Page 51 of Under the Ink

“Naomi?”

“Yeah, Naomi.”

“Do we need to get rid of her? Is she fucking with your mojo?”

In the worst fucking way.But… “No, that’s not it. She’s amazing at her job, and I’m glad Bobby found her.”

“That’s great. So what’s going on then?” Johnny stood, shifting the weight from one boot to another, as if settling in his shoes.

“Uh…do you mind if I shut the door?”

“Not at all.”

Sage didn’t waste a second, gently shutting the door so it wouldn’t slam. What had seemed like a big dressing room before suddenly felt a little too close—but it couldn’t be helped. He didn’t want anyone overhearing what he was about to say—not Naomi, not any of the roadies, not even their other bandmates. “So…a bit of a confession.”

Johnny frowned slightly. “Confession?”

“Yeah. I, um…I’m kind of crushing on Naomi.”

“Ah.” Like a wise old sage, Johnny nodded his head slightly. “A workplace relationship is brewing.”

Sage started laughing. “Yeah. I guess.”

“We don’t have any rules about whether or not you can do that if that’s what you’re asking. I got nothing against two consenting adults enjoying each other. I mean…it’s temporary anyway, since she’s leaving in September. Which reminds me—we gotta ask Bobby how the search is going for a permanent tech.”

“Yeah. But…”

“But there’s more to it than that.”

“Yeah. I…feel like…”

“Hey, man, have a seat. I feel like you gotta take a load off.”

“Yeah.” Both men sat in chairs which surprisingly helped the space not feel less constricting. “I don’t know if I told you about the only girlfriend I had in high school.”

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t.”

“Jesus, I don’t even know where to start.”

“We have plenty of time. Start wherever you want.”

Already, Sage was grateful that he had chosen to talk to Johnny. The guy was making it unbelievably easy to get it off his chest.

The problem was his own damn self.

“When my parents—actually, let’s go back a little farther. Uh…I lost my real mom when I was five.”

“Sue’s not your mom?”

“I know. Hard to believe…because she’s so good at it. She’s been a great mother—and sometimes I feel guilty because I can barely remember my real mom. Even though Icallher mom, she’s actually my stepmom. But anyway…that’s not important. My dad’s an army guy and when I was a kid, we moved around a lot from base to base. I was I think eight when he met my stepmom and they got married. And when I started middle school, dad transferred to Fort Carson and we eventually moved to Winchester. He was a career army guy, pretty high up—but I think after losing mom and falling in love again, he decided there was more to life than the army.”

“Yeah.” Johnny nodded, and Sage figured he probably understood it completely now that he had a family of his own.

“Anyway, I had a hell of a time making friends in middle school, and I think it was probably because I was quiet and kind of introverted.”

“You?Introverted?”

“Yeah, I know. But I was. Anyway, Mickey was kind of an outsider too so we became good friends. It was a natural. But my senior year in high school. I had a hell of a time getting up the courage to ask girls out—and there was this one girl…Olivia Harriman. Her family’s pretty rich and well connected—”

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