Faye was a great teacher and a lot of fun to be around. He loved being able to spend his days designing beautiful tattoos, and he was enjoying being able to help to turn them into permanent artwork on people’s bodies. Now that he had appointments to touch base with new medical professionals, he could be certain that he continued to recover as well and as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the life that he had planned for himself before his accident, but it was the one he wanted.
A text from Faye snapped him out of his thoughts. When it became clear the accident had damaged his ability to take in written text easily, a nurse had shown him how to turn on text to speech on his phone. He used that function to listen to Faye’s message.
“Hey, kiddo. I hope you’re not going to sit in all night on your birthday. Get out there and celebrate.”
Jared began to shake his head but then grinned as he remembered that Kyrone had asked him along to The Vibe while flirting with him. It had been easy to flirt back because he was gorgeous. Dark skin, strong muscles, but not overly bulky with it, brown, soulful eyes, and a square jaw, accentuated by a perfectly groomed moustache and square goatee. His self-confidence was sexy too. He clearly knew he was beautiful and had embraced that. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to check out The Vibe. Even if Kyrone wasn’t there—or was and wasn’t really interested—there would probably be plenty of other guys to dance and fool around with. Reminding himself that he was alive rather than a ghost would certainly be a lot more fun than staying in his room, doing not much of anything.
It was way too early to get ready to go out to a night club, and he needed food anyway. After locking his door, he headed down to the shared kitchen to make himself something to eat. Each of his housemates had a shelf in the fridge and a compartment in the freezer. Their fridge space was full of ready meals, beer, and junk food, whereas his had fresh vegetables and decent cuts of beef, a couple of portions of fatty fish, and a box of twelve eggs that was half empty. His cupboard space was just as healthy, with packets of beans and pulses, plenty of fruit, and a big jar of turmeric powder.
At first, he hadn’t been a fan of the curry spice, but his first dietician had told him it was good for helping his brain to recover. Since he’d started adding it to pretty much everything, he’d got used to the taste.
He cooked some fish and lentils, flavoured with the turmeric, and a massive side helping of spinach with pumpkin seeds tossed in. It was eclectic but good for him. He ate in the kitchen, briefly saying hello to one of his housemates when they came home and grabbed a bottle of beer out of the fridge. Beyond the tiny exchange of words, he was alone and quiet, which only fuelled his desire to go out to the club, socialise, and enjoy the evening.
3Kyrone
There was a fantastic atmosphere in The Vibe. It was packed with beautiful bodies of all shapes, sizes, and genders, although Kyrone only had eyes for the men. He’d already spent time on the dance floor with the two guys he’d come with, friends from Heaven and Hell who worked the same nights as him, but now they were sitting off to one side, taking a breather and drinking. While his friends were on either beer or cocktails, he was strictly drinking water.
“Are you looking for someone?” Hunter asked him over the noise of the music. “You keep scanning the room.”
Hunter was one of the larger dancers at Heaven and Hell, all bulky muscle like a bodybuilder. He looked intimidating, but once you go to know him, he had a caring, big brother vibe about him.
“I met a cute guy earlier today and invited him along,” Kyrone said. “I was hoping he’d actually show up.”
“Oh, really?” Dylan asked, drawing all the syllables out dramatically. “We needallthe details.”
Dylan was a slim, androgynous dancer, who liked to wear heavy black eyeliner and had piercings in his nose, eyebrow, lip, and tongue. It was Dylan who had introduced Kyrone to Ink Envy and Faye when he’d first mentioned wanting to get a new tattoo a couple of years earlier. He’d loved the results and the banter with Faye, so had gone back every time he’d decided to get new ink.
“Cute just doesn’t cut it,” Dylan went on. “What does he look like and where did you meet him?”
“At Ink Envy.”
“Oh? Does that mean you have new ink?” Dylan asked. “Or maybe a piercing. Please tell me you got a tongue piercing? Or maybe a nipple one.”
“Just a tattoo this time. I’ll show it to you once the bandage comes off.”
“You’d better.”
“We see each other semi-naked all the time. It would be impossible to hide it from you.”
Dylan pursed his lips. “True.” He sipped his cocktail through a paper straw. “Okay, so you met this cute guy at Ink Envy. What ink was he getting done?”
“None. He works there. He’s Faye’s apprentice.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow. “I can tell I’m going to have to pay Faye a visit.”
Kyrone grinned as he caught sight of Jared walking through the entrance. He was wearing a skin-tight long-sleeved T-shirt, leather trousers, and big clumpy mid-calf boots. Despite how thin he was, Jared looked hot.
“Or you could say hi to him now.” Kyrone grabbed Dylan’s face and turned it towards the beautiful young man.
“Oh, he ishot.”
“Hands off,” Kyrone warned. “I saw him first.”
Dylan gave him a cheeky smile. “Why don’t we lethimdecide which one of us he prefers?”
“He might like me best,” Hunter pointed out. “Maybe he likes his men big and strong.”
Laughing, Kyrone left his friends so he could intercept Jared.
