Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Nope.

  Not going there.

  She was fine.

  Maya was fine.

  She kept telling herself that. That she was fine. That she was okay. Because there wasn’t another option. She’d get over this insanity and go about her day. Maybe she’d go out and get laid and everything would go back to normal. She liked normal. At least, normal for her.

  “Maya?” Austin’s voice cut through the ever-revolving loop of manic thoughts, and she shook her head.

  “What?”

  “What the hell is going on with you?” her big brother asked. He sank down onto her stool and ran a hand through his thick beard. “You’ve been out of it for the past few weeks. Is it Alex?”

  He’d lowered his voice for the last part, and she couldn’t help but hold back tears. How annoying of her eyes that they would fill every time she thought of Alex. She hated not having better control when it came to him. Their younger brother had been in rehab for a few months now and would be getting out soon. He’d tried to drink himself to death, and had ended up hurting not only himself but also others in their family. She and Jake had been the ones to take him to rehab, and thankfully, Alex had stayed. She didn’t know what haunted him, but she was glad he was getting the help he needed. Or, at least trying.

  And as much as knowing she’d been unable to help her brother hurt, that wasn’t the reason she was out of sorts. Not that she could tell Austin that. But she couldn’t outright lie when it came to Alex either. They’d all promised themselves they’d be truthful when it came to him and any issues that arose from his disease.

  “I’m happy Alex is coming home,” she said honestly. She reached out and put her hand on Austin’s knee. The thick muscle tensed under her palm a moment before relaxing slightly. “He needs to come home, and I think we’ll all be good for him.” She paused. “At least, I hope so. Are we doing the right thing?”

  Austin sighed. “You mean letting him out? Because it’s not our call since he technically went in voluntarily. Plus, I don’t think I want to be the one forcing him to stay. Hell, I don’t want any of us to be in that position. He wouldn’t see us during the whole thing, so I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen. What I do know is that I love our brother, and I’m not giving up on him.” He closed his eyes. “I’m also not going to let him hurt my kids.”

  Maya sniffed and squeezed Austin’s knee before pulling back. Austin might show some emotion and didn’t mind hugs, but she knew when her big brother needed space. “The old Alex wouldn’t have, and I know that when he gets out, he won’t be the same Alex as he was before the drinking. But hopefully he won’t be the man he’d become with it.”

  Austin was silent for a few moments before giving her a slight nod. “We just have to wait and see. And, by the way, I know you went on this tangent with me because you’re hiding something. But I’m going to be good, or at least as good as I can be, and let you off the hook. For now.” He narrowed his eyes a moment, and she did her best to keep her expression blank. It wasn’t easy when her family saw so much without even trying. She wasn’t any better with them, though.

  With that, her big brother strolled over to his station and started setting up for his next client. Maya let out the breath she’d been holding and leaned back in her chair.

  She couldn’t hide her unease for much longer. Frankly, she wasn’t hiding it that well to begin with. Her family had always been good at reading her emotions since she never truly tried to hide them. There wasn’t a reason to in most cases. The more she let out, the better she’d feel and the easier she’d be able to help her family.

  Jake, however, could read her like no other.

  He was her best friend, her other half in all ways that mattered. Other than the one time when they’d first met, they’d never kissed, never done anything more than share a few hugs and cuddles. And the cuddles were more of a way to relax during a movie or after a long day. She’d pushed all thoughts of what he tasted like and how she’d loved the way he’d made her come out of her mind. There hadn’t been a point in keeping those memories at the forefront of her mind since she’d been dating Franklin and getting somewhat serious. And frankly, she’d wanted to be friends with Jake. It had been surprisingly easy to do, and she wouldn’t change that for any reason.

  Only now, her damned heart was going crazy.

