Page 97 of Under the Ink

She’d said she was going to try getting close on foot—so he was on his own till the show.

Ever since all that shit with Andy, she’d seemed distant.

Dangerous. To herself.

And Sage didn’t know how to fucking handle it. He’d thought firing Andy from the crew would help, even though she’d refused to press charges against him and the guy was free to roam. The band had bought him a ticket back to Colorado and then talked with the rest of the crew about picking up the slack—which Sippi insisted was non-existent. “Guy never worked anyway,” he’d said.

But he didn’t know what else he could do if Naomi refused to help herself…so he wanted to chat with Johnny and ask for his advice. There was a Chipotle less than five minutes away, so they walked there and, after getting their food, they sat at a booth in the crowded restaurant and it didn’t take long for Sage to wonder why he’d chosen this particular restaurant.

It was fucking noisy—like they were having a party, complete with loud voices and even louder music. And it was too damn hot to eat outside.

That wasn’t about to stop Johnny, though. “So what’s on your mind, man?”

Taking a deep breath, Sage put down his burrito, grabbing for his cup instead. “I’m having woman problems…and I was hoping you could give me some advice.”

Chuckling, Johnny nodded his head. “I don’t know that I’m the right person for the job—but I’m happy trying to help.”

“You and Katie have been together for a while. I think that speaks for itself.”

“Yeah…but if I hadn’t been such a fucking idiot, we would have been together more than ten years ago.”

“No judgment coming from me, man. On the idiot scale…let’s just say I was nowhere near being a valedictorian.”

“I’m not sure what that says about the Winchester School District.”

Sage laughed, setting his cup back down. “So…Naomi and I hooked up.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Jesus H,” Sage said, shaking his head. “Doeseverybody?”

“It’s not overly obvious, if it makes you feel better—but it wasn’t exactly a secret, either. I mean…she went with you to your parents’ house. People put two and two together. But no, I don’t thinkeverybodyknew.Iknew because you’d told me you were considering it.”

“Well, things happened…and, yeah, we’re together right now—but I’m worried about her.”

“Why?”

Sage paused for a moment—because all the history Naomi had shared with him had been told through sacred trust…and there was no way he was going to violate her faith in him. Still, he needed for his mentor to have an idea of what he was up against. “Let’s just say Naomi had a pretty…traumaticchildhood. She’s told me part of it. And all that shit with Andy…it was like there were tiny embers of remembrance burning inside her that have since become a raging forest fire. Like Andy was a bucket of gasoline.”

“What makes you say that?”

Jesus. How much did he want to share? How muchcouldhe share without making Johnny question having her as part of the crew? “She’s drinking a lot.”

“We all tend to go a little overboard on tour. Do you think that’s it? That maybe she’s just overindulging?”

Sage gave it a little thought. “No…because that’s not the only thing that’s changed.” When Johnny raised his eyebrow, Sage said, “Like…” Dropping his voice, he started to say what was on his mind before realizing there was no way Johnny would be able to hear it over the din in the restaurant—so he raised his voice a touch, still lower than before but loud enough that his friend could hear. “Like sex. I don’t mind it rough—but that’s the only way she wants it anymore.”

“That gets some people off.”

And knowing Naomi’s past, how much pain she’d inflicted upon herself, maybe that shouldn’t have been too surprising. “I know—but it’s getting worse. She bit me so hard last night, I bled.”

“Please tell me not your dick.”

Sage laughed, welcoming the humor. “No. My shoulder. And my back probably looks like a fucking jaguar got hold of it.”

“Have you asked her to go a little easier on you?”

Sage’s knee-jerk reaction was to respond withWhat? And look like a pussy?But that would have just been a toxically masculine thing to say…something his dad might have said a decade ago before his stepmom whipped him into shape.

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