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“What can I do for you, Nash?” Caydon is less than amused.

“This is a tattoo shop. I came to get a tattoo.” Nash slips into the chair I was just in. He makes himself comfortable by putting his hands behind his head.

Caydon slips his shirt over his head. Purposely, he takes his time responding. “Shorty isn’t here. You’ll have to come back.”

Nash crosses his legs at his ankles. “You’re on the clock, right?”

Caydon’s eyebrows pinch together. “Did you come here to fuck with me?”

“Despite what you think, Caydon, I don’t go out of my way to fuck with you. I just want a few words tattooed on my forearm.” Nash’s attitude is passive and calm.

Caydon’s breath puffs out, “Fine. You have to be some kind of asshole to let me tattoo you. Aren’t you afraid that I might tattoo ‘fuckface’ or ‘dick’ on your arm?”

“Caydon, we both know that you aren’t that kind of guy.” Nash dead eyes Caydon for a second. He peeks around Caydon and addresses me. “Are you sticking around, Reece?”

Since Caydon and I have been together, I have a tendency to put off studying. While he works, I should take the time to get my studies done. “Can I trust you two to be alone?”

In unison, they both answer, “Yes.”

I give both of them the stink eye and walk slowly to the door, peeking over my shoulder. I twist my body around and lecture both of them. “I’m leaving. Lucky, for you, I have loads of shit to do. But, know this…if I hear that you fought I will kick both of your asses. Got it?” I threaten. I look directly at Caydon and point. “And, so help me God, if you tattoo something inappropriate on his body, you will have to deal with me.”

Caydon’s lopsided grin melts my tougher than nails exterior. Before I walk out of the door, he pulls me into a breathtaking kiss and I’m no longer anxious.

He touches the tip of my nose with his finger. “I love you.”

It’s the first time he has said it to me. It’s genuine and meaningful. And perfect. “I love you, too.”

I nip his lip quickly before I walk out of the door to fly all the way home.

* * *

“She’s a keeper,” Nash’s tone is sarcastic. “Step out of line and she’ll put you in a headlock.”

I clean the area to prepare for Nash’s tattoo. “If you continue to talk about her, I will hold you down and tattoo ‘Mother Fucker’ on your forehead.” I hand Nash paper to write down what he wants on his arm so I can do the template. With a grin on his face, he writes the words down and hands the paper back to me. I don’t even look at the paper as I walk to the area where I do my stencils. “Let me get to work on this. It shouldn’t be too hard to tattoo ‘I’m a pussy’ on your arm.”

Nash doesn’t say a word. He lies back in my chair with a shit-eating grin on his face. It makes me think that he is up to something. Maybe, I’m just fucking paranoid.

I get all my materials in order and press the stencil to his arm. Silently, I begin working. For the most part, Nash is quiet. Occasionally, I hear him breathe a little harder when I press the needle into his arm. Midway through, I ask him to look at it to make sure it’s what he was asking for.

“Looks good, man. You’ve come a long way. I remember when you would do garage tattoos at parties in high school. They were good times.” Nash reminisces of the early days when I pretended I didn’t hate him.

“It was a long time ago,” I say. Those were the days where I fought for the fun of it. I fucked bitches because it was something to do. Those were the days I hated myself. “I assume you like this and I should keep going.”

Nash shakes his head. “We were friends back then.” It’s a simple statement, but it means so much.

Yes, I became friends with Nash to get closer to Hannah. Sure, I set out to ruin him because of what he did to me when we were ten. But, while I was scheming, I did grow close to him. So close, that when I finally gained Hannah’s attention, I didn’t act on it. To be honest, I felt like shit taking Hannah away from him. What the fuck did it matter? Back then, I always felt like shit. What was one more enemy? In the end, I got what I deserved…a cheating, whore of a girlfriend.

“Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“So, it was easy for you losing me as a friend? Because, it hurt more losing you as a friend than it did losing Hannah to you.” Nash’s eyes are wide with sincerity.

I throw my gun down on the tray and stand up. The commotion rattles the items on it and some of it falls to the ground. “Is that why you came here, man? To remind me of the fucked up shit we did to each other? Why? Because you see that I’m happy now? We’re fucking even now. You took Reece from me. I took Hannah from you. It’s not my fault Hannah turned out to be a shady whore. If she fucking wanted you, she would have chose you. But she didn’t. The bitch came after me,” I spit out. “And, I recall you telling me that I didn’t deserve her. Well, did you ever think that maybe she didn’t deserve me?”

