I swallowed the candy down, my mouth too sickly sweet now. It went right along with my shame for jerking off over a man who didn’t want me anymore.
I got out of the shower and dried off, then went next door to get dressed. The house was quiet. Aiden had left sometime during my shower. Probably best I didn’t see him right now. I might do something stupid.
I pulled on fresh clothes, my typical blue jeans-tank combo of summer. Today the jeans were a washed-out blue with big rips in the knees, and the tank was black, but the sun had faded it to nearly gray.
I grabbed my motorcycle jacket on the way out the door and grimaced as the heat smacked me in the face. God, I fucking hated summer. Give me freezing winds over this any day.
The ride to work was short, thankfully, and soon I was walking into the chill of the air-conditioned tattoo parlor. Thetrailer had been like stepping into a cool wind, but this place was more like walking into a refrigerator. I needed that today.
I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it by the door. “It’s hot as balls out there. When is summer going to be over already?”
“Someone’s cranky today,” Fox called from his station near the back of the shop.
I crossed the stained concrete floor to our supply closet. “I worked outside all morning. Damn near got heat stroke.”
“Shit, man, you really do like working,” he said. “Isn’t one job enough?”
I laughed, a little bitter edge sneaking in. “I wish.”
Emory stopped me as I reached the supply closet. “Are you okay?”
“Of course. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
Or maybe in the wrong bed. I’d be in a lot better mood if Aiden let me into his. Not that it’d really solve anything. I wasn’t fit to be anyone’s boyfriend.
I pulled on a pair of disposable gloves, grabbed a bottle of CaviCide disinfectant, and went to work wiping down each station so the artists would be ready to work. Once I finished that, I restocked disposable gloves, ink cups, needles, and other supplies.
Cyrus came into the shop, along with Angela, her hair pulled into two perky ponytails dyed a bright teal. Everyone else called her Angel, but I couldn’t think of her that way because it was my private name for Aiden.
Even if he didn’t want me using it.
Damn it. I really needed to stop thinking about him.
“Hey, Knight,” Angela called from her station. “Can you get me some fresh plastic wrap for my machine? It’s unraveling.”
“That was my next step,” I said tersely.
“Oh, I wasn’t criticizing…”
“Don’t mind him,” Fox said. “He’s in a shit mood. He blames the heat, but I thinksomeoneneeds to get laid.”
Angela laughed. “Well, I suppose Icouldvolunteer as tribute.”
Fox fake-coughed out “skank.”
Angela shot him the bird. “I didn’t hear you complaining when you were getting a free ride.”
I chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, Ange, but I’m batting for the other team.”
She sighed and shook her head. “All the hottest ones are.”
“Hey,” Fox protested. “I’m still fifty/fifty, baby. Equal opportunity fucking over here.”
“Meh,” she said. “Been there, done that.”
Fox clapped a hand to his heart, but it was pretty obvious they’d only ever been casual hookups. Just friends with benefits.
Without Flynn between us, it’s what Aiden and I might have been.
