I already know this. But I don’t want to pressure Dirk. Or make him lie to a Fed for me.
“Can you do a very life-like temporary? With henna?”
Dirk studies it, then nods. “Sure, I guess. Give me a few to make up a stencil.”
He vanishes into the back again.
“Why are you doing this?” Fallon paces nervously.
“I told you, I had to get a new tattoo as part of that deal.”
Pouting, she says, “This is not what I had in mind when I said you need to do a couple’s errand with me.”
“I went ice skating with you,” I remind her. “And remember, I’m just doing all of this to keep you quiet,” I blurt, so Dirk doesn’t think this is anything serious.
“Doing what, Rhys?” Fallon asks innocently.
“Nothing,” I whisper and kiss her cheek. Scrubbing a hand down the back of my neck, I say, “Please go sit and?—”
“Can I sit on your lap?”
“Not right now.”
She crosses her arms. “Are you still mad that I bought us matching pajamas? How else will my family know we’re a happy couple on Christmas if we’re not coordinated?”
“I agreed to be your boyfriend for the holidays,” I say in a rude volume to keep up the ruse.
“Youaremy boyfriend,” she corrects brightly. “Forever. And I have witnesses.”
My brow knits. “What witnesses?”
“My plants,” she says without a hint of irony while hugging me again. “Ourplants.”
My head drops into my hands. I’m not sure if I want to laugh or scream.
Dirk returns in his charcoal apron, stained from past ink jobs. “Tat is being pressed on the sheet. Needs a few minutes. How about you, sweetheart? I can do a nice butterfly on your?—”
I shove Fallon gently behind me. “Do not finish that sentence, mate.”
Dirk chuckles and disappears again to answer his phone.
Fallon flops into a chair, swinging her legs, fiddling with her earrings. “You know, most boyfriends are happy to meet Daddy.”
My head snaps up. “You’ve introduced other boyfriends to your father? Who?”
“Plenty of boyfriends,” she says airily.
Something feral twists in my chest. “And where are these boyfriends?”
“You know what?” She blinks, thinking. “I don’t know. They meet Daddy and then…they disappear.”
A chill licks down my spine.
Then I notice her hands are trembling and her breath is coming out in choppy puffs.
I crouch in front of her. “Breathe, Fal. When we get home?—”
“Not your place,” she whispers, voice gone hollow. “All that blood… I can still smell it.”
