Page 102 of Mayhem
“We’ll make up for that,” Cruz stated under his breath; he knew Erin heard him as she turned to glare at him.
As they waited for their food to arrive, the conversation was filled with the three getting to know one another and Erin throwing out teasing remarks to her dad. They had a good relationship, one that was based on communication and openness since she liked to tell him, in no uncertain terms, that he needed to get laid.
When their food arrived, the conversation tapered off into more general topics. They got on the subject of basketball, and Erin didn’t miss the chance to tell Morris that she’d beaten Cruz the one time they played, which prompted him to tell her they could have a rematch at any time. Morris laughed and commented that he was glad Erin found someone as competitive as she was.
“I’ve decided to pick up a new hobby, Dad,” Erin stated when there was a lull in conversation halfway through dinner.
“What would that be?”
“Learning Polish. Cruz is going to teach me.”
“Another language to your arsenal. Nice,” Morris responded.
“I’m hoping I pick it up easily since I know the foundation, but we’ll see.”
“You normally pick up things you enjoy quickly,” Morris stated. He looked between Cruz and Paetyn. “Do you both speak Polish?”
“I learned it as a child and speak it occasionally; Cruz is a native speaker, so he’s far better than me,” Paetyn responded.
Cruz refrained from rolling his eyes. Paetyn could speak Polish just as well as he could. For some reason, he didn’t realize it. Maybe it was because if it wasn’t conversational topics, or he needed a word that hadn’t come up in his learning or hadn’t been used in years, it took him a minute to recall.
“They both speak Spanish, too,” Erin supplied. “But Paetyn is the native speaker.”
“You’re of Latinx heritage. Which one?” Morris questioned in Spanish.
“Yes, I’m Venezuelan,” Paetyn responded.
They continued conversing into dessert, shifting the conversation to Erin’s first official day. By the time they were ready to leave, they’d made plans for Morris to play ball with them on Saturday while Erin was at work.
Once Erin and Morris pulled out of the parking lot, he and Paetyn slid into his car.
“That went well.”
“It did. It almost caught me off guard by how easily it had,” Paetyn responded.
“You weren’t the only one,” Cruz replied as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“We should schedule dinner with Lena and Dad before you leave.”
Cruz nodded. “We can do it the Friday before if it works for Erin.”
“We also have to tell her about the auction it’s also that weekend.”
Cruz had honestly forgotten about that while getting ready to leave. He’d agreed to give away a home system and a year of free security service to be bid on, and Paetyn was giving away a dinner experience for two made by him personally. The proceeds would go to a charity for domestic violence prevention.
“We’ll call her tomorrow, and if we need to do lunch with Lena and Dad that afternoon before the auction, we can,” Paetyn stated.
With that, the conversation ended, and the remainder of the drive was spent with the soft sounds of music filtering through the car.
27
Erin finished cleaning up after her last tattoo. Her client was pleased and made an appointment to have another one done on her ankle next month. Dahlia was at the station next to her, working on a shoulder tattoo, while Torei sat on the tattoo chair of her station. She’d had two appointments when they opened. Sisters who wanted small matching tattoos on their wrists and had a couple of hours before her three o’clock came in. The sensor on the door beeped softly, signifying someone’s arrival.
“Hey, welcome to,” Erin and Torei both started. Torei continued the greeting, but Erin redirected when she looked up. “Hey, baby,” she greeted with a smile. She threw the disinfectant wipe away and walked over.
“Hey, Maly,” Cruz returned the greeting, kissing her.
“What are you doing here?”
