by T Gephart
We had been drinking but neither one of us was anywhere close to being drunk, especially me considering I’d driven in. Of course, alcohol never accounted for Dallas’s lack in judgment, he had plenty of that even without the booze.
And just a few inches either way, he would have either done more damage to himself or possibly been up for an assault charge. It really had been stupidity at its finest.
“I was all over it, J.” He gave me the usual relaxed Dallas reassurance, his hand pulling away from his face to inspect his blood loss. “Some bastard knocked me.” Cue the absolute shock, like the possibility hadn’t even entered his mind.
Fucking Dallas.
“Because you were in a fucking bar. Full of people.” Again I was being Captain Obvious, questioning my own judgment considering I hadn’t stepped in to stop it. We needed to get him a minder because I sure as shit didn’t want the job.
“Still got the redhead’s number though, so it wasn’t a total wash.” He flashed me a smug grin. “Plus, girls like scars,” he added, calmer now the bleeding had slowed and he no longer felt he was dying. “I bet she even offers to kiss it better for me.” He took cockiness to a new level.
“Then maybe you should have had her drive you here so I could be in bed asleep already.” Not even kidding either; it would have probably saved me the headache he was giving me. Both literal and figurative.
“So you could have sex dreams about Eve?” Another cocky smile, his eyebrows dancing like the smug bastard that he was.
Man, I was never going to hear the end of it. Sure, I’d thought about it, I’d imagined it plenty. Most of the week in fact, in every position imaginable. But how could I not? She was smart, beautiful, sassy and most importantly talented. Add in that she was single and I would be insane not to be attracted to her. And I didn’t have anything regular happening at the moment, my status matching hers.
But thinking was as far as it was ever going to get. At least until she no longer worked for me.
“How many times do I need to tell you?” I met him eye to eye so he knew I was serious. “I’m not going there.”
“Tell yourself, man,” he chuckled, not buying it. “I saw the way you’ve been looking at her.” He sat up a little straighter, nudging me with his shoulder. “And don’t think I don’t notice all those private talks you two have in your room. With the door closed. Yeah, nothing suspicious about that.” He barked out a laugh, his health crisis obviously over as he found a new distraction. Me.
“It is work related.” I shook my head; annoyed he’d baited me. “She sits in while I tattoo. I’m trying to help her see the connection between the person and the art. There are other people in the room with us, what the hell am I going to do? Screw her with an audience?”
Although, given how I’d been feeling lately, I couldn’t have given a fuck who was in that room with us. Which is why I made a point of never touching her, even though my hands were dying too.
“Surrrrre.” The sarcasm dripped from every letter.
I should have just told him to mind his business and kept my mouth shut.
“Whatever.” I pushed myself to my feet, done with the third degree and the conversation. “I’m going to see how much longer it’s going to be.”
Saturday nights/Sunday mornings in any emergency room were busy. There were kids crying, people moaning in varying degrees of pain and the occasional code being blasted on the PA. And as Dallas’s injury—and I use that term in the loosest possible way—hadn’t been urgent or life threatening, we’d been triaged down the line when two road accidents came in. Which meant we’d been there awhile. And there was no indication how much longer I was going to have to endure before someone threw in a stich, slapped on a Band-Aid and sent us on our way.
Leaving the thorn in my side back on the benches, I wandered over to the nurses’ desk with a sea of activity going on around it. Almost everyone was busy, either on a phone, scribbling on a chart or interacting with someone else, but there was one nurse who was sitting by herself at a computer screen. She looked equally as tired as I was, her light brown hair pulled into a ponytail away from her face which was free from makeup. She was pretty, understated, and in another time and place, the kind of girl I might ask out. She also seemed to be a little bored which suited me perfectly, because I was too.
“Hi, I was wondering if you could help me?” I tried not to come off as an asshole knowing how much shit these poor people had to deal with. “I’m here with my friend.” My head tipped in Dallas’s direction. “He came in with a cut to the temple, and I was wondering if I can get some drugs?”
