Page 15 of Blue

He was married, and that wasn’t ending anytime soon. His wife wouldn’t allow it. Blue needed to move on.

“Everything alright?” a male voice asked.

Blue whipped around, searching for the source.

From behind a column, almost hidden in a shadow, stepped the lean blond man from the thrift store. It took her several seconds, probably far too long, to recognize him.

“Dylan?” she questioned as her hackles rose. Was he following her?

His hand ran up and down the back of his neck as he dipped his head almost bashfully. “Yeah.”

His chuckle did little to ease the warning bells ringing in her mind.

“Was considering a tattoo,” he said as he gestured to the shop. “Do you recommend this place? I’ve heard good things.”

Didn’t she last run into him at a tattoo shop? What was wrong with that one?

To be fair, she’d walked out without Aunt Elaine getting a tattoo. Maybe there was something wrong with the other place.

He continued forward, and Blue fought the urge to back away from him. Her breakup and Dash showing up had her all out of sorts. There were plenty of valid reasons to be at Rune the Skin instead of Gizmo’s shop.

Mooky and his studio had an excellent reputation. Of course someone from Akron would hear about them and want a tattoo from him or any of the talented artists inside.

Pushing her reservations aside, she nodded. “Yeah. I’m apprenticing here, actually.”

Dylan’s eyes brightened. He stopped, keeping a good three feet between them. “That right?”

As his eyes skimmed her up and down, Blue popped her hip and placed a hand on it.

Again, he laughed. Stroking his chin, he nodded. “You got any room in your calendar? It’d be my first tattoo, so you’ll have to be gentle.”

Excitement coursed through Blue, drowning her misgivings. Another client. Someone else she could practice on and improve her skills. A squeal threatened to escape her.

Clearing her throat, shoving it down, she grinned in his direction. “I think I can work something out. When are you looking to do it?”

CHAPTER 5

Mooky

Thankfully, Mooky got out of the Columbia compound without incident. During his call, Emiliano, the host, got caught up with a few topless women vying for his attention. A few nods and thumbs-up were all Mooky needed to flee in relatively good graces.

The deal was done. Asphalt waited for Mooky. He wasn’t the most sober, but it wouldn’t be the first time he rode when he’d drunk too much, and it wouldn’t be the last.

It could’ve been the late hour or the time of year, but either way, there’d been no one on the road. With all the lanes of the highway to himself, the bit of swerving Mooky did went unnoticed. The cops he passed must have napped in their cars because they didn’t seem to mind how fast he went or how he couldn’t seem to keep the bike straight. As long as both wheels stayed on the pavement, he’d be okay. It’d been a lifetime since he laid his bike down.

He’d gone four hours before he stopped to refuel. Both he and his bike needed a boost to continue. With the sun coming up on the day and coffee in hand, he held the phone to his ear.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be home in a day or two,” Mooky said as he leaned against the pump at the gas station. “You and Grammy getting along okay?”

He nodded and listened to his son talk about what he’d had for dinner and how his grandmother made him brush his teeth three times a day. The audacity. Despite the pounding in his head, he almost laughed to himself when the young boy went on a tangent about how busy he’d been and how he didn’t have time for such things. River had a crew counting on him in the online games he played.

Mooky longed for the simplicity of his younger days. The men counting on him were a bit more intense.

“River,” he interrupted his son’s chatter about his latest video game. “Put your sister on for a second.”

Silence.

He could practically see his son fidgeting on the other end of the phone.

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