Train Wreck

by T Gephart

  “Eve, you are the most proactive person I’ve ever met.” His eyes were fierce, like he needed me to believe him. “You haven’t laid down in a heap and given up. I don’t know why you can’t see that.”

  “I have a long way to go, Josh.” I kissed his chest and then his shoulder, working my way up to his neck. “But I know I am capable of more, and I owe it to myself to do better. Wow, I am such a buzz kill.” I laughed, the conversation way too deep. We were supposed to be talking dirty to each other, or I could be categorizing his muscle groups with my tongue. That was the kind of stuff we should be doing.

  “I love that you talk to me.” His fingers knotted in mine. “Trust me, the conversation is refreshing. I know it’s not easy for you to say those things, so the fact you trust me makes me feel like I’m a hundred feet tall. So think of it as good for my ego.” He grinned, the only man I’d ever met who could smile and immediately make me smile.

  “You are such a dork.” I laughed, the previous self-doubt being pushed to the side. “And for the record, I’m sticking to paper and canvas. And my next exhibit is going to be badass.” And for once, I really believed it.

  “I have no doubt.” His fingers wrapped around my hip, and his grin morphed into something a little sexier. “Now, is there anything else on my body you want to see?”

  “We’ve got all night, right?” My hands floated down his amazing toned chest. Licking it was definitely going to happen. “Show me everything.”

  Josh

  IF YOU HAD TO WAKE UP EARLY in the morning, doing it beside a beautiful woman was definitely the way to go.

  We had spent the entire night getting to know each other, and by that I meant really getting to know each other. There wasn’t an inch of her that I hadn’t explored, and every single part of her had been perfect.

  Yes, she had a knockout body. Toned but still looked like a woman, with my hands loving the feel of her curves. And yes, she was stunning. Her light brown eyes looked almost gold in the dim light of the lamp, and that smile was the kind a man would go to war for.

  But she was more than the surface stuff, the inside more intriguing than the outer. I loved that she was going through her own evolution, and letting me be a part of that. Fuck, that was a kind of bravery that most people didn’t have. Throwing themselves into the unknown with not much more than a wing and a prayer. Eve—whether she knew it or not—was fucking fearless. And that turned me on more than her perfect body.

  “Eve.” I kissed her shoulder, her face covered by a mane of hair. “Time to wake up, sweetheart.”

  She mumbled, nothing I could really understand, with a hand flapping in my general direction. I assumed that was her way of telling me she wasn’t ready to wake up and probably to fuck off. It was adorable to watch, and something I could get used to very easily. The more I learned about this girl, the more I was convinced she was my freaking dream girl. There wasn’t a chance us meeting hadn’t been fate.

  “Come on, gorgeous.” My hands slid up her body and cupped her tits. I loved the way they felt in my hand, and now that I had permission to touch them, I did as much as I could. “I hear your boss is a tyrant, he’ll be pissed if you’re late.”

  “Ugh,” she mumbled underneath the hair. “I think he should give me the day off, considering it’s his fault I’m so sore this morning.”

  I wasn’t surprised she was sore. Even though I worked out, my muscles felt a little tight too. She had bent her body into positions I didn’t think were possible, her sense of adventure not restricted to the parts of her life where she wore clothes.

  “I hope the pain was worth it.” I kissed along the back of her neck. “And I hear the best way to relieve sore muscles is light exercise and heat.”

  “Does that mean we’re staying home?” She flipped onto her back, pushing the hair out of her eyes. “In bed?” Her eyes looked so hopeful, it almost killed me to say no.

  “Nope, it means you’re getting your sexy ass into the shower and then tonight, I will give you a full body massage.” My fingers slipped down to her thigh muscles to demonstrate, gently working them. “With my hands, and other parts.”

  “That sounds like heaven,” she moaned, the sound shooting straight down to my balls.

  “Good, so let’s get moving.” My dick not pleased that I’d taken my hands away. Trust me, buddy, neither am I. “I’m assuming you want to stop by your place and pick up clothes. It’s going to take a while to get into Manhattan and then back out. I strongly suggest you pack a bag, you won’t be sleeping at your apartment tonight either.”