  It was all because Jake was falling in love with Holly. Sweet, adorable Holly, who didn’t fit in with the Montgomerys but seemed to fit Jake just right. She was everything light and airy to Maya’s dark and broody. And if Holly were any other person, or even had a shred of cattiness, Maya would hate her. As it was, Holly liked the fact that Maya and Jake were friends. She wanted to be friends with Maya, as well, but seemed to understand there would always be a connection between Maya and Jake.

  Only that connection had changed for Maya, and she didn’t like it. She hated it. She wanted to go back to the way it was where Jake was her best friend. She wanted to have her family joke about the fact that she and Jake should just have sex and get it over with so that she could wave them off. She didn’t like this overly angsty version of herself.

  If she didn’t start thinking about something else, she’d end up with another headache, so she forced all thoughts of Holly and Jake out of her head. She picked up her sketchpad and worked on the large piece she’d be doing later that afternoon.

  Montgomery Ink had eight stations, but only four full-time artists. Sloane, Callie, Austin, and Maya worked five days a week each so the place stayed open all seven days. They had a few floater artists that showed up when they were in town, as well as a few part-time ones. And, finally, after years of going through receptionist after receptionist, they’d hired Autumn to work the front and keep them in line. Autumn also happened to be dating and in love with Griffin, Maya’s brother, so it all worked out family-wise in the end.

  Maya narrowed her eyes at the corner back station and frowned. With the way things worked out, they only ever had a max of six or seven artists at a time. Even if they hired another full-time artist like she and Austin had been talking about, they still wouldn’t use their full capacity. And as much as she’d like to hire two or three more full-time tattooers, she wasn’t sure she could deal with that many people. Montgomery Ink was thriving and could afford it, but she liked the fact that while they had time for some walk-ins, they were still decently exclusive.

  They needed to do something with that back station. Either make it another office or a recovery area. She sighed and tried to picture what it could be, but couldn’t quite place it. She let out a breath then cursed as her bra dug into her. The damned underwire broke with an audible snap, and she was pretty sure it had stabbed her. The little fucker. Damn bras and damn all the breasts.

  She wiggled around, trying not to let it pierce her skin more than it already had. She froze.

  A piercer.

  They needed a piercer.

  “Austin!” Maya called out as she dug into her bra. She slid the broken underwire out and waved it at her brother.

  He held up his hand and closed his eyes. “I did not need to see that. We aren’t that close.”

  “Oh, shut up, that’s not why I wanted you over here.” She used the underwire to point at the corner station. “I have an idea.”

  “And what does it have to do with your tits?”

  She rolled her eyes and tossed the piece of metal into the trash. “You know how we’ve been trying to think of what to do with that station?”

  Austin nodded, doubt in his gaze. “And?”

  “Why don’t we hire a piercer?”

  He frowned. “That will take more licenses and paperwork. Plus the building codes and everything since we can’t just have a piercer out like this. It would need a closed door station rather than the curtains we use for privacy now. Not to mention we’d need to find someone to work with us.”

  Maya waved her hand. “So? We’re Montgomerys and just happen to have a construction company
in the family. We can do all the rest. Plus, I think we can even take another station in the back and make it private, one we rotate out of. That way, it’s easier for people who want privacy without us having to pull out the panels each time. It’s a great idea, Austin.”

  “It’s your idea, so of course you think it’s great.”

  She flipped him off, but he smiled anyway. “So?”

  “So I think we should talk about it more, but I like it.”

  She grinned, pleased. She loved when Austin saw things her way. The best way. And even though she normally didn’t take shit and tended to act a little more brash than the others, she wanted her brother’s approval. He was the oldest of the eight Montgomerys on this branch of the family tree. He’d helped raise them, in as much as their parents would allow. Harry and Marie Montgomery had somehow parented all on their own and only let Austin help in small ways.

  That was probably why they were all so close, and why when Dad had gotten sick recently, her world had almost crumbled. She closed her eyes and had to take a deep breath. Before she could recover, though, Austin had his arm around her shoulders and brought her to his chest.

  “What’s wrong?” He kissed the top of her head. “For real this time.”

