washed up for real.”