  That part was non negotiable.

  While I was happy to play taxi, and go back and forth between her place and mine, she was sleeping in my bed tonight. And as many nights after that as I could convince her to. Of course I didn’t tell her that up front, but I was confident she’d see it my way. I’d even crash at her place every once in a while just to shake things up. Location didn’t matter so much, but the end result was going to be the same. Me. Her. Together.

  “Two nights in a row, aren’t you worried you’ll get sick of me?” Her lips twisted like she knew that wasn’t a possibility while her hands moved up and down my chest.

  “Not even after ten nights, stop stalling.”

  Without giving her a chance to argue, I hauled her off the bed and into my arms. She yelped as her body hit my skin, my strides taking her into the bathroom.

  “You can go first.” I lowered her down, her feet hitting the bathroom rug. Her face was slightly flushed; her eyes wide as I took a step back to admire the view. “Towels and everything you need are under the sink. Don’t argue.” I dropped a kiss on her lips and closed the door behind me.

  As tempting as it was to get into the shower with her, I didn’t. Mainly because I didn’t trust myself. Seeing her wet and steamy would be something I wouldn’t be able to ignore. And as much as I wanted to have sex with her against the tile, I wasn’t kidding about the traffic. We’d be lucky to get back in time to open. Thank God I always scheduled my first appointment thirty minutes to an hour after I flipped the sign.

  So after we’d both showered, and after a not so quick commute into the city, we arrived at Ink Addiction a few minutes later than I was hoping.

  “I’ll go get us some breakfast and coffees.” Eve kissed me as I opened the door. “Is there anything in particular you feel like?”

  “You, but I don’t think they serve that at the deli.” I pushed open the door and waited till we were both inside, then pulled out my wallet to hand her some cash. “Surprise me.”

  “Uh-uh.” She scrunched up her nose at the bills in my hand. “You pay for lunch and I do breakfast. That’s our system. You can’t change it now.”

  “You pay for coffee, not breakfast,” I clarified, curling open her hand and placing the money inside. “So meals are still mine. And you’re delusional if you think I’m going to let my girlfriend pay for breakfast the first time she slept over. What kind of savage do you take me for?”

  “You know what decade we’re in, caveman, right?” She laughed, waving the money in front of my face. “There was this whole movement of female empowerment, maybe you missed it? And maybe I want to buy my boyfriend breakfast.” She did her best to give me her pissed off face, but it didn’t cut it. The grin told me she wasn’t as mad as she was pretending to be.

  “Did you ever buy Oliver breakfast?” I watched her face deflate at the mention of his name. And as much as I hated mentioning the douche, it was to prove a point.

  “Yes, all the time.” She kicked up her chin. “You know we were together awhile.”

  “Yeah, I just figured as he had a job and was living in your apartment, he would have covered other things. Like food.” Not so subtly hinting that Ollie boy had probably been more interested in a free ride than supporting her female empowerment. The dumbass seriously couldn’t be any less of a man if he’d tried.

  “He offered . . . sometimes.” It was obvious she hadn’t given it much
thought, habit would do that to a person.

  “And when you go out with your friends, do you usually pay too?” I asked even though I knew the answer. Kitty had been very vocal about Eve picking up the tab for their famous nights out. Something told me they hadn’t been isolated incidents.

  “Maybe.” She shrugged. “It’s just easier if I use my card and then we can work things out later.”

  I highly doubted anything had ever been worked out. I would even go so far as to doubt it was even mentioned again. And while I also didn’t think her friends were using her on purpose, I could see how easy it was for them to fall into a rhythm of letting someone else pick up the tab. No harm, right? From what I saw—the car, the apartment, the fancy clothes and shoes—Eve was loaded, not like she was hurting for cash.

  “I know you mean well, and it’s obvious you’re generous because you care about these people. But you’re not an ATM. Do you think your friends are going to suddenly not hang out if they have to pay for their own drinks?”