“Oh, is he in a lot of pain?” Pretty nurse looked up at me slightly alarmed.
“No, the drugs are for me.” I smiled, my new view a lot more impressive than Dallas and his big ass mouth. “To knock me out so I don’t have to listen to him anymore.”
She laughed, her face animated as she glanced down at the row of seats where Dallas was camped out, shirtless, playing with his phone. “He’s next, it shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“Thanks.” I leaned in, checking her out a little closer. She had a nice smile and I wondered if that had been the first time it had been on display tonight. “So that’s a no on the drugs?” I grinned back.
Was I fucking flirting? In an emergency room? Maybe I should get my head checked out while I was here too.
“As much as I would love to help you.” She leaned over the counter, her kittens in space scrubs showing barely a hint of form as she lowered her voice. “I could get into a lot of trouble if I did.”
“Thanks anyway.” I nodded, giving her a smile. “Wouldn’t want to get you into any kind of trouble.”
“No problem.” She fiddled with an invisible piece of hair, her fingers fidgeting nervously. “I’m Sasha by the way.” She held out her hand stopping me from leaving.
“Josh.” I reciprocated with a hand of my own, our polite handshake slightly weird given the circumstances.
I had no problem meeting women. I’d had girlfriends, casual hook ups and everything in between. Sometimes they broke it off, sometimes I did and I’d made it through twenty-nine years with no major heartaches or any crazy exes. Actually, I was still friends with most of them. But it had been a while since I felt an immediate strong attraction to anyone, someone who really got my attention. And as much I would have liked for it to be this cute nurse, it wasn’t her.
Shaking hands with her didn’t give me the same jolt to my balls as when I looked at Eve. Which was a problem because how could I be so fucking interested in a woman I barely knew?
“Dallas Rodgers?” a voice called out from behind me, cutting our little interaction short. Probably for the best, because I was thinking about Eve, and Sasha probably had more important things to do than talk to me.
“That’s us,” I called out, turning to wink at Sasha. “Enjoy the rest of your shift.”
Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink as she gave me a little wave, our goodbye over as I turned to walk to the other woman in a white coat.
And just as quickly as Dallas recovered, he had suddenly regressed, clutching his eye again. No doubt knocking at death’s door.
“Over here, doc.” I shook my head, meeting Dallas half way. “Seriously, dude. You’re embarrassing.”
“Fuck you, Josh,” he hissed under his breath. “You had your chance with the nurse, I’m calling dibs on the doctor.”
“She’s all yours, buddy,” I chuckled.
Dallas was good—I’d give him that—but he had a snowball’s chance in hell in winning her over.
“I’m Dallas.” He gave her his best smile, shirt bunched up against his face in case there was any confusion as to which one of us was the patient.
“I’m Dr. Susan Wilks. Let’s get you into an exam room and check out the eye.” She gave us both a tight smile and then turned. Her soft-soled shoes barely made any sound as she led us both through double doors toward a curtained off area.
“Take a seat.” She nodded to the hospital bed shoved up against the wall, slapping on some gloves while Dallas got situated. “You can stay if you like.” She nodded to the chair as her eyes landed on me.
“Thanks, I’m Josh by the way.” I sunk into the chair as Dallas shuffled onto the bed.
“Good to meet you,” she responded, her smile more business than pleasure. “So how did this happen?” She pulled out a light and started the exam.
Dr. Wilks was probably in her late thirties and had a strong Queens accent. She was polite but you could tell she had probably seen a thing or two in her time in the ER. Which is why when Dallas relayed the story of his mishap, she didn’t bat an eye. Nor was she affected by his charm, going through the motions oblivious to the effort he was putting in.
“It needs some stitches but it shouldn’t be too big a scar.” She thumbed over the cut. “Did you black out at any time?”
“No,” Dallas responded, grinning as she moved in closer to inspect.
