Page 75 of Heart Sick Hate

Crew

Walking into the shop,I stop at the wall on my left and slap another pair of eyes on it. These ones are gold, cut from the magazine Echo was flipping through this morning as she ate breakfast.

No one understands this wall, or why I continue to add to it. But something about the way it sees around every corner, around every secret. I can’t help it. It started when Blaze first sold the shop to the four of us, and we decided to renovate the lobby. No one could decide what to do with this wall, so I started what was meant to be a collage but ended up being a wall of eyes instead.

Some are photographs, some magazine cutouts, some art. A collection of all colors, expressions, feelings. The eyes tell a lot about a person. You might think the mouth is how to read a smile, but it’s not. Lips lie, but you can’t hide from the truth in a person’s eyes.

And Echo’s show me everything I need to know.

She didn’t say much this morning when she woke up, but unlike last night, she seemed at peace. And I appreciated that I was awake before her so she didn’t have a chance to disappear from my bed like she’s so good at. Instead, I forced her to sit and eat some toast with her coffee before she inevitably found an excuse to get to work early.

But she left the magazine open on the counter when she left, and the golden eyes on the page were familiar. Warm like the sun, even if they still lack the sparkle only hers hold. And now they’re on this wall like every other thing inside me I can’t escape.

“I like it.”

Turning, I spot Fel standing behind the counter, sorting through a new collection of barbells.

She tips her chin up at the wall behind me. “I used to think that wall was kind of creepy, but it’s growing on me. I think I like them.”

She might be the first person to share that feeling. Everyone else says the wall makes them feel uncomfortable. Which is the point when people are always trying to hide shit. But something about Fel and her innocence, with no more secrets—it doesn’t scare her.

When she first started coming here, and I noticed Jude becoming more and more obsessed, I didn’t get it. But now, seeing how she balances out his darkness, I might.

“It’s all right.” I shrug, walking over to the counter and glancing down at the new collection of barbells. “Wicked shit you’ve got here.”

I pick up a barbell with a skull on either side. One has roses in its eyes and the other has a dagger in its mouth.

“Testing out a few new things.”

Lucky for us because her shit has been selling like crazy at the shop. And Jude’s in a better mood when she’s here, so it’s a bonus for all of us.

Jude walks around the corner and Fel straightens up, smiling as he walks over to her. He glares at me, and I can’t help but smirk. I might have teased him a few times about trying to steal his girl, but it was just to piss him off. Besides, if he could have read my mind, he’d know it was all total bullshit. A mask I was using to hide the fact that I had my own wicked little Goldilocks on my brain.

“You giving my girl shit?” Jude tips his chin up.

Fel playfully slaps him on the chest. “We were just talking. Leave him alone.”

Jude glares at me because he’s protective to the point of edging on insane. I guess I’m not one to talk after what I did to the biker last night.

Blaze texted me this morning to say Bones was still breathing, but barely. And part of me was tempted to drive to the hospital to finish what I started.

“You dipped early last night,” Jude says.

“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck. “Shit got awkward.”

“I heard.” He doesn’t offer much more.

Jude is as cold and impossible to read as I am. But right now, his eyebrows pinch, and I’m not sure what he’s thinking about my actions, but I don’t like it. The guys are starting to suspect shit with me and Echo, and untilshe stops lying to herself about whatever the fuck we’re doing, I’m not ready to answer questions about it.

Luckily, if he was going to ask anything, he doesn’t get the chance. The shop door swings open, drawing his attention.

Turning, I can’t help but chuckle. If I thought Rhett visiting Echo here was amusing, Adam in his suit in the middle of a tattoo shop in downtown LA has me actually laughing.

He’s so out of place it’s ridiculous.

“Did Lakeyn leave your ass already?” I can’t help but chuckle. “If you needed a place to stay you could have called instead of risking the rims on your Ferrari to beg me to sleep on my couch.”

Adam doesn’t so much as frown, unaffected as always. “You done?”

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