  “Of course they’d still hang out. We’ve been friends forever.” Her voice was surprisingly neutral, not defensive like she usually got. Probably—because as I suspected—these people weren’t bad, they were just conditioned.

  “You have money, I get that. But it’s not going to work like that for us.” My fingers curled around the fist that still held the fifty I’d handed to her. “So, take my money and go buy us breakfast.”

  “Fine, as long as you concede that it’s not always going to be you paying. Your theory could also be said in the reverse, I’m not interested in taking advantage of you either.” She rolled her eyes, not thrilled she’d given up but not interested in arguing either.

  “I would love for you to take advantage of me.” Her lips proved too great a temptation as I moved closer and kissed them. “We’ll take turns tonight.”

  “Mmmm.” She made a satisfied noise in the back of her throat. “Okay.”

  “Go, I’m starving.” I gave her a soft whack on her ass as she turned and walked back out the door.

  First up today, I had a consult, which meant I didn’t have to set up right away. I had done some prelim drawings through the week but we were hopefully going to hammer out the final design today. So, while I was waiting for Eve and breakfast to return, I went over some of the stuff I’d already worked on. I was leaned up against the front counter with my sketchpad when I heard the door.

  “Well, well. If it’s not the Tattoo King of New York.” A voice almost as big as the man who owned it stepped up to the counter. “I saw the article they did on you in Ink Magazine.” Big grin spread across his face. “I was disappointed they didn’t let you wear your tiara for the photo. Let me guess,” he rubbed his fingers along the base of his chin. “It was laundry day, and it didn’t match the outfit.”

  “Come on, Troy. You know it’s a fucking crown and not a tiara.” My grin matched his as I stuck out my hand. “And unlike you, I like to be humble.”

  The big guy exploded into a laugh, his whole body shaking as he returned my handshake.

  Troy Harris was a few inches taller and definitely a few pounds heavier. He was also the drummer for international rock band Power Station and the only thing he had more of than money, was talent. Oh, and I had also dated his wife for about five seconds before they were married.

  “I heard you’ve got another kid on the way. Congrats.” I gave a nod of respect. Not that he needed my approval, but I was genuinely happy for him and Megs. They were both good people and despite my earlier jibe about him not being humble, he actually was a decent and very grounded dude.

  “Yep, number two is due in a month.” His pride beamed brighter than the lights of MetLife Stadium. “I think we’ve got a least a few more in us too, I want my own drum line.”

  “Holy shit.” Eve stood at the door, her hands filled with paper bags and a tray of coffee, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. “Are you Troy Harris?”

  “I am.” He turned around giving her a big million-dollar smile. “Most people just call me Troy though. You don’t need to use my last name.”

  If I didn’t know he was happily married I’d be convinced he was flirting. Guys like him couldn’t help themselves, being charming was part of the job. But just because I understood it, didn’t mean I liked seeing how impressed Eve was with him. That I even felt threatened proved how up in my head I was with this girl.

  “Hiii, Troy.” She moved toward us, gently lowering the coffee tray and the paper bags onto the counter. “I’m Eve.” She put her hand out.

  “Pleased to meet you.” He gave her a polite shake before turning to me. “You finally decide to replace Dallas? Good move, it was time you cut the dead wood.”

  “Fuck you, Troy Harris.” The man in question waltzed in, shades still shielding his eyes. He flipped him off for good measure before I had a chance to answer. “You come to steal another one of Josh’s girlfriends? What happened to the last one? She get wise and dump your big, out of time ass?”

  When I said Dallas had my back, I was not joking. Even though the guy was five-nine and one hundred and fifty pounds soaking wet, he’d go toe-to-toe with anyone he thought was a threat. Unfortunately even with my assurances that it had been water under the bridge between me and Megs, Dallas liked to ride Troy’s ass whenever he came in. Lucky for Dallas, Troy took it in good nature and gave it back to him just as hard.

  “Dallas, bright and early I see.” I was barely able to suppress the grin. “Eve got you breakfast.” I nodded to the coffee and food on the counter, hoping to defuse a full-blown assault between the two of them.

