Page 1 of Beck

Chapter 1

Beck

Beck Cavanagh snorted at Dallas’s joke, his sides aching from how much they’d all laughed that night. Drink flooded their veins, and they could barely contain themselves, even with the sheer number of people in attendance who stared at them in a mix of disgust and appreciation. They didn’t care, though. Their little corner of the world was perfect, even if Beck said so himself. They were all in fine form, even those of them who had recently been added to their tight-knit group, as they chilled out before the Bonser Tattooing event the next day.

His gaze transferred to their surroundings, seeing if he could find anyone remotely interesting beneath the multicoloured strobe lighting to spend a few hours with. He passed over several men, no one jumping out at him. He could do with letting off a little steam, but his skin pebbled as he thought of what it would entail.

Instead, he focused on his friends, new and old.

“How many do you think we’ll get done this year? Will we beat last year’s?” Dallas asked.

Dallas was a surf dude, through and through. Well, he would’ve been if he actually surfed. He had the look, but Beck wondered if he would have the balance to stay on a surfboard with how big he was. They all called him a giant because he was six foot six inches of pure muscle and tattoos, but Dallas was…conflicted, from what Beck could guess. Despite being as closeas brothers, Dallas liked his privacy, but he spent many nights looking for something in someone. Beck hoped he’d find it soon.

“We pushed it last year,” Finn said. “I think we’ll end up doing less or break even.”

Finn, on the other hand, was more than happy alone. Beck could only describe him as a free spirit, but he’d been with Life in Ink for years and showed no signs of leaving. If he ever did, they’d all be devastated, but they’d support him in whatever he chose to do. Finn was the quietest of them all, but when he spoke, they all listened.

“We have more help this year, though. If you think about it, with Ethan helping Ani with the organisation and Kole helping with the designs, we’ll be concentrating more on tattooing on its own. I bet we’ll manage more,” Joey said.

Joey, who was the owner of Life in Ink, sat across from him, his arm around his boyfriend, Ethan. They hadn’t been together for long, but they were, without a doubt to anyone who saw them, made for each other. Beck had always thought he didn’t believe in love, but seeing them together had made him reconsider recently. Not enough to go looking for it himself, but to appreciate what Joey and Ethan had.

And with Ethan came his friends, Kole and Christi. Christi and her girlfriend, Di, didn’t visit as much as Kole did. Kole was spending more and more time in London as opposed to where he lived in Whitby, and Beck didn’t mind it one bit. The man was a genius when it came to art and design, and with Ethan’s wily words, he’d persuaded Kole to help them out at the event the next day. If they didn’t get more business from Kole’s artistic flair than they ever had, he’d eat his motorcycle.

The only person who was missing from their crew was Ani, their manager. They’d all spent the afternoon getting their area ready for the weekend’s event, but she’d ended up with a migraine and wanted it gone before the busy following days, soshe’d stayed at the hotel and gone to sleep. Beck would’ve been happy to stay with her to make sure she was okay, but she’d insisted they all head out and have fun because they’d be too exhausted to do so the next day—which was likely to be true.

“What do you think, Beck?” Dallas asked, dragging Beck from his musings.

Beck grabbed his beer, pursing his lips as he considered their situation now compared to last year. “I think Joey has it right. We have extra help. We’ll smash it.” He put his fist into the centre of the table and the four of them fist-bumped. Kole snorted at his side, and Beck glanced at him, shoving him with his shoulder. “What’s got you so amused?”

“Does it really matter how many you get?” Kole asked, but the twinkle in his eyes belied his innocent question.

“You know it. Why not have a goal in mind? It makes hands work quicker.” Beck winked at him and drained his beer. “Hey, do you wanna dance?”

Kole stared at the dance floor, his fingertips immediately heading for his mouth, a tell Beck had figured out meant he was uncertain. They had all been told what had happened to Kole a few months prior, and they’d all vowed to make him feel safe again.

“Just you and me against the music. No one else,” Beck said into his ear. He pulled back and met his gaze.

Kole nodded once. “Sure.”

“We’ll be back,” Beck told the table and grabbed Kole’s hand, dragging him towards the mass of writhing bodies. “We’ll stay to the edge. That way, we can hightail it if someone tries something we want to escape.”

It wasn’t just for Kole’s benefit, either. Beck didn’t mind his friends touching him, and he often initiated touch himself, but he couldn’t stand it when someone stood at his back, danced behind him or touched him without warning. He was fine ifsomeone was in front of him because he could see what they were doing, which was where he put Kole.

“Is this okay?” he asked over the music.

Kole nodded and started moving to the music, a small smile playing on his lips. Beck copied his moves, their hips swaying, their arms rising and lowering, their heads bobbing in time with the beat. A guy moved in behind Kole, grabbing his hips, and Kole jerked forward and spun around to face him. The guy raised his hands and said something Beck didn’t catch. Beck kept his hands loosely on Kole’s arms as the guy raised his eyebrows and Kole nodded. The guy started dancing in front of Kole, and Kole found the beat again. When Beck stepped back to give him room, Kole’s hand gripped the one that was still on his arm and shook his head. Beck stayed where he was, moving in time with Kole, their bodies a bit closer than they usually would be, but if that was what Kole needed to allow a stranger to dance with him, then so be it.

Their little bubble burst when someone squeezed Beck’s ass and pushed in against his back. Beck froze, his heart pounding as if he’d run a mile in ten seconds, and his mind went offline. But only for a second, and then he shoved himself away, knocking Kole from in front of him as well, and faced the newcomer.

“What the fuck?” Beck said. “Did it look like I was giving you permission to touch me?”

The stranger grinned and backed off, shaking his head and disappearing into the crowd. Beck’s heart continued its sprint, and his gaze studied everyone around him, looking for a threat. A hand rested on his arm, and he jumped a mile, dislodging the hand before he found Kole, frowning at him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, not reaching for him again, and Beck nodded, trying to find the easygoing smile he always had available.

“Yeah, I just wasn’t… He made me jump.” It was the worst excuse on the planet, but what else could he say? No one knew the truth, and if he had his way, they never would. “Let’s get another drink, yeah?”

He headed towards the bar, but he kept an eye on Kole to make sure, first, that he was following, and second, that no one messed with him. Ethan’s best friend was good-looking in an “I don’t care” fashion. His dark hair was always mussed, reminding Beck of when someone had just taken off a motorcycle helmet. But it was his eyes that got to him. Those deep chestnut-coloured orbs made it seem like he could see everything everyone wasn’t saying, and he didn’t need that kind of attention at that moment.

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