Page 29 of No Dirty Secrets

Sori shrugs. “He went to help Cole with something. Or maybe he went to go stop Cole from doing something. I’m not quite sure at this point.”

“Daddy went to keep Uncle Cole from doing something stupid,” Chloe pipes up from Sori’s side. “Before he made an ass out of himself.”

I love the pink streaks through her hair. As I make a mental note to ask where she got the extensions, I smile at the little blonde-haired girl.

“Don’t say that word, Chloe,” Sori chides gently. “Your father would be very upset if he knew that you were cursing.”

Chloe pouts. “Daddy’s the one who said it. I was just quoting him.”

“My students are like that,” I tell them both. “If they’re quoting their parents or anyone else, they don’t get in trouble, or so they tell me.”

Chloe and Sori both laugh. “That’s exactly where I learned it.” Chloe smiles broadly. “School.”

“Why don’t you come back to the house with us and I’ll get the kids ready to go to Mimi’s.” Sori checks on Laurence, who is sleeping peacefully in his stroller.

“You’re gonna go with me? Just like that.”

Sori stares at me with a strange expression on her face for almost ten seconds before she snaps out of it.

“Of course. That’s what friends are for. And if it wasn’t completely off the wall to take a child and a toddler into a tattoo parlor, we’d be on our way already.”

We are almost to her door before I say anything else, but then I just can’t help it. The words are sitting on the tip of my tongue, begging to be said. “Is that like taking a baby into a bar?”

Sori trips over her feet and barely catches herself on the railing to her steps.

“I can’t believe you said that.”

It turns out, Sori can say a lot worse than that, too. We drop off her kids at Lil’s house, while I stay in the car, I might add.

“Thank goodness,” Sori breathes. “I love them, I really do. But there are times that I look at them and want to run in the opposite direction.”

I’d been in the process of taking a sip of water, and I find myself extremely grateful that I hadn’t actually tried to swallow yet. If I had, there’s no chance I wouldn’t have choked on it.

“That’s why I’m a teacher,” I tell her. “I get to play with them, teach them, and then send them home to their parents.”

“Teachers should make a million dollars a year,” Sori says seriously. “I wouldn’t be able to do it. Twenty kids in one room that act just like mine? No, thanks.” She grimaces.

There’s nothing I can do but chuckle at that. People constantly tell me how they don’t want to teach, don’t understand how I can do it, and I have always thought the same thing when it happens.

“When you find something you’re actually passionate about, it’s easy to just do it.” She glances at me quizzically, so I keep going. “I love teaching, and I love kids. I’ve known since I was like five that I would be a teacher one day. Mom likes to joke that I used to line up my stuffies and teach them.” Memories of doing that with Cassie bring a bitter taste to my mouth, but I swallow it down when we pull up to a brightly lit tattoo parlor on Sixth Avenue. A sign in the window tells me that we are at Tom’s Tattoo and Piercing.

“Great.” Sori claps. “We’re here!”

I follow her in, surprised to see a beautiful couple standing together behind the counter.

“Di!” Sori squeals with a peal of laughter. “I missed you bunches.”

The woman pulls away from the man holding her around the hips and shoots us a bright smile.

“Sori,” she greets. “You’re not here to get another piercing, are you?” With one hand on her hip and the other waving through the air, she seems more bohemian goddess than anything else. “I told Emmett that next time you asked, I’d give him a heads-up.”

Sori brushes her off with a laugh. “No. I’m bringing my friend Casper in to get a tattoo. So my love’s all for Tom today.” She bats her eyes playfully before turning to face me. “Casper, this is Diana and her husband Tom. They own the shop, and hopefully Tom will be the one putting a needle into your skin soon.”

“Nice to meet you.” I roll my eyes at Sori and hold out a hand to Diana first, then Tom. “But she’s right. I would like to get a tattoo if you can fit me in.” I look around the suspiciously empty shop and turn back to them with a hopeful grin.

“Oh,” Tom says while rubbing the back of his neck. “I actually told Diana that we’d head home early tonight for some alone time.”

“He wants to hide the pickle,” Sori mock whispers. “Don’t wanna stand in the way of that.”

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