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just given him a mind-blowingly good orgasm worked.
Hey. Sorry to . . . oh, there you are, he said, looking over Charlie s shoulder to Jeremy.
In the flesh, Jeremy said. He leaned against the door jamb, the picture of chilled-out ease.
What s up? Everything go okay with the roadblocks?
Yeah. Everything s fine. I think it s going to serve our purposes great, Nick said. But that s not
why I m here. Actually, I m glad I found you together. I have a favor to ask and it involves Charlie,
too.
Charlie looked from one brother to the other, not having the first clue what Nick could want that
would involve him.
Name it, Jeremy said, his tongue flicking at the piercing on his lip.
Heat shot through Charlie s body at the sight. Damn. It had already been difficult acting unaffected
by the guy when Charlie thought the attraction was all one-sided. Now that he knew Jeremy wanted
him, it was all he could do not to jump the guy and make his promise of again and again and again
come true right this very second. The fact that he d just come apparently bore no relevance to his
dick, which stirred with interest and approval at Charlie s imagining.
Nick s voice pulled Charlie from his thoughts. I was wrong about our commander. And I want to
make it right, in every way I can. He tugged up the right sleeve of his plain white T-shirt. A tattoo
ringed his biceps. The black silhouettes of six soldiers connected by the dark ground on which they
walked. Nick s light green eyes fell on Charlie. Given what I thought had happened, I excluded your
father when I had this done. I want to rectify that. Right now.
You want me to work on you? Jeremy asked, pushing off the door jamb.
Nick nodded. Please.
Charlie didn t know what to say. It was an amazingly personal gesture, and it meant a lot despite the
fact that Charlie was so conflicted in his own feelings about his father. That s . . . really good of you,
Nick, he finally managed.
It s long overdue, he said. Nick looked to Jeremy. So, you game?
Absofreakinglutely. Jeremy followed his brother out of the room, then looked over his shoulder to
Charlie. Come with?
Charlie was just about to protest when Nick turned and nodded. Yeah, Charlie. You should come.
Surprise curled through Charlie s gut both at being included and at how good being included felt.
He spent so much time alone in front of a computer that he d nearly forgotten how being with others
chased the cold loneliness away and filled him with warmth. He hadn t had that in so long. A lot of
which was his own fault. He definitely acknowledged that.
Down at Hard Ink, Jeremy led them through a darkened lounge space at the back of the shop and into
a square room. He flicked on the lights, and the walls came to life with pictures of tattoos, large
pencil drawings, framed memorabilia, and more.
You can sit there, Charlie, Jeremy said with a smile. He pointed to a folding chair by the edge of
a counter. Nick pulled another chair, this one with padded armrests and a back that appeared to
recline, into the center of the room and sat.
Jeremy moved around with a calm efficiency born of experience. He looked the way Charlie felt
when he sat in front of a computer, which made Charlie all the more fascinated with what he was
doing. Charlie studied Jeremy as he made a stencil to add the seventh soldier into the current tattoo
design and had Nick check its placement, as he cleaned and prepped his workspace, and as he poured
black ink into a tiny cup and assembled the tattoo machine.
And then Jeremy sat on a rolling stool beside Nick and asked, Ready?
Nick gave a single nod. And then a low buzz filled the room as Jeremy dipped the machine s needle
in the ink and leaned in to work.
Truth be told, Charlie was overwhelmed. Both by the significance of another man commemorating
his father on his skin, and by how freaking sexy Jeremy was as he brought the image to life. Did
Jeremy even realize that he kept flicking his tongue against the piercing on his lip? Because Charlie
was about ready to combust at the sight of it.
The tattoo was done way too quickly. Charlie could ve watched Jeremy work all day.
Perfect, Nick said as he checked out the finished ink in the mirror. Jeremy bandaged his arm.
Game for doing one more?
It s like Christmas morning, Jeremy said. When am I not game for one more? What do you have
in mind?
Nick pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to Jeremy. I want it
here, he said, pointing to his upper left forearm.
Jeremy s expression went soft for a moment, like whatever was on the paper moved him, but then he
nodded. All black?
Yeah, Nick said, sitting again.
They repeated the process with the stencil again, and that was when Charlie finally saw what it
was. A tribal sun with an ornate letter B in the middle.
It only took Charlie a few seconds to understand Jeremy s expression. Sunshine was Nick s
nickname for Becca. Nick was permanently marking his body for Charlie s sister.
Does she know? Charlie asked, gesturing to the stencil.
Nick shook his head. Thought I d surprise her.
Might want a box of Kleenex handy when you do, Charlie said, glad that Becca had someone who
loved her the way Nick did.
Jeremy laughed. Right? I m getting a little misty over here myself.
Nick cuffed him on the back of the head. Shut up.
Dude. Why do you always hit me? Jeremy asked. Seems a little imprudent when I m about to get
my hands on you, don t you think? I m not above tattooing a Hello, Kitty on your grumpy ass.
That time, Nick was the one to laugh. Do that and you ll wake up tomorrow morning with a shaved
head.
Jeremy held up his hands. That s not cool. You don t threaten a man s hair.
Charlie grinned as the exchange went on until Jeremy finally settled down and got to work. This
tattoo took longer than the first, and had turned the skin on Nick s forearm bright red by the time
Jeremy finished. But it looked phenomenal, the black stark and crisp on his arm.
Becca was going to flip out.
Great work as always, Nick said as Jeremy bandaged the second piece.
You re welcome, man, Jeremy said. Then, a moment later, he added, You re that serious about
her?
Nick smirked. You waited til after it was done to ask?
Jeremy shrugged, a small smile playing around his lips. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]