21
Elias looked up as the door opened, and a part of him wished he could turn back time five seconds and lock it when Vince walked in. He hardly ever came to the tattoo parlor, but when he did, it never failed to cause problems. Sometimes it gave Elias a headache. Other times, it meant him and Javier holding back Marco, when really what they wanted was to let him go and allow him to strangle the life from Vince.
“I didn’t expect you to be here,” Vince said as the smile on his face spoke of the blatant lie. Elias also knew his cousin had seen his car in the parking lot.
“I work here,” Elias decided to respond.
“With as little as you’re here, can you really claim that?” Vince asked.
Elias quirked a brow because Vince had no idea how often Elias was there. Unless he’d been driving by daily to figure it out. He wouldn’t put it past the other man and his aunt to still be trying to get him hired, even with the definitive no Marco had given. He also knew Vince well enough to know that by some divine intervention it happened, he’d figure out a way to spin it as if he’d taken Elias’ chair.
“What do you want?” Elias asked, cutting to the chase. In his experience, it was always better to deal with Vince quickly and try to be done with him.
The other man plopped down in Elias’ chair. “I came to get a tattoo.”
“Then you should have made an appointment. Get up. I have a client coming in half an hour,” Elias informed.
“I can wait until you’re done,” Vince countered and moved to one of the waiting chairs.
Elias sat in his chair and decided not to tell him he had another client after his upcoming one, because he didn’t think Vince would be there that long. He would either say something to piss Elias off, or Marco would finish the tattoo he’d started an hour ago, and Vince would make a quick exit as he normally did after sparking a match.
He ignored his cousin for the next five minutes as he scrolled through his phone, but could feel the other man’s eyes on him the entire time. It was irritating, but he knew that was Vince’s goal, and Elias would not give him the satisfaction of getting under his skin so easily. When five more minutes passed, Vince finally broke the silence.
“When are you going to start dating?”
“Why are you interested in my dating life? I would think you had someone’s seconds you needed to worry about instead,” Elias responded without looking at him.
Vince didn’t respond for a moment, and Elias could feel him glaring at him. “I’m just surprised you haven’t now that Marco is married. I was honestly surprised you didn’t jump on the dating bandwagon right after him, since you like to do everything he does.”
Elias looked up from his phone. “He also busted you in your shit a few months ago.” He put his phone aside. “I suppose I should do that too, since I do everything he does.”
Vince snorted. “Why so hostile to the truth? You’re too old to think that violence is always the answer, but since he hasn’t learned it, I don’t expect you to have either.”
“And you’re too old to throw rocks and hide your hand, throw tantrums like a child, have your mother still take care of you,try and fail to steal every girl either of us has ever dated, pay for pussy because you can’t get it any other way, and cry over everything that doesn’t go your way. Do I need to continue?” Vince glared at him as he stood, Elias following suit. “You step into my space, and I’m putting your ass on this floor,” he warned the other man.
“Elias,” Nesiah started from where she’d been watching them at her station. “Don’t break anything.”
He decided not to ask her if that included Vince’s face, but he knew it wouldn’t get that far. If his cousin had learned nothing else, it was that Elias would only warn him once. Sometimes, self-preservation kicked in for the other man, and this seemed to be one of those times as he stomped out of the parlor.
“I wonder if that man has a humiliation kink because that’s the only way I see him coming here just to be punked each time he does so,” Nesiah said, and Elias chuckled.
“Whatever it is, you would think he’d get tired of it turning physical and getting him hurt.”
“Facts. Especially where Marco is concerned because he swings first. At this point, I can’t really say I blame him. You’re at least mildly nicer.”
“When I’m in a good mood.”
“Which you seem to have been over the past couple of weeks,” Nesiah smirked, and Elias raised a brow at her. “I’m only saying the tension was thick for a while, but I’m glad the two of you worked it out.”
He hummed and sat back down in his chair, picking up his phone. Nesiah was not the first person to tell him that, and he wondered if it had really been that bad.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Eri sat in the chair, allowing Avian to use her as a prop as she perfected the dance routine she planned on teaching in her upcoming classes. It was an intimate dance, and she wondered if her friend would also perform it for Marco in addition to teaching it. It was the first chair dance Avian was teaching her class. The first dance that required another person as a prop, and Eri could easily tell Avian wanted it to be sensual, but not overly complex, in case someone was uncomfortable.
Avian grabbed Eri’s hands and placed them on her hips as she sat on her lap, undulating her hips as the music began to fade out.
“Careful, Avi,” Eri teased. “Your husband might walk in and get jealous.”
