angry with him for
suggesting it, he would fix it later.
By the surprised looks on his friends’ faces, he had a
little explaining to do.
“You want to work with my sister?” Jamie asked slowly. “Day
after day? In that small space, with no walls separating you?”
“My relationship with Eva has changed.” He met Jamie’s gaze.
“Drastically.”
Maybe she was going to kick his ass for telling another
member of her family without her, but it was time. No, it was beyond time. They
all deserved to know.
Jamie’s eyebrows went as far up his forehead as Oscar
imagined they could go.
“I fucking knew it,” Leo said a little too gleefully.
Jamie looked from Oscar to Leo. “Knew what?”
“Eva and I have been seeing each other since your wedding,”
Oscar told him. Once again, it felt damn good to get it out in the open, even
if it turned out Jamie was going to be the brother who got protective and
stomped the shit out of him.
Jamie looked at Oscar again. “You have to be fucking kidding
me. The two of you can hardly stand to be in the same zip code.”
“We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while until
we were sure about what was going on,” he explained. “Although Diego knows.”
Nope, Jamie’s eyebrows could definitely go higher.
“And he’s all right with it?”
“He’s more worried about me coming out unscathed than her.”
“That was my first thought,” Leo said with a chuckle, and
Jamie nodded.
“No shit.” His eyebrows dropped and he looked out the patio
doors at his left. “Fuck. That was the last thing I ever would have expected to
hear from you, man.”
“It’s the craziest thing, I know, but I’m in love with her.”
Leo laughed while Jamie just smiled that big, shit-eating
grin of his.
“I need to be the one to tell your parents,” Oscar added
before either of them said anything else. “So if we could keep this between us
just a little longer.”
“Mom is going to lose her mind.” Jamie put down his beer and
stood, came around the table. “You know she still hopes you and Tammy will end
up together, don’t you?”
Oscar stood and got caught up in Jamie’s hug. “Yeah, she’s
never let me live it down that I let her marry someone else.”
“You are a crazy bastard,” he said as he released him.
Leo stood and pulled Oscar into a backslapping hug as well.
“It’s about damn time you admitted you like her.” He let go and picked his beer
up from the table. “So we’ll ask Eva if she wants to move to Chicago?” he
asked, looking from Oscar to Jamie.
“Eva it is,” Jamie said with a disbelieving shrug. He raised
his beer. “Congrats.”
“And good fucking luck,” Leo added, touching his beer to
Jamie’s.
Oscar scoffed jokingly. “Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he
said, and touched his beer bottle to theirs.
* * * * *
On a normal day Eva would have been annoyed—at the very
least—with a client who wimped out before she barely finished the outline on
their tattoo. Clients who got dizzy or nauseous were a totally different story.
Those people didn’t bother her because there was no way to tell how a person
was going to physically react to being tattooed until they were actually under
the needle.
But the asshole she’d been working on who’d flinched and
twitched and grimaced through the part where she’d needed him to stay still the
most, and then obviously faked an emergency phone call, would have gotten her hackles
up on a normal day. But it wasn’t a normal day. She still hadn’t recovered from
the weekend in New York, and she was grateful for the extra hour and a half
between clients.
She didn’t really know why she hadn’t recovered. It wasn’t
as if she’d been drunk or stayed up all night the whole time. They’d been up
until the wee hours of the morning with Oscar’s friends the first night, but
Eva hadn’t really had the stomach to drink, so she’d mostly sipped soda water
with lime and enjoyed the
suggesting it, he would fix it later.
By the surprised looks on his friends’ faces, he had a
little explaining to do.
“You want to work with my sister?” Jamie asked slowly. “Day
after day? In that small space, with no walls separating you?”
“My relationship with Eva has changed.” He met Jamie’s gaze.
“Drastically.”
Maybe she was going to kick his ass for telling another
member of her family without her, but it was time. No, it was beyond time. They
all deserved to know.
Jamie’s eyebrows went as far up his forehead as Oscar
imagined they could go.
“I fucking knew it,” Leo said a little too gleefully.
Jamie looked from Oscar to Leo. “Knew what?”
“Eva and I have been seeing each other since your wedding,”
Oscar told him. Once again, it felt damn good to get it out in the open, even
if it turned out Jamie was going to be the brother who got protective and
stomped the shit out of him.
Jamie looked at Oscar again. “You have to be fucking kidding
me. The two of you can hardly stand to be in the same zip code.”
“We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while until
we were sure about what was going on,” he explained. “Although Diego knows.”
Nope, Jamie’s eyebrows could definitely go higher.
“And he’s all right with it?”
“He’s more worried about me coming out unscathed than her.”
“That was my first thought,” Leo said with a chuckle, and
Jamie nodded.
“No shit.” His eyebrows dropped and he looked out the patio
doors at his left. “Fuck. That was the last thing I ever would have expected to
hear from you, man.”
“It’s the craziest thing, I know, but I’m in love with her.”
Leo laughed while Jamie just smiled that big, shit-eating
grin of his.
“I need to be the one to tell your parents,” Oscar added
before either of them said anything else. “So if we could keep this between us
just a little longer.”
“Mom is going to lose her mind.” Jamie put down his beer and
stood, came around the table. “You know she still hopes you and Tammy will end
up together, don’t you?”
Oscar stood and got caught up in Jamie’s hug. “Yeah, she’s
never let me live it down that I let her marry someone else.”
“You are a crazy bastard,” he said as he released him.
Leo stood and pulled Oscar into a backslapping hug as well.
“It’s about damn time you admitted you like her.” He let go and picked his beer
up from the table. “So we’ll ask Eva if she wants to move to Chicago?” he
asked, looking from Oscar to Jamie.
“Eva it is,” Jamie said with a disbelieving shrug. He raised
his beer. “Congrats.”
“And good fucking luck,” Leo added, touching his beer to
Jamie’s.
Oscar scoffed jokingly. “Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he
said, and touched his beer bottle to theirs.
* * * * *
On a normal day Eva would have been annoyed—at the very
least—with a client who wimped out before she barely finished the outline on
their tattoo. Clients who got dizzy or nauseous were a totally different story.
Those people didn’t bother her because there was no way to tell how a person
was going to physically react to being tattooed until they were actually under
the needle.
But the asshole she’d been working on who’d flinched and
twitched and grimaced through the part where she’d needed him to stay still the
most, and then obviously faked an emergency phone call, would have gotten her hackles
up on a normal day. But it wasn’t a normal day. She still hadn’t recovered from
the weekend in New York, and she was grateful for the extra hour and a half
between clients.
She didn’t really know why she hadn’t recovered. It wasn’t
as if she’d been drunk or stayed up all night the whole time. They’d been up
until the wee hours of the morning with Oscar’s friends the first night, but
Eva hadn’t really had the stomach to drink, so she’d mostly sipped soda water
with lime and enjoyed the
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