“She didn’t. Deserve you, I mean,” Nash confesses. “Hannah kept me at her beck and call too, Caydon. She wasn’t just sleeping with you. I know you don’t want to hear that. But it’s true.”

What the fuck?

That explains a lot of shit. “You fucked her?” It should bother me. It doesn’t.

Nash slowly nods. “For the record, I felt horrible after the act.”

“Well, I guess she played both of us. It doesn’t matter, I got what I really wanted in the end…Reece.”

Nash scratches his chin. He’s deep in thought. “Yeah, you did. Not me. I lost Hannah to Griffin or Greg…whatever the fuck his name is. You barely can stand to be in the same room as me. It’s fucking awesome to be me.”

I feel for the dude. At least, I got the happy ending. I got the girl of my dreams. “Do you love Hannah?”

“I thought I did. I mean, it had to be love if I bought all of the shit she sold me, right?” He’s asking the wrong guy.

“I’m not one you should take advice from about love. I thought I loved Hannah, too. What I have with Reece isn’t even in the same category. So, I doubt I loved Hannah.” I sit back down in the chair in front him. “I can tell you this…Hannah is only concerned about herself. If she were really concerned about either one of us, she would have left both of us alone. Our friendship would have survived and she would have gone off to college to marry someone just like her dad.”

Nash looks at the floor to avoid eye contact. The guy is broken up about Hannah. I don’t know what promises the bitch made him. I don’t want to know. What I do know is that it’s time to move on and get past…well…the past. “Man, I’m sorry about Hannah. I’m sorry I got involved with her to begin with. I’m sorry I hurt you.” I might as well get everything off my chest. “I’m sorry I blamed you for getting me in trouble in elementary school. And, I’m sorry that I didn’t thank you for helping Reece when I got so damn drunk on my birthday.”

Trash dumped. Man, that feels good.

There is a little improvement in Nash’s mood. “Thanks, Cay.”

“Now, are we done with our little bitch chit chat? I’d like to get this tat done.” I laugh.

“Well, I thought we could talk about our hair. How do you get yours so shiny?” Nash jokes.

“You’re a sick fuck.” I missed Nash and his bantering.

For the next hour, Nash and I catch up on each other’s lives. After a while, it doesn’t feel like we lost so many years being angry at each other. When I’m finally done, Nash asks me what he owes me.

“Nothing. It’s on me.”

“Thanks, man.” He smiles.

“Don’t mention it.” That’s what friends do.

* * *

“Is Caydon joining us for dinner?” my dad asks.

“Not tonight. He’s closing the shop.”

“Too bad.” I know my dad is secretly elated.

I smile to myself knowing how my dad really feels. In my heart, I know he likes Caydon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t spend time with him. My dad also wouldn’t have helped Caydon give me my Winter Wonderland. He trusts Caydon. Sometimes, a dad needs his little girl to himself.

I place the dishes on the table and set the utensils next to each plate. My dad brings our dinner to the table and sits down next to me. “Where is Annalisa?” She has been here almost as much as I’ve been at Caydon’s.

“I told her that I’d like to spend some time with you since Caydon has you all to himself, most of the time. She agreed.” My dad serves me by placing food on my plate.

“You act like I’m never here,” I say with a mouthful of food.

“You’re not. And don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s gross,” he reprimands me.

I do as my dad says, grinning the entire time. He enjoys this. I can see it. He is embracing the opportunity to father me. I realize now, by making the choice to live with my mom, I took moments like this away from my dad. I realize now that my dad is an emblem of what is decent and good in a man.

What I love most about my father is that he compliments me daily for my intelligence, strength, and beauty. He makes me believe in myself. He’s taught me the meaning of respect. Without my dad, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

In the past, I know that I gave my dad a hard time for being a single parent. Looking back, I can see that he tried to be the man I know he is. He is nurturing and offers unconditional love. It is up to me to accept that love and learn how to give love out. For so long, my heart was chained up. Each day, I work on letting him in to my heart.

