Page 37 of Exposed Ink

After devouring the firefighter romance Julia lent me and returning it to her at our last session, I couldn’t stop and ended up reading all the books Taylor lent me.

Speaking of which …

“We should go have coffee at Books and Beans. Taylor, Shane’s daughter, lent me these books, and she works there. If she’s there, I’d like to return them to her.”

It will mean not having to see Shane outside of the tattoo shop, and I enjoy her company. Win-win.

“Sounds good.”

* * *

When we walkinto Books and Beans, I immediately spot Taylor, standing behind the counter, talking with someone. She looks up at the sound of the doorbell chiming, and a smile spreads across her face.

“Kinsley!” She rushes around the counter and envelops me in a hug. “I was just asking my dad this morning when we were going to see you again. I saw the addition to his sleeve you did, and it looks so good.”

“Thanks. I’m glad I can ink your work onto him so he can have them as memories.”

“Are you here for coffee or books or both?” she asks.

My mom laughs at her upbeat personality, and Taylor turns her attention to her.

“You must be Kinsley’s mom. You have the same smile.”

Mom’s grin widens. “I am. I’m Quinn.”

She extends her hand, but Taylor ignores it, wrapping her arms around her. “It’s so nice to meet you. Kinsley told me you love reading. I can’t wait to see your library one day!”

“You’re welcome over anytime,” Mom tells her.

“Here are your books,” I say, handing Taylor the tote bag of books.

Taylor eyes the bag and frowns. “Did you not want to read them? I don’t mind how long you borrow them for.”

“Quite the opposite,” I admit with a laugh. “I devoured them all.”

Taylor’s eyes widen. “Dang, you are a hard-core reader. I like it.” Then, her eyes light up. “Oh! I have a BookTok account. You should go live with me so we can discuss the books. It would be so much fun, and I can totally name-drop your shop.” She winks dramatically, making my mom laugh. “Not to brag, but I have, like, fifty million followers.”

“What?” I gasp because I’m pretty sure I have, like, twenty—and not with the wordmillionfollowing it. Like, literally just twenty. And half of them are probably my family.

“My dad helped me make it a couple of years ago because I wanted to post about the books I’d read and loved, and it totally blew up. He used to monitor it, but now that I’m seventeen, he trusts me to handle it. He won’t let me touch any of the money it brings in, but it’s going into my savings account.”

She waggles her brows, and my mom and I laugh. The girl has such a big personality.

“So, what do you say? Want to go live with me to talk books?”

“I’d love to,” I tell her.

“Cool!” She beams. “So, books or coffee or both?”

“Both,” Mom and I say in unison.

After ordering our lattes and pastries, we sit on one of the comfy couches.

“She’s fun,” Mom says, nodding toward Taylor, who’s helping another customer. “I’m glad you’re getting out again … even if it’s just simply making friends.”

“They haven’t really given me much of a choice,” I grumble, taking a sip of my coffee. “Shane keeps showing up, and his daughter makes it hard to say no to her.”

Mom chuckles. “Oh, if you didn’t want them around, you’d make it clear.”

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