Page 105 of Broken

“Me start shit?” she laughs, but there is nothing amused about it. “Since when do people get to walk in here whenever they feel like it?”

“Since I’m the owner, Lucky,” Phoenix fires back. “And as long as I’ve dealt with my shit, I don’t need to be questioned about when I show up.”

“Enough,” I tell him, walking over to Lucky. She’s about to let rip but I wrap an arm around her shoulder and steer her to the back hallway. “Katja, can you watch the desk?”

She nods and steps behind the counter.

“Stop trying to manage me, Garrett,” Lucky shrugs me off as we walk into the storeroom.

“No one is managing anyone,” I roll my shoulders and guide her further into the room. “But I’m in no mood for an argument today.”

“But he’s-”

“Light gray wash,” I tell her.

Lucky rolls her eyes and heads over to the box of inks. She roots through the boxes before finding what I don’t actually need. And I’m pretty sure she knows it. She gathers up three of each color and comes back over.

“I’m worried. Don’t look at me like that. I know what you think about me and Phoenix.”

“I don’t think anything about you and Phoenix.”

“You’re a shit liar, Garrett,” she sets down the inks on a shelf by the door. “Shane said his brother was in here last night. Do you know what he wanted?”

“No.”

“Of course, you won’t tell me. Secret brotherhood shit.”

“Lucky.”

She waves me off. “You know a lot of this is his fault. With Phoenix’s mom.”

Leaning against the wall, I watch as Lucky twists her fingers together, staring at the floor.

“He won’t let me in,” she says in a small voice.

I’m not heartless but this is the second night in a row I’ve had a heart to heart with a woman. It surprises me I’m not as irritated by that as I would have been a few months ago. Thoughts of Calli have eaten away at my restraint all day.

It’s hard to decide what played on my mind more. The fucker at her apartment, or fucking her on my tattoo bed, after putting my ink on her. I’d rage cleaned the room when I got back to the shop, having lost that bastard.

Lucky means a lot to me, and I don’t want to see her upset. Even if I knew this was always going to happen. As painful as it is going to be, I’m not about to leave her back here feeling this way.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah, I doubt that,” I drawl, making her lift her gaze to me. If she did, then we’d no longer be talking about my best friend. We’d be talking about her new one.

“We work better as friends,” she sniffs and clears her throat. “It’s the way it has to be.”

“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”

“God,” she kicks her booted foot out, so it taps mine. “When did you get so astute?”

“I’ve seen this coming for a long time.”

“What?”

“Realization hitting. You keep saying you’re better as friends and you both parade other people around one another, saying it’s fun and you’re not upset about it. That shit isn’t healthy. Because we can all see neither one of you has moved past the other.”

“I thought you didn’t want us together,” she brushes her hair back and holds it away from her face.

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