Maybe this really would all work out. Me and Bailey, dating. Telling his brothers. Keeping my job.
It could just be Bailey’s hand slipping down to caress my ass as soon as Aiden left the room, but for once, I couldn’t see any storm clouds on the horizon.
Only the sunshine in Bailey’s sweet smile.
CHAPTER 21
Flynn
I steppedinto Ink Anarchy just after five. We’d had a rare day at the auto shop where we’d wrapped up all our repair jobs early. Tomorrow was likely to be a beast, though. Holden had already told me to plan on working late.
“Hey, man,” Knight called from where he wiped down a tattooing station close to the front of the shop. “What are you doing here?”
“Been meaning to set up a session with Cyrus.”
He was the best at doing cover-up work, and I had a gnarly prison tattoo that was just embarrassing. Now that someone was regularly seeing my chest, I wanted it fixed.
Bailey hadn’t yet asked about the crudely done dozer on my pec—and if he did, I’d tell him the truth—it was a necessary evil to live up to a certain reputation I had in prison. But it was a reminder of that time that I could do without.
“All right. Cyrus is gone, but Emory should be able to get you scheduled. Hold on.”
Knight headed for the back of the parlor. It was a wide-open space, so I tracked him all the way to a door labeled Staff Only. Most of the artists had gone home, except for Axel’s regular tattoo artist, Fox. His tattoo gun whirred steadily at the back of the shop.
Tattoo art covered the walls, some of it bold and colorful and some classic black-and-white detailing. From cartoony to scarily realistic, Anarchy Ink covered it all.
Emory followed Knight to the front of the shop. “Hey, Flynn! They let you out of the garage, huh?”
“Light day,” I said.
“Well, you’ve earned that.” Emory stepped behind the counter and tapped at the keys on the computer set up there. “Okay, it looks like Cyrus has a cancelation the day after Thanksgiving. Does that work?”
“I think so.”
“You going to see your brother for the holiday?” Emory asked.
“Oh, uh, I guess so. We haven’t discussed our plans yet, but we usually keep it simple.”
“You should both just come to our Thanksgiving,” Emory said, then flicked a glance at Knight. “You too.”
Knight chuckled. “Thanks, but you don’t have to let me gate-crash.”
“It’ll be fun,” Emory said. “We’ll make tons of food, so why not, right?”
Emory was sweet. It would be nice to spend the holiday with them. I didn’t really want to be in Thurston if Bailey was here, but I couldn’t leave Aiden on his own.
“Thanks, Em. I’ll talk to my brother.”
He beamed. “Perfect. I’ve got you all set up that Friday, then.”
“Appreciate it.”
“I’m almost done here,” Knight said. “Want to grab dinner at the pool hall?”
“Sure.”
I didn’t have better plans, other than scarfing down a plate and then calling Bailey. I could do that after eating with Knight. I’d been meaning to ask him about his roommate situation. I’d missed the last Redemption Road program—and I’d been skipping the more informal meetups since Snake showed up at Forrester’s.
Judging by the many nasty texts on my phone, he was pissed I’d blocked his attempt to get hired on by the brothers. The less I saw of him, the better.
