Page 48 of Sliding into Home

“Hi, Jeff.” She smiled at his buddies. “And you must be the teammates.”

Pete stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Pete.”

Ryan thrust out his hand. “Ryan.”

Gonzo brought up the rear. “Gonzo.”

“I’m sorry, Gonzo?” Kia asked.

“Well, Ramon, but everybody calls me Gonzo.”

“Alright then, Gonzo it is. Why don’t you guys come on back?” She walked past the counter and hung a right, taking them into a room with couches and a fancy-lit drawing table. This place was a hell of a lot nicer than the tattoo places he’d been to previously.

Gonzo looked around. “Nice.”

“Yeah, we just put this in about a month ago. Before that we didn’t really have a place to do consults, so this is nice to have, especially for multiple people.” She walked over to the drawing table and hit a button and a picture flashed up on the TV screen on the wall. “So I just did a few preliminary sketches based on what Jeff said you wanted. I’m happy to adjust anything or go a completely different direction, if this isn’t what you had in mind.”

Ryan stood up and walked over to the screen. “Is that a Hawk attacking a globe?”

“Yeah, you know the Hawks killing the world series.” She smiled shyly. “Too literal?”

“No, it’s fucking awesome.” Ryan’s hand lifted like he was going to touch the screen.

“Glad you like it.” Kia turned to Jeff. “What about you?”

“This is different than what you showed me the other night.”

Kia nodded. “I still have those drawings too, but I did this one up last night after we talked again.”

He grinned. “It’s perfect.”

Gonzo wandered over to her station. “Any chance you could weave my number into it somehow?”

“Of course. What’s your number?”

“55.”

“Last name?”

“Gonzalez.”

Kia bent over and drew a band along the hawk’s ankle with the number 55 on it. She continued to draw. It looked like the backside of the band that was hidden from view had Gonzo’s name on it because all you could see was the G on one side and the EZ on the other. The 55 was the only fully clear thing on the band.

“Yeah, that’s perfect.” Gonzo said.

“That looks badass. I want my number too,” Pete told her.

“I think it’s numbers all around, Kia.” Jeff looked up at the screen. Somehow she’d made the hawk look majestic and fierce as it shredded the world. How could her parents think she was wasting her talent when she could draw something like that? If what ended up on his skin was even half as good as what she’d drawn, he’d proudly wear that tattoo.

“Absolutely.” Ryan nodded.

“Cool. Color or black and gray?”

Jeff looked up at the drawing on the screen. “Black and gray, just like that.”

“Agreed,” Gonzo said, followed by sounds of agreement from Pete and Ryan.

“Well, that was easy.” Kia laughed. “Now when Jeff and I talked, he’d mentioned you all wanted the same tattoo to celebrate winning the world series together, but what about location?” She turned to Jeff. “I know you and Max were all hopped up about a chest tattoo. Is that still what you’re thinking? Right pec?”

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