“Any headaches? Blurred vision? Dizziness? Nausea?” She didn’t seem to notice his eyes were on her tits as she flashed the light into them.
“Small headache but nothing else.”
“Okay, well.” She clicked the light off and scribbled on his chart. “It doesn’t look too serious, but a concussion can take a few hours. Do you have someone to stay with you tonight?”
“Are you offering?” Dallas smirked, the bastard having no shame.
“Ignore him.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s an idiot and sadly, he’s always like this. I’ll stay with him,” I offered, wondering if giving him a concussion might actually be an improvement. I’d happily put my hand up for the opportunity to knock some sense into him.
“Great.” She didn’t react to his ridiculous request. “Let me suture this up and we can get you on your way.” More writing on the chart. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’ll step out and make sure the paperwork is good so we can get out of here.” I stood up watching the doctor leave. “I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Sure.” Dallas nodded. “She’s not into me anyway, so the quicker we get out of here the better.”
“Yeah, better for everyone,” I agreed, thankful Dallas had seen the light and was hopefully going to cool the Romeo act.
I made my way back through the double doors to the nurses’ desk. Sasha wasn’t there which was a shame, but someone else was more than happy to help me out. All very efficient which was great because I was ready for the night/early morning to be over.
My empty bed had never been such a welcomed destination.
“Josh?” A female voice called from behind me as I was assuring the nurse I knew what the signs for concussion were.
“Hey.” I whipped around to find a petite blonde with messed up hair and smudged makeup standing behind me.
Well, shit.
If it wasn’t the Botticelli back piece, in the flesh.
“Kitty.” I smiled, the name and the story of her meeting with Eve not something I was going to forget in a hurry.
“Wow, you remembered!” Her eyes lit up as she sauntered closer. “I’ve been meaning to call you.” She stopped before quickly, adding, “To make another appointment I mean.”
Kitty had been a dream to work on. She didn’t whine about being in the chair and let’s face it, was really nice to look at. I’d had my doubts about her being able to take the amount of ink it was going to take to finish the piece. But she not only sat in my chair for hours, but did it with a smile.
“Sure, would love to do something else for you.” I meant it too, she’d been an amazing client. “And thanks for referring me to your friend.”
While the thanks was sincere—honestly, I was grateful—the opportunity to find out a little more about Eve proved too tempting. It was just talk, right? And it would be rude not to acknowledge the connection. I wasn’t interested in being rude.
“Oh, I’m so glad everything worked out with Eve.” Her smile exploded across her face. “Isn’t she the best? We’re kind of new friends, I haven’t known her for long, but I just love her.”
Yeah, I knew the details unfortunately. It takes a special kind of woman who could be friends with her ex-boyfriend’s whatever. Still, who was I to judge? And in a weird kind of way, I’d somehow benefitted, Eve seeking me out. Kudos to the piece of shit who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.
“Well that’s great.” I grinned, the secret knowledge staying under wraps. “Are you hurt?” The venue for the conversation overlooked initially, but it was hard to ignore we were in a hospital.
“Me?” She shook her head, smiling. “Oh, no. The guy I was with.” She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes darting either side of her as she leaned in to whisper. “We got a little carried away with ass play . . .” She trailed off. “Something got stuck.”
And that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I needed to hear.
Ever.
Fuck.
Who even says that?
“Wow,” I coughed out, not sure how to respond. I’m sorry? That blows? Nothing seemed to fit. Literally. Now I couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Unfortunate,” was what I eventually went with, trying not to laugh.
“Yeah, it really was.” She sighed wistfully, her shoulders giving a little shrug. “Anyway, I’m just heading home. He doesn’t want me to stay.” She gave another shrug before looking me up and down. “Are you sick?”
“Not me, Dallas.” I wasn’t sure if she remembered him from the shop, but calling him dumbass, while more accurate, wouldn’t have been helpful.
