To Love Someone (Baytown Boys #14) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,31
She hadn’t meant to blurt out her feelings and was relieved when someone popped their head out of the kitchen door and let them know the party was breaking up.
Offering thanks and hugs and goodbyes, she soon found herself pulling up in front of her small home. After letting Frodo out for another run, the two were ensconced safely inside the camper. As the large dog turned around in a circle and settled onto the floor with the groan, she smiled indulgently. “If only I can find someone as loyal as you, as easy-going as you, as understanding as you.”
Crawling into bed, she listened to Frodo snore and grinned. “Okay, maybe I can find someone who doesn’t snore as much as you do.” As her eyes closed and sleep began to claim her, Joseph appeared in her mind once again. Somehow, she imagined that if he snored, she wouldn’t mind at all.
Joseph looked up from his work on Luke as Zac walked into the tattoo shop, followed closely by some of their friends. Brows raised, he watched as Aiden, Brogan, Scott, Wyatt, and Dylan walked in. Wyatt and Dylan were local police chiefs of small towns north of Baytown. “What the fuck? Was there a meeting planned that I didn’t know about?”
“Luke told us he was getting some work done by you, and I thought I’d come in and take a look at some of Jason’s new designs,” Brogan said. “Plus, Ginny’s at the baby shower tonight.”
Joseph nodded, remembering Jason mentioning that with a bunch of their friends expecting, Rose was at a group baby shower. He had no idea what happened at a shower but figured they’d all get gifts. It dawned on him that Brogan and Aiden’s wives were pregnant. Glancing toward Zac, he noticed his friend’s shit-eating grin and wondered if he’d be announcing impending fatherhood sometime soon.
Jason, sitting at the counter, turned his sketchbook around so that Brogan could view it.
Aiden peered over his brother’s shoulder and said, “When Brogan said he was getting more, I thought about it, too.”
“I don’t know why you’re looking at this notebook,” Brogan quipped. “You just want to get your wife’s name tattooed over your heart.”
“You can’t tell me you don’t have Ginny tattooed somewhere!”
The others rolled their eyes as the two brothers traded barbs.
“The work Jason did around my stump was so much better than anything I’ve ever had,” Scott said, settling into one of the chairs, patting his prosthesis. “Lizzie wanted to know if you could tattoo an alpaca.”
That question had the others stop and stare, wide-eyed. Scott laughed and shook his head. “Damn… wish I had a camera on your faces. Don’t worry, guys. She hates needles, so while she might be curious, you’d never actually have to try to tattoo one.”
“Thank fuck,” Joseph cursed under his breath, thinking of the alpaca carving on Samantha’s Hoofs and Paws sign. Turning his focus back to Luke, he wiped the excess ink and continued the pattern. It was easy. A friend’s name with Never Forget tattooed underneath. “Almost finished,” he said, covering the skin with an antibiotic ointment and a sterile bandage. Rolling his chair away from the table, he turned and gathered the materials to be thrown away. Snapping off his gloves, he shoved them into the bag before tossing it into the garbage. Wiping down his station, he stretched his back and rolled his shoulders.
Luke was standing at the front counter, swiping his credit card with Jason. Looking up, he caught Joseph’s eyes and thanked him. “I really appreciate you getting me in. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and today was the third anniversary, so I decided it was time.” He shrugged and ducked his head. “As far as tats go, I guess it seemed pretty cheesy.”
“It’s never cheesy to memorialize someone who meant something to you,” Joseph said.
“Fuck, yeah,” Brogan said. “Every one of us lost someone over there.” He glanced toward Aiden and sighed. “In fact, most of you newcomers don’t know but one of our close friends was killed in the service.… hell, he’d been engaged to our sister, Katelyn.”
“Fuck, that’s hard,” Joseph murmured under his breath.
“Sam’s comments about the dogs at the last AL meeting made me remember a dog assigned to us for a while,” Aiden said. “It was fuckin’ amazing watching the handler and the dog together. That dog could sniff out and avoid IEDs. Saved my ass a couple of times.”