“You ready to finish this up?” I asked.
Greg looked down at the stained-glass arches and raised a dubious eyebrow. “Less than an hour?”
“Just color and then some white,” I said.
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
I’d just laid in the yellow when Smith reappeared from the top of the stairs. He’d stripped out of my hoodie but hadn’t changed any other item of clothing and I wondered if he’d just been in the apartment wearing a trail in the floor the whole time.
“He left,” I said, and that was enough to send Smith down the final few stairs and into the shop. “He’s coming back, though.”
“I figured.” He pulled up a stool and sat a ways away from me and Greg, but close enough it was easy to hear him when he spoke. “Did you know he was coming?”
“Not a clue.”
“He must not have a good first impression of me,” Smith said with a frown.
I wiped the ink of Greg’s leg and figured out what parts of the stained glass design needed a burst of white highlight before rinsing the needles and picking up fresh ink.
“What about your first impression of him?”
Smith made a thoughtful noise, like the idea of having his own opinions hadn’t even crossed his mind. He was so much the youngest brother sometimes, and it made me want to take him upstairs at the end of the night and make him ask for everything he wanted, lest he get nothing.
“I’m sure it’s hard,” Smith said carefully. “Losing a brother.”
“A twin.”
“A twin?” His eyes went wide. “That would be like Hunter and Finn, and…I don’t think either of them would ever be the same if that happened.”
Smith scratched just below his sternum, mouth pulled down into a very unhappy frown.
“It’s obviously not cut and dried,” I said.
Greg winced as I laid in some white, whining, “Why is this the most painful color?”
“It’s not,” I assured him. “You’re just weak.”
He flipped me off with his eyes closed, covering them with his forearm for good measure. Smith sat quiet, lost in thought while I finished the tattoo. I got Greg bandaged and myself paid, then sent him on his way and returned to clean up my station.
“Toren should be back any minute,” I said.
That seemed to shake Smith out of his head. “Do you want me to go?”
“Not at all,” I answered quickly. “If he wants to be in my life again, he’s more than welcome, but I’m not going to hide things to make it easier for him. You can’t put yourself into a box for somebody else to carry. That’s not how life works.”
Smith hummed and pulled out his phone, typing out what looked like a quick email or text.
“Everything good?” I asked.
“Yeah, I just think that’s some advice Finn probably needed to hear.”
“Jesus, I’m the worst.” I took my hair out and redid the bun, doing what I could to get myself in order. “I didn’t even ask how your day was.”
Smith slid his phone back into his pocket and stood up, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing a kiss against my chest.
“It was good. He’s got some stuff going on, but when doesn’t he?”
I laughed as the bells on the door jingled announcing Toren’s return.
