When We Fall (Take the Fall, #2)(9)

“Maybe you’re tired of that type.”

Maybe I am, but it sure as shit isn’t his business. I grunt noncommittally. “Whatever you say, man.”

“Your next client is already here. She’s early, too.”

Relief flows through me. I’m not the type to run away, but I don’t exactly revel in getting the third degree by a guy who has worse morals and motives than I do.

—

Carefully applying healing salve, I glance up at Lola—my last client of the day—before I begin cleaning up my station. She’s a hot blonde who has legs for miles and a very nice rack. Bonus, she knows her way around a garage and cars. “Go check it out in the mirror and let me know what you think.”

She holds out her hand. “Help a lady up?”

Always the gentleman, I do as she asks. Her fingers linger on my hand until I pull away. Playing hard to get always gets them going. I don’t think I’ve ever had to chase a woman, not even as a kid. They always came to me. Things haven’t changed since I got out of prison, either. In fact, women want me more than ever, especially those high-in-the-instep types. They love to slum with me. Love all the dirty things I get them to do.

But I don’t love them. I barely like them, only use them for sex, and they know it.

Her pouty mouth twists a little. “What do you think?”

Slicing my gaze to the koi fish and lotus flower I’d spent three hours inking on the side of her rib cage, I say, “Looks damn good.”

“Hmmm. It’s not too big, is it?” She stands, posing a little and bringing her shirt up on one side, teasing me with a glimpse of the underside of her breast.

“It’s perfect.” Snapping off my latex gloves and tossing them in the trash, I grab my phone and move to her. “Mind if I take a pic to share on Instagram?”

“Not at all.”

Kneeling, I get in close so that the camera can focus on the detail. Lola scoots even closer. Yeah, I know where this is headed. I don’t hook up with clients—at least not at work. After hours are a whole other matter entirely.

“Are you busy after this?” she asks, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the door open and a woman walk inside. Emmett greets her and they begin to walk our way. My heart kicks against my chest repeatedly the closer she gets.

Piper.

Just the sight of her profile gets me going.

God, it’s wrong. So f*cking wrong. I still remember what she looked like as a kid, nothing but these huge eyes behind thick-ass glasses in a small face. I still remember the way she used to stutter when she spoke. The way she shrunk in on herself in a crowd, as if a part of the background, but no matter how hard she tried to blend in, I’d always noticed her, ever since we first met.

Rowan drags me through the crowd of people as she attempts to get to her locker. With a scowl from me, everyone in the hallway parts like the Red Sea. It’s the best f*cking thing about being a senior and a juvie regular. That, and the * I get.

A short, plump girl with shiny dark hair stands by the lockers, her eyes nervously darting around behind her thick glasses. She’s wearing a dress that’s the same dull green as the lockers.

“Piper,” Rowan squeals. “We’re locker mates.”

Piper’s eyes widen as she smiles shyly. “I-I kn-now.”

Immediately, I pity her. She’s all soft and scared…reminds me of a kitten. High school is not for the soft and scared. She’s going to have one hell of a year as a freshman.

Yeah, I’ll have to watch out for her.

“What’s up, Piper? I’m Jase, Rowan’s favorite brother.”

Piper turns a violent red color before she manages to say, “You’re her only b-brother.”

I pretend to wince. “Ouch. The kitten has claws.”

Rowan elbows me in the side. “Shut up, Jase. You have to excuse him, Piper. He just turned seventeen and thinks he’s the shit.”

As the red fades from Piper’s face, I notice how pretty her eyes are. How innocent and open. She’s not staring at me like the other girls in this school do, or their mothers, with undisguised lust.

“If I d-did, I w-wouldn’t use them on y-you.”

I lean up against the locker, focusing every bit of my attention on her. She’s such a sweet and shy little thing. “Want to know a secret?” I ask before I can stop myself.

She nods and leans closer. The smell of vanilla washes over me. I swear my mouth waters. Breathing deeply, I bend down to her level and put my mouth close to her ear. “I’d like it if you did use them on me.”

Her breath hitches. She turns to me, searching my face. “Are y-you m-making f-fun?”

“Nope.” I shake my head for emphasis.

The prettiest hazel eyes I’ve ever seen get all dreamy-looking, but before she can say anything, the bell rings.

“Gotta go.”

“?’Bout time you leave,” Rowan grumbles before she shoots Piper a look. “Brothers are such a pain.”

“I d-don’t know ab-bout that.” Piper gives me another shy smile and my chest puffs up.

There’s something about her, something sweet and kind that makes me feel manly. Like a real type of manly, not just screw-the-girls-and-see-how-much-trouble-I-can-get-in type of manly. But Piper is the same age as Rowan, only fourteen, and no matter how bad I can be, there’s no way I’m going to mess around with a kid. Not even a kid who has the body of a woman and looks at me like I hung the moon.