  “Thanks, Eve.” He nodded to Eve whose look of admiration had turned into what-the-fuck. “Don’t be impressed by the rock star.” He put a protective arm around her. “He’s only just recently stopped dragging his knuckles on the ground.”

  “Have you graduated from paint by numbers, yet?” Troy deadpanned, looking bored. “Or does Josh still do your outlines?”

  “Ummm, what the hell is going on here?” Eve ignored both Dallas and Troy and looked to me for an explanation.

  “Troy, can you head back to my room and give us a minute?” I tipped my chin to the hall knowing he’d be fine to see himself down there.

  “No problem, bud.” He slapped me across the shoulder before turning to Eve. “It was nice meeting you.” The sly bastard gave her a wink and a smile before heading down the hall to my room.

  “Well, that was fun.” Dallas pulled off his shades, grinning like an idiot. “You need to ask him if we can get in on his poker game. I’ll bring snacks.” He gave us a two-finger wave before also disappearing down the hall.

  “What the hell was that?” Eve pointed in the direction of the two closed doors. “You know Troy Harris? And why does Dallas hate him? What was with all that girlfriend stealing stuff?” The questions tumbled out of her mouth in a hushed voice.

  “I met him a while ago, the girl I was dating at the time was friends with the band. Troy ended up marrying her.” The story a little shorter than what actually happened, but the core elements were there.

  “Troy Harris stole your girlfriend?” Her eyes looked like they were about to pop from her head as her mouth dropped to the floor.

  “Nah, Megs was great, but she wasn’t ever mine for him to steal. I think we had like three dates tops, and those two had history. They were always meant to be together, I was the rebound in between.” I laughed, no bad blood between any of the parties. “Everything is cool though, and I’ve done a couple of tattoos for the guys. All of them are super cool. And Dallas likes to get into a pissing contest with Troy because he is a sick puppy who gets off on it.”

  “Wow. Okay. Wow.” She contemplated, her hands resting on her hips as she chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, you should take the food and coffee, and get to work. I’ll drop off Dallas’s in his room and then go back to the deli and get some more for myself.”

  Like water off a duck’s back, she shook off any weird. Thankfully also los
ing the stars in her eyes she’d had when she seen Troy. Because even though I categorically knew there was no chance of anything happening between the two of them, I was still a jealous shit who didn’t like his girlfriend being gaga over another dude.

  “You don’t have to do that, I can call and get some more delivered.” I had hoped we’d have time to eat together, but I had seriously misjudged time.

  “Don’t be silly, I enjoy the walk and besides I still have your change.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, cheeky grin on her face. “Just doing my part in spending your cash.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.” I planted a kiss on her forehead. “I promise we’ll do breakfast tomorrow.”

  “You’ll make it up to me with more than just food.” She gently pushed against my chest. “Go. Go work.”

  Grabbing a couple of breakfast burritos from the bag and a couple of coffees, I headed back into my room. Troy was already situated in the chair, playing with his phone, looking up when I walked in.

  “You want some breakfast, man? Coffee?” I offered him one of the bundles in my hand, and tipped my head to the coffees in the tray.

  “I won’t say no to food.” He took the wrapped burrito and grinned. “But you can keep the java. Can’t drink the stuff, thanks anyway.”

  “So that’s what’s wrong with you.” I unloaded the tray of coffees onto my workbench and sat down on the stool. “You know you’re not normal, right?”

  “Yeah, so I’ve been told.” He took a bite out of his burrito, chewing for a bit before adding, “So you and Eve, huh? Good for you.”

  “Is it that obvious?” I laughed, taking a bite of my breakfast. Mmmmm. It was so good, only thing missing was eating it with the woman Troy had just mentioned. I didn’t even care he’d picked up on it, deep down it sort of pleased me.

  “Yeah, it was a dead giveaway when you looked like you wanted to rip off my balls for smiling at her.” He took another bite. “I’m familiar with the look, might have worn it myself a time or two,” he added with a chuckle.