“Poor Dallas, is he okay?” Her face morphed, eyes clouding with concern.
I swear I didn’t know which one of them was worse. Kitty—who was more preoccupied with Dallas than the guy she’d come in with and who-knows-what stuck up his ass. Or Dallas—who had a legion of dedicated fans despite no claim to fame. Unless you counted stupidity, and then he was the motherfucking king.
“Nothing major, he should be done soon.” I smiled, not feeling the need to elaborate. Although I was tempted to mention he had something up his ass too, surely driving him to the hospital and the hand holding gave me permission to have a little fun with it.
“Good, I’m glad everyone is okay.” She looked genuinely relived. “Do you want to split an Uber?” Her voice hopeful.
“Thanks, but I have my car.” I watched her smile slip at the rejection of her offer. “I can give you a ride if you don’t mind waiting until we’re done.”
Usually I didn’t offer rides to random women, especially not at two in the morning. But Kitty had been a good customer and I vaguely remembered her address not being too far from my house anyway. Besides, it would mean Dallas would be distracted on the ride home and I wouldn’t have to listen to his complaining. Plus, apparently I had a thing for a damsel in distress—Dallas’s words, not mine—so I wouldn’t feel right about not seeing her home safely.
It had absolutely zero to do with the time in the car giving me an in to find out more about Eve. Hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Not.
One.
Bit.
“You would?” Her eyes shot to mine, smile coming back full force. “That’s so nice of you; I would love one. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No problem at all. You’re in Astoria, right?”
“Yes, sure am, right near Astoria Park.”
That was like ten minutes away at that time of the morning, hardly any time to get anything solid. Still, better than no time and it really wasn’t that far out of my way.
“I’m in Long Island City, not far from the shop.” I rationalized dropping Dallas off first but that would probably raise a few too many questions. “I can take you home and then head to my place. Dallas needs to crash at mine so I can keep an eye on him.”
“That sounds great.” Her hand reached out and gave my arm a squeeze. “Thank you so much.”
“Happy to do it.”
Well, things j
ust got more interesting.
We both took a seat and parked it while we waited. Figured I might as well use the time here to my advantage since the drive wasn’t going to be long.
“So, big night?” Shit. I immediately regretted asking and prayed she didn’t elaborate on how and what had been big.
“We were out drinking in Midtown.” She thankfully went with the PG version, hopefully keeping away from the evening’s eventful finale. “Eve invited me out with some of her friends.”
And that didn’t take too long at all.
I knew Eve was planning on going out with her friends, she’d told us as much at lunch. But she hadn’t named names so I was guessing as to whether Kitty had been on the invite list. Of course after seeing her here, I’d been hopeful.
“Really?” I tipped my head in mock surprise. “Well, that sounds like fun.”
“Oh, it so was. We all got hammered.” Kitty laughed. “Then this guy—Matt—came up to talk to her.” Another chuckle. “She totally lost her mind at him, I mean, really lost her mind. But then she apologized, and she really was sorry. Then she made out with him, so I think he forgave her.”
It was like someone threw some words in a blender and turned it on without putting the lid back on.
“She yelled at a guy and then made out with him?” I clarified, irrationally annoyed. The thought of her kissing some other dude made my blood boil.
I wasn’t even sure why, I had no fucking right to have an opinion either way. She could see, argue, and kiss, whoever she wanted. Clearly it was the sleep deprivation making me antsy because there could be no other reason why my fists were clenched.
“Yeah, it was a misunderstanding though. He was some guy from your shop that she paid off or something, but she thought he was trying to complain about her exhibition.” She threw her hands in the air. “It’s all good now though.”
Wait.
Matt, Matt? The guy who I was supposed to tattoo the day she walked in?
She made out with fucking Matt from my shop?
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
It wasn’t bad enough she’d paid this dude two hundred dollars, but she had to kiss him too? What was that for? A thank you card when she ran out of fucking stationery.