  “I was thinking about Dad.” She could be completely honest about that. While some men would have shied away from those feelings, Austin was never like that. In fact, Dad’s cancer had hit Austin the hardest out of all of them. Her big brother tended to want to fix everyone’s problems, and when things were too big for him to handle…well, he didn’t handle it well.

  Maya wasn’t exactly like that, but she wanted to know everything about their family. She wanted to make sure she knew what was wrong around her so she could maybe help fix it. And if she couldn’t help personally, she could get Austin or her older sister Meghan to do it. The others might call her a gossip—her sister Miranda and brother-in-law Decker in particular following a certain incident—but she just wanted to help in her own way.

  And why she was getting all introspective all of a sudden, she didn’t know. Maybe her bra had stabbed some weirdness into her or something.

  Austin held her a bit closer before kissing her forehead. “You want to talk about it? I know he’s healthy now, completely in the clear, but that was scary as hell for a while.”

  She shook her head even as Callie came up from behind her and hugged her close. Callie wasn’t a Montgomery, but she was family. When Sloane walked into the shop and saw them, he raised a brow and set down his bag before coming up to Callie and hugging her, as well.

  The four of them stood like that, holding each other close and not speaking. Maya would have thought it weird—okay it was weird—but she needed this. She hadn’t known how much until right then.

  Sloane cleared his throat. “Not that I mind holding you guys, but you want to tell me what we’re doing?”

  Austin snorted. “I don’t know, bro. We were just standing here. You’re the one that got all handsy.”

  Sloane wiggled his eyebrows before reaching around to grab Austin’s ass—totally not something he’d have done before starting a relationship with their friend Hailey. Maya and Callie ducked out of their reach as the two men started to playfully punch one another. Thankfully, it was early enough that they didn’t have any clients so Maya could enjoy the way their makeshift Montgomery Ink family worked together. She might have a large-ass family to begin with, but there was always room for more. Between Callie, Sloane, their significant others, her siblings’ significant others, her cousins, and Jake, she had so many people in her life it was hard to feel alone.

  Hard, but not impossible.

  The bell above the door rang, and Maya looked around Callie, only to have to paste on a smile. Damn it. She needed to get over herself and whatever this was because she would be damned if she lost her best friend and any semblance of normal.

  “Jake!” Maya called out. “Think you can corral these assholes?”

  Jake chuckled, and it was at that point Maya realized he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t alone much anymore.

  Holly waved and bit into her lip as if trying to hold back a laugh. If Maya had been any less of a Montgomery, and Holly any less of a decent person, Maya would have hated the perfect woman. All cuteness and blondeness personified without a tattoo in sight. But she made Jake smile, and Maya would just have to get over it.

  “I’ll be right back, baby,” Jake said before giving Holly a quick kiss and joining the fray. He ducked a mock punch from Austin and dug his shoulder into Sloane’s gut. The three of them stayed between the stations, thankfully, but if they didn’t knock it off, Maya was going to have to jump in and then it would be on.

  Still annoyingly achy over the way he’d called Holly “baby,” Maya moved around the three guys with way too much time on their hands and went to Holly.

  “Hey, what’s up?” she asked. See? Casual. Everything was okay. This was her best friend’s girlfriend, and everything was fine. Jake hadn’t been celibate in the years she and he had been friends, and she sure as hell hadn’t either. This wasn’t his first girlfriend or boyfriend.

  It was his most serious.

  And that was enough of that.

  “Hey, Maya,” Holly said with a smile. She was just so nice. But not fake nice. Like a genuine person who actually cared about others. Maya cared about others, too, but she also liked cursing and fucking. “Jake wanted to show me the place since I’ve never been here before.” She looked around, her eyes a little wide. “I love the hot pink and black. It’s so very you.”

  Maya’s brows rose. “I’m hot pink?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s not pastel, but it’s still girly. A little rock star and sexy all rolled into one. Plus, the black balances it out and makes it pop all at the same time. So, it’s totally you. I’m glad Austin let you do the colors.”

