Page 17 of The Baby Bargain
"You ever think he was right?"
Her eyes turn down.
"Sorry. None of my—"
"No. People usually dance around it." She pushes out an exhale. "At first, I thought it wasn't. I missed him so badly. I couldn't get out of bed. But eventually the cloud lifted. And now… I'm glad we had that time."
"Yeah?"
"Better to have some than nothing."
I used to think that too. But now—
"Fuck, it really does hurt."
"It does."
She grimaces. "And the shading—"
"Even worse."
She nodsthat's what I thought. "I, uh…"
"Tell me about him."
She does. It gets her through the words, the outline of the flowers, the fill, the shading.
She doesn't cry, really cry, until she's cleaned up and staring at her new ink in the mirror.
Sara throws her arms around me. "Thank you."
Usually, this kind of touch sucks away my oxygen. Female clients like to hug goodbye. It's too much intimacy. Too much closeness. Too much pain.
The love in her eyes tugs at the hole in my gut.
This girl lost her boyfriend young. She barely had any time with him. But she still looks at their relationship as the best thing that ever happened to her.
If I made Grace half as happy as she is—
Maybe I'd believe that too.
My younger brother Wes watches as I check her out. He whispers to his best friend Griffin. Something about me, no doubt. The two of them have been working together for half a decade. They've been friends since day two. They're always hanging on the sidelines, trading gossip.
I try to ignore them as I walk Sara to the door.
She hugs me goodbye, presses her business card into my palm, mumbles something about a date.I'm still not over him, but if you ever want something casual with someone incapable of loving you… I know, it's a great offer, isn't it?
They do me the courtesy of waiting until she leaves to launch.
Wes makes anowith his thumb and first two fingers. He takes his other hand, presses his index and middle finger together and goes for it.
His blue eyes light up as he mimes penetration. This is where he lives. Making stupid jokes. Pretending like he doesn't give a shit about anything.
Griffin shakes his head, sending dark waves in every direction. Unlike Wes, he actually enjoys hanging on the sidelines, staying out of things.
He's blunt as hell and he doesn't see anything wrong with his lack of tact. "You gotta warm her up first."
Wes drops the mimed penetration. Brings his first two fingers to his mouth to make av.
