Calmly, Carefully, Completely(97)

“Me!” both girls squeal.

After ice cream and a quick stop at the store for diapers and kid food, she stops at a stoplight. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” I really wouldn’t mind.

She shakes her head and pulls her expensive sunglasses down to hide her eyes. “Thanks, Reagan,” she says. “I think I got this.”

I don’t believe her. Not at all.

Pete



I’m worried about Reagan, so I call her from Reed’s, the tattoo shop where I work with my brothers. Since no one was at home, I went to work with the guys. I hang up the phone and take a deep breath. Someone is dropping her off in five minutes at the shop. I have no idea what happened with Matt, but he has Reagan’s car and she rode home with a stranger. I don’t particularly like that, but Matt wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. At least not on purpose.

Finally, she walks in the door. I have my gun resting against someone’s back as I draw an outline. She blows out a frustrated breath as she walks through the door. “Everything okay?” I ask. I can’t stop what I’m doing. Not right now.

“Fine,” she says. “That was so strange.”

Emily is perched on top of a desk swinging her feet, sucking on a lollipop. She’s so f*cking cute in her combat boots and jeans that I want to hug her. “What was strange?” she asks.

“Those kids,” Reagan said. “I’m worried about them.”

She tells us the story and all about the aunt that had never seen the kids before. “Maybe Matt knows more about it and can fill us in later?” I suggest.

“I’m glad he went,” Reagan says. “He would have hated it otherwise.”

A woman walks in the front door, and every man in the house stops to look. She’s wearing a short, short skirt, and a fitted top with an open back. “What can we do for you?” Friday, the girl who runs the front, asks.

“I’d like to get a piercing,” she says, and she bites her lower lip.

“Can one of you do a piercing?” Friday calls. Friday is really pretty in a Katy Perry kind of way. She has tattoos on her shoulders and across her back and up her legs. I know about the ones on her legs because I put them there. She has skulls and cross bones and turtles and some really weird shit. And she dresses all retro, like a pinup girl from the sixties.

“What kind of piercing?” I ask.

Every gaze in the place turns to the woman, and she flushes. “One of those piercings!” Friday yells dramatically.

“Pete can do it,” Paul says.

Reagan’s mouth falls open. She walks over close to me. “You are not doing a private piercing,” she hisses. I do them all the time, but I don’t even want to do them anymore. She cups her hand around my ear. “The only private places you’re touching are mine.”

My heart swells. I like this. I like it a lot. “Sorry,” I say. “The little lady has spoken.” I lift my face, and she bends down to kiss me.

Paul looks at Logan, but Emily signs something to him really quickly and he grins. He shakes his head. “Can’t do it,” he says.

“Why not?” Paul blows out a heavy breath.

“Because I want to have sex tonight,” Logan says. “And tomorrow night. And the night after.”

Sam’s not here. He’s probably baking a cake somewhere. And we all know where Matt is. Paul throws down the pencil on the table where he was drawing a tattoo. “You guys are worthless,” he complains. “And * whipped.”