Page 9 of Open Road (Tattooed Hearts Duet 3)

There were two other customers in the coffee shop and one additional employee, but they were all in their own little worlds as they worked on whatever they were doing. Sitting down at the booth with the tray, I slid the plate off eagerly and picked up the spoon. We all took a few bites of the warm cobbler as the ice cream melted, and before I knew it, it was gone.

“That was the best blackberry cobbler I’ve ever had,” Zane proclaimed, sitting back to pat his stomach.

“You should try the peach. It’s my favorite.”

“I know of another peach that’s still better,” Slade cooed from across the booth. Instantly, my insides heated up, and I picked up my coffee to try to hide my reaction.

“So, what idea did you have, Simon?” I asked, turning my attention to him. Carefully, I shifted my legs, my pussy throbbing with need from one look.

“Well, I’ve been feeling pretty aimless and not sure what direction I wanted to go. Going back to the salon didn’t feel right, and I can’t hang around Tattooed Hearts forever either.”

“Sure you can,” Slade disagreed, sipping his coffee. “How else am I going to keep track of both of you?”

“As cute as that is,” Simon stated, patting Slade’s leg under the table, “I need my own thing. And Thane is looking for something too. It’s not just about me.”

“What do I have to do with it?” he asked, practically licking his plate clean.

“Well, I was scrolling through LiveIt when I saw an ad. Have you ever heard of Sink-Ink-Think?”

Scrunching my nose, I rolled the words around in my head, trying to place them. “No, I can’t say I have. What is it?” I asked, taking another gulp of the liquid gold.

“It sounds dumb,” Slade interjected. “SIT? What, are we dogs now?”

Simon rolled his eyes but didn’t let Slade’s grumpiness at not being in the know deter him. “It started as a convention and has developed into this huge thing. It’s now part convention with booths and tables and part competition. I think we should do it.”

“Do it, how exactly?” I ask, not understanding his excitement.

“There are booths for hair, makeup, tattoos, and even some karaoke contests. It just seemed like a fun idea. Forget I mentioned it,” Simon said, dropping his eyes. I could hear the hurt in his voice, and I knew we hadn’t responded the way he wanted.

“Babe, it’s not that I don’t want to do it. I’m just trying to figure out what it is. You’ve had a few hours to look into it, and I can see you’re excited about it. Let us get there before you decide for us.”

“So, what you’re saying is we’d tattoo people, do Lennox’s letter thing, and you’d style hair?” Slade asked, peering at Simon until he lifted his head.

“Yeah.”

“What about Thane?” Slade asked, looking at his brother. It made me happy he wasn’t dismissing his place in our relationship. They’d come a long way since Nashville.

Simon looked over at him. “I thought it would be a good chance to find your passion. You talked about being excited about the possibilities. You could take photos, be our assistant, or even try writing. I want you with us. I didn’t mean for it to sound like you weren’t included.”

Zane nodded, scratching his jaw as he thought it over. He looked over at me and then at Slade. “You know, we could make a trip to see Dad while we’re traveling. And I have always wanted to take photos. It could be my thing. If nothing else, I could man the social media account for the shop.”

Slade held his brother’s eyes as he breathed deeply, finally closing them as he nodded. “Fine. If we can make it work with Peach’s thing, then the SHIT thing could work too. We’ll see about Dad.”

“It’s SIT,” Simon said, laughing. “But, thank you.”

“So, road trip? Oh, this is going to be a blast. Just me, a van, and my three best guys.”

“Wait, a van?” Slade asked, looking at me.

“Would you prefer a camper?”

“I’ll take care of the vehicles. You three start mapping out our journey. Where do we head first for Babs?” he asked.

“St. Louis, Missouri.”

ChapterSeven

SLADE

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