Page 102 of Sass

And then Leon had blown my mind by asking if he could get the same flower in a slightly different version to fill the gap on his left shoulder, opposite Caitlyn’s tattoo. I’d been stunned... and incredibly touched. He’d quickly addednot to worryand that it wasn’t just for me, so he wouldn’t regret it if I came to my senses and realised at some point that I could do a lot better than him. It had been said in a joking voice, but I knew there was a part of him that still worried he wasn’t enough to keep me, and so I’d shut him up with a kiss before he dug himself a deeper hole. I wasn’t going anywhere.

But I understood his caution. This was me we were talking about, and I’d spent most of my life avoiding even a sniff of romantic attachment. It was also something I wanted desperately to change. Leon deserved to be sure that I was all in for the long haul and there wasn’t anywhere I’d rather be.

We’d been living together in his tiny villa for over three months, the first two spent mostly wearing overalls and wielding paintbrushes and sandpaper. The hours we weren’t in overalls were spent christening every surface inside and outside the house and one or two in the cobwebbed attic space that we had big plans for.

I’d scarcely survived the full immersion relationship experience and the tidal wave of domestic sap and cutesy names that went with it. Not to mention I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror for fear of the blinding smile that was prone to greet me. But I loved Leon with every cell in my body. And I loved this life we were building. Not to mention—wait for it—we had a dog... and a cat.

Kill me now.

The cat was an unfortunate accident of circumstance. A Maine Coon whose owner—a biker buddy of Leon’s—was relocating overseas and needed to find his beloved pet a new home. The two of them caught me at a weak moment, and before I knew it, the largest cat I’d ever laid eyes on was sitting on the passenger seat of my Mini looking ready to eat the dashboard. Barney—don’t even ask—had since commandeered the entire spare bedroom as his domain while scoffing his weight in gold-dipped kibble, every day. At least it may as well have been dipped in gold, what with the amount it cost us to bloody feed him, something they never mention in the fine print.

The dog, Alfie—Fuck. My. Life.—was Leon’s dream from childhood, and so he got to choose which one he wanted at the shelter. And by choose, I really mean that I refused to go with him until he at least had a shortlist. It was either that or he’d have gone with whateverIliked. The man was a total pushover as far as I was concerned, which, not gonna lie, was kind of epic.

But, in the spirit of a balanced relationship—did I even just say that—I’d made it my mission to school Leon on the finer art of prioritising a little self-care that didn’t revolve around owning my arse and several other very important parts of my anatomy. But he was proving a challenging student. And to my shock and horror, I’d quickly discovered that desire to please apparently went both ways—another thing they never mention in the fine print.

Love, right? Just when you think a long-term relationship is nothing more than getting your end off for the rest of your life with someone you respect and trust, random acts of unconditional selflessness start spewing out of you like last night’s fish and you have to reconsider.

When Leon was done cleaning me up, I finally got a look at the almost finished pink flower designed to cover the old scars, and damn, I couldn’t speak. It was like turning a page in my life, and my throat thickened, my stupid eyes filling.

Leon quickly took my hand. “Hey there. What’s wrong? You know, it’s okay if you decide it’s not what you want. I can work something diff—”

I grabbed his face and kissed him. “I love it, you idiot. It’s so goddamn beautiful. Thank you.”

A smile lit up his face. “That’s... good. I mean, I could’ve changed it... if you really hated it, but...”

“Show me yours again.” I tugged at Leon’s sleeve, and he lifted his shirt over his shoulder to reveal the large purple lotus. Being apparently immune to pain, his was completed by Ty in a lot fewer sessions, and I’d cried stupid fat tears when I’d seen it finished, something Ty was never gonna let me live down. He’d even let me needle a tiny bit of it, and okay, I’d nearly passed out at the thought of making my man bleed, but every time I’d looked at that spot since, something warm flooded my chest. And the last time I’d topped his spectacular arse, I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

I told you. Goddamn sappy sap. I’d already handed in my sass card.

My gaze flitted between Leon’s flower and my much smaller pink one, and I smiled. “They look great together. I’m gonna have to sit on your face a lot more so they can chat.”

Leon almost choked on his tongue and another snort of laughter came from behind the curtains.

“Just as well we’re shut,” Ty commented drily.

“So, where’s my boy?” The front door closed with a bang, and I groaned and whipped the sheet over my junk before Leon’s mother tracked me down.

“For fuck’s sake, how does she do that?” I whisper-hissed, then suddenly remembered and added, “Oh God, do you think she heard that?”

“Oops.” Ty laughed and I gave a strangled groan.

Of course, she heard. The woman had bionic ears. “Cover for me while I make a run—”

“There you are!” Michele popped her head through a gap in the curtains.

I managed a weak smile. “Oh, hi, Michele.” I loved the woman, I really and truly did. We’d bonded over shared sarcasm at Caitlyn’s anniversary family dinner, and both of Leon’s parents treated me like a son—a true gift, since I hadn’t heard a word from my own parents since the big confrontation.

But if anyone thoughtIwas relentless, Michele Steadman took that to a whole other level, and in a misguided attempt to impress her with my suitability as her son’s boyfriend, I’d made the mistake of agreeing to help her choose colours and furnishings for the remodelling of their home. Suffice to say that juggling smiling crocodiles while running through piranha infested waters singing “I Will Survive” wasn’t an over-exaggeration of the task at hand.

“What a pleasure to see you today.” I kept the smile going while Leon snorted and set about cleaning his station.

“Closed curtains, Mum, remember?”

She gestured dismissively. “They were cracked. Besides, JJ waved me straight through.”

I glared over her shoulder to where JJ stood at the reception desk wearing a smug grin.

Michele continued, “I popped into Flare first and Rhys said to tell you that the new lot of vests had arrived and that they’re bang on.”

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