“First order of business,” Dane said as he dropped into his chair. Reagan shot him a look that Dane purposefully ignored. “We need to discuss a very important topic.”
“What are you going on about, D?” Reagan’s tone let everyone know he wasn’t amused.
Dane managed to never take anything seriously, not even Reagan. It was part of his charm and one of his biggest flaws. But I loved watching them interact—the big, burly bear of a boss versus the snide and sarcastic employee, knowing that at the end of the day, the two still loved each other like family.
“I’m going on about my good friend, Javi, and the mystery man that struck him speechless last night.”
At that, Trinity let out a cackle and Dane shot me a wink. Reagan frowned, and I felt myself burning. Had it been obvious to all of them?
“Now, I didn’t see him,” Dane continued, “but Trinity assures me that the man next door is a looker. So we need a plan to get them together.”
Before I could protest, Reagan stepped in. “Boss rejects this order of business. Leave Javi alone.”
Dane just chuckled and pushed harder. “You want to see Javi happy just as much as I do, Reagan.”
“Happiness doesn’t come from shitheads like you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Reagan replied.
I felt like I was outside of a window looking in on a conversation all about me. I was flushed because I didn’t like being the center of attention. Reagan, Trinity, Mateo, and Dane could normally tease me all they wanted. They were my crew, my ride or dies, and I knew that they truly did want the best for me. I just wished they didn’t assume a man was what I needed.
Beyond that, something about interacting with my neighbor had been different. Radically different, really, because I was still wound up about it, rather than the out of sight, out of mind attitude I usually had with guys. I’d spent the night replaying the interaction in my mind a thousand times.
So while I could normally endure the teasing with a good-natured smile, today I wished they’d drop it.
They did move on, largely due to Reagan’s bullheaded insistence. Thank Christ for that. The man was a lifesaver in more ways than one. He was older, grizzled but not ancient, with the kind of ginger hair and pale skin that made a person memorable. It helped, too, that he was built like a fucking tank and covered in tattoos. He often stood in as a father figure for me and the others, but his appearance was far from fatherly.
I watched in relief as he ribbed Dane, who was forever joking. I loved the guy, but Dane sometimes missed the cues that shit was getting serious. Today, though, it was the usual banter, the barbed back and forths that left all of us—even Reagan—holding our ribs.
Trinity was the one who grounded us all at the end of the meeting. “Reagan’s stepping back from taking walk-ins now because he’s the boss man and can do what he likes,” she said. “Javi is going to take on some larger pieces because he’s a fucking tattoo magician, and Mateo is going to be holding a guest spot at that Brooklyn tattoo shop for a couple months, so he’s out. Dane is going to handle most of the walk-ins, because he can charm the pants off anyone. But please, Dane, let’s try and not fuck every customer who walks through the door today.”
“I promise to leave the women alone,” he replied, a boyish grin huge on his face. He held up his two fingers in a pledge. “Boy Scouts' honor.”
“Uh huh,” Trinity muttered with a roll of her eyes.
“What will you be doing?” Dane asked. “Making sandwiches for us hungry, working men?”
“I’ve kicked your ass before, Dane, and I’ll do it again,” Trinity growled. At this point, tears of mirth were streaming down Reagan’s cheeks while I was hiding my smile by sipping my coffee. “I will be tattooing all the poor, misguided women who come in here and think they are at risk of losing their virtue to you assholes. And the dudes who are dumb enough to worry that they can catch gay.”
Reagan stiffened. “I won’t tolerate homophobes. If any of you catch wind of that shit, come get me. I’ll make sure they understand the type of business I run.”
The meeting moved on and we relaxed into the day. After breakfast, we cleaned up