“Caydon doesn’t like it either. He falls for it every time I ask him if he likes seafood. He always answers yes. So, I stick out my tongue when I’m eating.” I giggle. “You’d think he would catch on by now. See food.”

My dad arches his eyebrows. “Seriously? That’s disgusting.”

“It’s awesome. That’s what it is,” I joke.

My dad’s foot is tapping. There is sweat across his forehead. He’s nervous as hell. I’m a little scared because his facial expression has changed from amused to serious so quickly.

“Dad, you okay?” I’m freaking out a little.

He puts his palm to his forehead and rubs. When he is finished rubbing it, he stares at me for a second. “I have something to ask you. And I want you to be completely honest with me.”

Oh, crap.

I hope to God that he is not going to ask personal questions about Caydon and me. “Okay,” I draw out.

He folds his hands together. “Annalisa is very important to me. She makes me happy.” My dad is sweating more now. “I love her. Reece, I want to ask her to marry me.” A huge smile spreads across my face. My dad is not paying attention. He’s too nervous. “Of course, you mean the world to me and if you say you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”

“Dad, I love Annalisa.” I get up from my chair to hug him. “I’m so happy for you.”

My dad hugs me back. “Thank you, Reece’s Pieces. I love you.”

“When is the big day?” I ask.

“I’m going to ask her tomorrow during the day. Can you and Caydon meet us later at the pub to celebrate?” he asks.

“Sure. Does Caydon know?” I wonder.

“I asked his permission. He knows,” he says nonchalantly.

He never told me. Damn it. “Hmm…he kept it a secret.”

“I asked him to, Reece. I wanted to ask you before I popped the question.” There’s something else my dad wants to say. He pauses for a second and laughs. “Is this going to be weird for you? I mean…Caydon is going to be your stepbrother.”

I want to reply with a sarcastic comment. But I don’t. Instead, I answer with my heart. “Annalisa is going to be your wife. She’s not going to be my mom. I had a mother. She may have not been a good mom but she was mine. And I doubt Caydon is going to look at you as his dad. Besides, I don’t want to share you with him that way.”

My dad is lost in his thoughts for a second. “Well said.”

“Daddy, I love you. Be happy. You deserve it. It’s time for your Happily Ever After.”

I’m pretty sure I see a tear behind my dad’s eyes. “Thanks, baby.”

* * *

I’m ecstatic that my mom has finally found someone to look after her. Mark is going to be a great husband. I couldn’t ask for a better guy to be there for my mom. I don’t have to worry about her anymore.

I peek over at Reece, taking a break from a piece that I have been working on for over an hour. I tell the guy in my chair to take a break. “I’m going to grab a smoke, then,” he says.

“Alright, man. Take ten.” I sneak up behind Reece while she’s doing her schoolwork. I kiss her on the neck, right behind her ear.

“Mm…how the hell am I supposed to concentrate when you do things like that?”

Concentrate on me.

“Sorry. I won’t kiss you anymore.” I pretend to walk away.

I hear the chair push out and feel Reece’s arms wrap around my waist.
She’s so easy.

“Never say that again. I can’t live without you kissing me.” She really means it.

I turn my body to face her, wrapping my arms around hers. “It’s a good thing that I have an unlimited amount of kisses to give.” I kiss her so gently on her lips that I barely feel anything but the spark of anticipation.

Shorty coughs to remind us that he still here. “When are you guys going to get past this sappy shit?”

I glance over my shoulder and gaze at Shorty. “Oh, like it’s been a walk in the park for me when you and Maria are together.”

“Touché.” Shorty gives up too easily. “Reece, what time do we have to be at the pub tonight for your dad’s engagement party?”

Reece looks past me to view Shorty. “My dad said around seven. He’s asking her as we speak.”

“We better finish up, Caydon, if we are going to make it on time.” Shorty begins cleaning up the shop.

“I have about fifteen minutes left on the piece.” As I speak, a gentleman walks into the shop. He looks familiar.

“Can I help you, man?” Shorty addresses him.

The guy doesn’t look like the type to get a tattoo. He’s too clean and athletic. I take him to be in his early thirties. His dark hair is cropped and pushed forward. It’s his jawline that is distinct. It’s strong, like mine.

The man stands in the middle of the shop looking around with intense curiosity. “I’m looking for Caydon.”