  Maya blinked, a little unnerved at how Holly saw her. “Austin didn’t really have much choice in the matter, but I don’t think he cares too much anyway.” She shrugged. “It’s been over a decade with versions of this color scheme and we haven’t changed much.”

  “But it looks fresh, not as…scary as I thought it would be.” Holly winced and shook her head. “I’m an idiot. I didn’t mean that it would be frightening to be here or anything. I don’t know what I thought since I’ve never been to a tattoo shop before and what I’ve seen on TV and things isn’t the…best.”

  Maya just chuckled softly. “The media gets it wrong, but they tend to get it wrong about most things. Our place is clean and tidy. Yeah, we have art on the walls, and the colors are vivid, but that’s what we like. Our ink is vivid when needed, and it’s also art. So it fits us. If it wasn’t clean, we couldn’t work. There are a lot of standards in place for us to keep open, and frankly, we want to be better than those standards. We’re literally taking a needle to your body here, I want it to be clean and sanitary.”

  Holly looked around some more, a smile on her face. “You’re so passionate about your work. I love it. Not everyone is, you know? But you have a job you love, and from the work I’ve seen on Jake, you’re good at it. Great, actually.”

  Maya held back a wince at the thought of what ink Holly had seen exactly. Jake had ink all over his chest, back, legs, and arms. Other than a few small pieces he’d gotten before he’d met her in that bar all those years ago, she’d done every single inch of him.

  He was hers in a way, but not in the way he was Holly’s.

  And Maya was fine with that.

  And if she kept saying she was fine, she was going to have to kick her own ass.

  Jake strolled up to them, a smile on his face and a fine sheen of sweat at his temples. He swung an arm around Holly’s shoulders, then Maya’s, and grinned.

  “There my girls are,” he said with a smile.

  He was so fucking clueless sometimes. If he had actually looked carefully, he’d have seen Maya breaking at the edges. If he’d just see her like he had all those years before he�
��d met Holly, then he’d see how much she was hurting even if she had no right to hurt. Instead, he only saw Holly. And that’s how things should be. Maya didn’t have a leg to stand on. But it still hurt like hell that he couldn’t sense that something was wrong. He’d always been aware before.

  Now she wasn’t his first, wasn’t the one he looked to.

  She was so fucking selfish, it wasn’t even funny. So she buried that part of her that hurt like hell and leaned into him.

  “You’re an idiot,” she drawled. “I said break up the fight, not join in.”

  “You said corral. So I did.” He smiled wide. “I just had to infiltrate first.”

  Maya rolled her eyes and punched him before meeting Holly’s gaze. The other woman studied Maya’s face intently before giving her a small smile. Maya didn’t like that smile, didn’t like the way Holly seemed to see too much.

  Danger, danger, Maya Montgomery.

  “So, you here for new ink?” Maya asked as she moved away from the couple. She needed distance. A whole hell of a lot of distance.

  Jake shook his head. “No time, but I have an idea for a new piece when I can think of it.”

  Maya nodded and turned to Holly. “And you?”

  The other woman shook her head. “No, I don’t have any ink and…well, I don’t know if it’s me. It would have to be important, you know? To have it on my skin for the rest of my life and all. And well…I just don’t know.”

  Maya shrugged. She didn’t blame the other woman at all because ink was permanent. And, yeah, it had to mean something, even if that something was to make her feel good every time she saw it.

  “You’re right,” Maya said finally. “It has to mean something, totally.”

  “But if I ever decide, I’d want you to do it,” Holly said with a smile. “I trust you, and well, I know you’d do a great job.”

  Jake grinned like a man knowing his two best girls were getting along, and Maya could only nod. Because if Holly ever wanted Maya to do a tattoo, then she’d do it and it would be fucking perfect. Maya didn’t fuck up ink.