Page 5 of A Twist of Fate

“You?” He questioned while checking me out once more. “Okay, I’ll buy two pizzas then. This, I have to see. A tiny thing like you packing away a whole pizza…” he shook his head instead of finishing his thought. Then he finished it anyway. “Nah, I don’t see it.”

“I do it all the time,” I told him.

“Prove it!” I never knew just how much those two simple words would change the course of my life. Some of it for the better, some of it in gut-wrenching ways, but there wasn’t a single piece of me that could ever regret it.

It took Ever two hours to finish up the tattoo she did on the fat biker. He came to stand near the front desk for a few minutes, leering at me as he did. I tried my best to ignore him, but he wouldn’t let it pass. “You’re just going to ignore me, but I hear you up here laughing and joking around with my brother.”

I shivered physically at the mention that Toby might consider this man his brother. “I don’t know you,” I stated before going back to faking more work.

“Didn’t know him either, now did ya?”

“Look, you’re old enough to be my dad’s age.” Not my dad, because my dad was a far better person, and I didn’t need to listen to the asshole talk any longer to figure that out for myself. “No offense, but you’re not my type.”

“I’m a customer here, aren’t you supposed to be cordial?” He sneered as he shot those words at me with a bit of venom.

I popped a hip out, put my hand on it, and gave back all the attitude I could muster for the moment. “Well bless your sweet little heart, I didn’t realize you were actually going to pay for the work you were having done!” I held out my other hand to accept his payment. He rolled his eyes and turned his back on me.

Before he walked out the door he glanced back over his shoulder and made sure I could hear him call me a “Stupid fucking cunt,” and then he was gone.

“You okay?” Sully asked as he came up behind me.

“I’m fine. I don’t like that cum stain though.”

Sully huffed out a quick laugh. “As much as I love to hear the names you have for people, sweetheart, I think it’s best if you watch your attitude with that one, especially when no one is around.”

I turned to him and noticed the concern laced tension in his face. “I promise, I don’t have any plans to go near him ever again.”

“Good.” He twisted his head to peer back behind us. “Might want to stay clear of that one too, G.”

“That one is harmless,” I promised him.

“Somehow, I doubt that very much,” he muttered before moving around from behind the counter. “I was just about to head out for the night. Want me to walk you to your car?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I have plans later.” I didn’t miss the nervous look that passed over his face as his eyes moved from Ever’s workspace back to me.

“Be careful. You have my number. Call if you need anything, I mean it.”

“Yes, daddy!” I teased.

“Hmm, I like the sound of that. You may call me only that from now on!” He waggled his brows at me then and licked his lips. He didn’t do it in a sexy manner. No, the jackass before me looked more like one of those cartoon dogs salivating over a nice juicy cat.

“You are too much, and I will never call you that again.”

“Well, then it looks like I need to go find me someone who will for the night.”

“You’re gross!” I called out as he left the building. I saw through the front window that his only answer was to flip me off as he walked away. I was technically already off of work, but I stayed behind the counter and played on my computer until I saw that they were done. I knew the piece she did for her brother was larger than some of the others and would go on his back. He seemed a bit tender when he slid his shirt and kutte back on, but didn’t say a word about it before coming to me.

“You ready to get out of here, or are you still on the clock?” He asked.

I smiled up at him. “I’ve been off the clock for a few hours now. I was just waiting around to see if you cried during your tat,” I teased to ease the tension I could feel rolling off of him in waves. He ducked his head, seeming shy for a moment and then pensive eyes came back up to meet my own.

“She could have dug that needle in deeper and it wouldn’t have hurt near as much as knowing what I was responsible for doing to her heart.”

Oh God! I just wanted to hug that pain right out of him again. I know he screwed up when they were younger, but it was clear that he wore the pain he caused his sister like a second skin. Now, he’d also wear the ink that commemorated it as a constant reminder. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It was a choice he made though, so my opinion didn’t matter much. I busied myself with packing up my laptop and then smiled brightly at him. I hadn’t been able to get my stuff together in time to miss the fact that Ever was leaving with Deck, the third biker from the other day. He had come in when she was finishing Toby’s ink, and now they were leaving together. Kane had come out at some point too and stood near the window watching them. His fists clenched tightly, released, and then clenched again. He didn’t even realize we were standing there until he turned to head back toward his space. He tipped his chin up at me as he went, but it wasn’t the warm greeting it usually was. His jaw was held stiff with anger and his shoulders were pulled up tight. I knew the minute I heard the buzzing that he was getting ready to take his frustrations out on his own body.

My tummy fluttered at the though, because it was another reminder that he would never be mine. He was hung up on a girl who obviously hadn’t noticed him. I was pretty sure I could chalk that up to unrequited karma. It didn’t matter though.

“I’m still thinking we need to come up with some pretty good stakes here. I don’t think you can scarf down a whole pizza, and we need to lay it all out.”

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