Old Ink (Get Ink'd #3) - Ali Lyda Page 0,82

just made.”

Ian walked out of the door of my shop and my life and I vowed to never let him back in. He was right about one thing, though. I was feeling regret, so deep and fast I was drowning in it. But it wasn’t over my art career.

Channing.

There are some mistakes too large to fix. Betraying Channing like this after all his patience, his wisdom, and his requests for me to meet him halfway? That felt like it might be too large a fuck-up to overcome. And it was entirely on my own head.

“I c-can lock up,” Javi said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll d-discount the c-clients still here. G-go fix this.”

I knew he meant to go fix things with Channing, and I wasn’t about to argue. I grabbed my keys and jogged to my truck. I raced toward Channing’s house, trying not to panic as I drove. My heart was beating a punishing rhythm, and I deserved it. All of this time I’d been an arrogant ass, assuming that Channing was the one who might be immature and unable to handle our age gap and relationship.

It was clear now that I’d been the one lacking. And now, more than ever, I felt how badly I needed Channing in my life. My love for him scored my flesh, tearing me apart for taking so much for granted.

Dane answered the door when I knocked. He was still fiercely furious. “Now is not a good time, Reagan. Channing’s in a fucking bad place.”

I winced, my hand rubbing above my heart. “I know. I know. I’ve fucked up but, Jesus, Dane, at least let me try to fix it.”

Dane crossed his arms over his chest. “You think you can fix this? Do you think you deserve a fucking chance to?” He was getting louder. A hand clasped his shoulder, and I saw Christian appear beside him.

“I seem to remember that you were in a situation a lot like Reagan’s once, babe.” I could practically see Dane’s rage start to fizzle under Christian’s words and touch. “It’s not your job to shield Channing. He’s a man, and he can decide his own shit.”

Growling, Dane nodded and stepped aside. But as I walked into the foyer, he stalked away as if being near me were too much. Christian and I both flinched when we heard Dane’s fist meet a wall.

Christian turned to me, and if I’d expected an ally after what he’d just said, I was dead wrong. His eyes were like lightning, scarily like Channing’s own. And he was pissed.

“I’m letting Channing make his own decisions. But if he cuts you out, Reagan, then you’re fucking out. Do you understand?”

Oh, I did. Nodding again, I waited while Christian yelled up to Channing. My heart thumped with heavy, painful beats as I watched him come down the stairs. Channing’s shoulders were hunched and he looked too much like the angry, hurt kid he’d been when I’d first met him.

But because he was stronger than any of us gave him credit for, he came over to me, anyway. “What do you want from me, Reagan?”

Without missing a beat, I said, “Another chance. Please. I know I screwed up.”

Channing wouldn’t meet my gaze. He stared at a wall, his nose scrunched as he thought. “You didn’t just screw up once, Reagan. Twice. Two times in one fucking day. I’d told you this morning that I was willing to fight for us, to try to make it work, but that you had to meet me halfway. You had to treat me like an adult and show I was worth some effort. And mere hours later?”

Now he turned his glazed eyes on me, his smirk so pained I wanted to cry as he continued laying out all the ways I’d wronged him. “You scolded me like a delinquent. You did it in front of the entire crew and their clients, and then you did it again in front of your old professor. You will never see me as a man. I’m always going to be a stupid, pining teenager in your eyes. You turned me away back then because you thought I was too young, that I wasn’t mature enough to handle being with you. You still think I’m too young, so let’s just admit it, okay?”

My stomach twisted and I tasted acid. “You’re wrong. That isn’t how I see you at all—”

But Channing shook his head. “I’m too tired to fight. I’ve been working my