“Yeah, we’re rebranding this one to be even more kink-friendly, but we’re opening another one as well. That’ll be sort of an LGBTQ sports bar type, but with occasional events like drag nights and whatnot.” He gestured with his glass. “I’ve talked to the others, and I think we want to offer Bear a part-time job, or hell, full time if he thinks it’s needed.”
My eyes widened and I smiled widely. “That’s a great idea. What brought this on?”
“Well, you know how we are with the community. I had several people coming to me all worried and asking about Bear’s recovery after the accident since you guys haven’t been around much. Then Harriet asked if we could give him work without it being sort of… obvious?”
I nodded. “Not a charity case, because he would never accept that.”
“Right. We thought about it, and it seems like now’s the time. Only if he wants it though.”
“You can ask him. It might be just what he needs, to be honest. He’s going to be slower than before for a long time if not permanently, and he worries more than he lets on about keeping his clients happy if he needs to take time off because of the headaches.”
“We’re never that busy here, as you know.”
“I know.”
He raised his glass. “Here’s hoping your boy wants to work for me.”
I chuckled. “You’re not the only person funding this place or the new one.”
“Psh, minor details….”
I rolled my eyes fondly and finished my beer with him. It was time to go home to my boy.
Epilogue
Bear
I stretched in my fancy chair in my office at the club. There were four of them now, and I made a decent living by running all their social media and marketing stuff. It had been a good couple of years.
It was late; I’d been putting finishing touches on a new ad campaign we’d be running soon, but to my surprise I didn’t feel the telltale signs of a headache. It still surprised me when I could work all day or concentrate intensely on something and I didn’t get a headache for my efforts.
My hip had been completely healed for a long time, and I didn’t really think about it other than when Luukas and I traveled abroad and had to go through security.
My phone rang, and I grinned as I saw my sister’s name.
“What’s Blob doing now?” I asked, as I started to gather my stuff with my free hand.
“Okay, first of all, don’t call your niece Blob, for fuck’s sake, Bear,” she started. “She’s dancing on my bladder and pretty much everything else she can. I needed to let Séan sleep, so I came to the couch.”
“To be fair, the ultrasound pics you sent us made her look like a Blob,” I teased. “How’s my nephew?” I closed the lid of my work laptop I was barred from bringing home. “Also, give me a few moments, I’m going to step out of my office.”
“Ronan is doing great, he’s starting to get excited for the baby. And okay!” she said brightly.
I waved at the staff on my way out and got into the car I’d ordered right before Dove called. On the way home, we chatted about her pregnancy that was coming to its end and how they’d agreed that two kids were enough.
“Tell the boys hi and try to get some sleep, sis.”
“Will do. Give that Daddy of yours kiss from me.”
“Night.”
I opened the door to our apartment, the same one where Luukas had brought me when he’d gotten me from That Asshole’s place, and tiptoed in. I knew Luukas had had a long, rough day and in the last six months his back had been acting up more regularly, like he’d told me many tattoo artists’ bodies would sooner or later.
His shop was doing incredibly well. He’d limited his own hours to more sensible ones to try to stay healthier. Sara was still running the place with an iron fist and Zain and Bobby were still there. Georgia and Rico had moved on, but both stopped by occasionally when they were in the area.
At my suggestion, Luukas had started to save a chair for up-and-coming artists, and he had a nice rotation going on. The other chairs were rented out to whomever fit the shop and wanted to stick around for a while.
We traveled a lot, too. I went with him on his convention gigs and other longer ones where I could. I’d even gotten to meet Clarissa last year while she came by the shop all incognito for an all-day session. I’d kept the fanboying to a minimum.
