Old Ink (Get Ink'd #3) - Ali Lyda Page 0,13

in the kitchen rustling through the pots and pans. Relieved and hungry, I followed the sound in the hopes of persuading someone to feed me breakfast.

Christian was standing in front of the fridge. But instead of pulling out what he needed, he was staring at his ring finger. From my vantage point at the bar counter, I could see the intricate shapings of black marking a permanent ring on his finger. It looked cool as hell.

“I hope you like it, because it’s there forever,” I said, relishing how Christian jumped at the sound of my voice. He turned and gave me a sarcastic look.

“Technically, I can have it removed with a laser—”

“Or by cutting off the finger,” I shot in.

He rolled his eyes. “But yes, I love it. Dane told me how you helped set up the parlor. I would have enjoyed not rushing to the shop in a blind panic, but aside from that, it was a wonderful surprise. Thank you.”

I scratched the back of my head, shying away from the thanks. Christian and I were good these days—great, really. He was the older brother I needed and we’d been apart for far too long. But… years of conditioning myself to be jealous of him hadn’t unraveled quickly. He’d helped me get into therapy and I still saw a therapist a couple times a month, so I knew that healing from trauma can take a long time. But Christian was always good about giving me space and not making me feel like I should be acting any certain way to things other people didn’t think twice about.

And Christian was happy with Dane and successful in his career—a career he’d always wanted and had no problem entering and thriving in. He had a comfortable, happy life. And I loved him. So I pushed aside the tickle of envy that tried to make me angry at his kindness instead of thankful as I shook my head.

“Could you make me some breakfast, too?” I asked, sliding on to a barstool.

“You didn’t eat at Daniel’s?”

“I’m pretty sure Daniel is still asleep.”

Chris whistled. “Oh, to be in my twenties again.”

I grunted back at him. “It’s not that great.”

“Says the man who turns twenty-one soon.”

I shrugged and played with a magazine that had been left on the counter. “Alcohol isn’t that special. I guess one of the bonuses to fucking up so much early in my life is I don’t have a huge desire to drink myself stupid now. I’ve sure as hell got a lot more to lose.”

Chris hummed a bit in agreement and brought me a cup of coffee. I saw him add extra eggs to the pan and pop another piece of bread into the toaster. “Small mercies. Well, tell me about your night, since you already know how mine went.”

“Reagan took me to dinner after we helped Dane.” Christian almost dropped the spatula, but I kept going, determined not to let him make it a big thing. “And then I went to Daniel’s house where he and the guys drank and we played video games.”

I knew he was trying to sound casual, but Christian’s voice was far too tight when he asked, “How was dinner with Reagan?”

And his curiosity and reservations were fair enough, really. He and Dane had been there to try and pick up the pieces of my immature heart when Reagan had rejected me. My brother was just worried, I knew, but I really felt like I deserved more credit now.

“It was fine. We caught up, I told him about school, he offered me a job and I took it.”

Christian set a plate in front of me. It had eggs, toast, and some sautéed spinach on it. I dug in while he stared at me. “So you’re taking the job?”

“Yeah. For the summer, at least. I need something to do each day. School got me used to being busy, and I don’t know if I can handle lounging around the house all summer.”

“I don’t disagree,” Christian said, his tone hesitant, “but I just want to make sure you’re—”

“It’s been almost three years,” I interrupted, knowing where he was going. “The thing with Reagan is in the past. We talked about it last night and there are no hard feelings.”

Well, okay. I still have feelings, and when I think of him, I get hard, but that’s my own business.

“Okay,” Christian said, exhaling. “Well, I’m happy for you then. But I gotta run and get ready for work now. Talk