Page 24 of Ink & Desire

“There is no family discount,” I say. “Actually, I should charge you morebecauseyour family.”

“Considering how fucked up our family is, you’re probably right,” Henley says drily.

We both laugh, though it was never funny. Growing up in our family felt more like survival than anything amusing, but for me and Henley, humor has always been our coping mechanism. That, and avoidance.

“What day were you thinking?” I ask, changing the subject as I pull up my scheduling program on my laptop.

“I know you’re busy,” she says. “So, tell me when you have an opening.”

“I don’t have any openings,” I say. “Except for Sundays, but that’s when I usually catch up on office shit.”

“You need an assistant,” Henley says. “Or an office manager.”

My thoughts go to Avery and her apprenticeship.

“Actually, I’m working on something along those lines,” I say. “I’ve got an apprentice starting soon. She’s going to help around the shop. She’ll handle some of the day-to-day things, so I have more time to tattoo my freeloading sister.”

“Hey! I said I’m paying.”

“I don’t want your money,” I say. “But I do want some of those turtle brownies from Jensen’s Bakery.”

Henley lives on the other side of the city, only two blocks from the best brownies I’ve ever tasted. I know I can make the trip over to buy them myself, but it’s hard to make time with my limited time off.

“Fine,” Henley says on a sigh. “Anything else?”

“Get Jessie some snickerdoodles,” I say. “I don’t understand it, but she loves those things. Trash cookies, if you ask me.”

“Hey, they’re not that bad. Better than sugar cookies. Now, those are trash cookies.”

“True,” I agree.

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll bring brownies and cookies in exchange for tattoo time. Man, I love having a brother who’s an amazing tattoo artist.”

“I feel so used,” I say, injecting a hurt tone into my words.

She laughs. “Fine. I also just love you. Is that better?”

“It’ll do.”

“Tell me about this apprentice,” Henley says, changing the subject. “Isn’t taking on an apprentice more work for you, not less?”

I sigh. “Sort of. At first, she’s going to just be working in the shop. Learning the operations, the rules, protocol. Everything she can do without touching a client or tattooing anyone. So, after the first week or two, my life should get a little easier at work. Once I start training her to tattoo, that will change again. But that’s months down the road.”

I ignore the little voice in my head telling me that having Avery around me for hours every day and not being able to act on the attraction I feel is going to make my life a living hell. I don’t need to discuss that with Henley. I can only imagine her take on thesituation. She’d probably tell me I’m crazy for agreeing to something that’s probably going to end in disaster.

“Since when do you take on apprentices, anyway?” she asks.

“I don’t,” I say with a sigh. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m listening,” she says.

I hesitate for a moment before deciding how much I should tell my sister. She’s always been perceptive, especially when it comes to me. I stopped lying to her back when I was a teenager, when it became obvious that I’d never be successful at it. She can somehow sniff out dishonesty. I think it’s why she excelled at business school and is such a cutthroat businesswoman now.

“Her name is Avery,” I say.

“Is she cute?” Henley interrupts.

I laugh. “No hitting on my employees.”

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