Page 63 of The Inquirer

Rose had insisted on sitting on his other side during dinner, and I was starting to think she had a crush on my boy…my friend…with benefits? Shit. This should have been easier to figure out.

“I know.” She gave me a duh look. “That clear tape stuff that goes over it helps it heal and keeps out moisture.”

“Which looks gross,” I added. “Why would you want to see it?”

“Because it’s art.” She gave me a look like that explained everything.

I frowned at her, confused. “Tattoos as artwork I get. This, you’re going to need to explain.”

She shrugged. “It’s kinda like those artists who take someone else’s work and put stuff on it to make something new. Like at art club at school, Jordan Risen brought in this one thing, where he took a print of that Van Gough painting A Starry Night and then put all these rocks on it, creating this new design.”

I looked at Kaimi and then at Sitara, who looked like she was trying not to laugh. “I honestly have no response to that.”

Rose grinned. “Does that mean I get to see it?”

Bradyn looked to Kaimi first, which gave him major points with both of us. When she shrugged, he looked at me, and I did the same, then we waited to see what he’d do.

“Sure.”

He’d bought a flannel shirt earlier today when he’d finally admitted that it was too cold to be in short sleeves, and I’d told him he looked like a lumberjack cowboy. He also looked hot.

Then again, he looked that way no matter what he was – or wasn’t – wearing.

He shrugged off the flannel and pulled up the sleeve of his white undershirt. He’d chosen the scales of justice on the outside of his upper left arm. Considering what we were both working on, it seemed appropriate. I didn’t know everything about him, but I did know him well enough to see that he cared about justice more than anyone else I’d ever known.

“That is so cool,” Rose said. Her fingers hovered over it, but she didn’t touch. “How much did it hurt?”

“Not as much as mine,” I cut in. “But he didn’t cry, so he did good.”

He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Did you cry?”

“Nope.”

He looked at Kaimi. “Is she lying?”

She mimed zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. I kicked her under the table. She knew damn well I hadn’t cried.

“Mom says I have to wait until I’m eighteen to get a tattoo,” Rose said. “But I can get another ear piercing for Christmas this year. Do you have any piercings?”

“I don’t,” Bradyn said. “But my older sister, Ashley, got her ears pierced for her sweet sixteen.”

A shadow passed over his face, and I reached over to squeeze his hand. “They’d call if Clancy wasn’t okay.”

He let out a long breath. “I’m not so sure.”

“Your mom told you when he went to the hospital,” I reminded him.

“Who’s Clancy?” Rose asked.

“Bradyn’s nephew. He had to have surgery because his appendix burst.”

Rose’s light brown eyes went wide. “That can be really bad. Is he okay?”

“He is,” Bradyn said. “But he has to be in the hospital for a while.” His expression became serious. “Waiting to hear how the surgery went was one of the worst nights of my life.” He squeezed my hand this time. “I wouldn’t have gotten through it without Nyx.”

“You were at the hospital with him?” Kaimi’s tone was casual, but I knew her too well.

“Yeah, I went with him.” My eyes met hers, and I didn’t look away. “And, yeah, I met his family.”

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