Page 18 of Patchwork
“Wooley’s has darts? Well, that settles it. Let’s go to Wooley’s.”
Hero grunts, his attention focused on his work again, carefully inking the lines of the words “Life’s more fun when you’re weird” across my lower abdomen. Is there a reasonhe’s hesitating? Does he not want me hanging around with his friends? Or maybe it’s about Wooley’s. Is he crushing on a bartender there or something? I tug my lip ring between my teeth and worry it while I wait for him to say something. After a painfully long minute, he glances up again.
“It’s not a very exciting place. Just a bunch of old, drunk gays who like to shoot pool and play the same shitty songs on the jukebox over and over.”
“Excuse you, but we can hear you talking about us,” Piston grumbles, feigning offense.
I try not to let my stomach jostle too much under the needle as I laugh.
“It sounds fun to me. I want to go,” I insist again, and finally Hero shrugs.
“Alright, yeah, we can go to Wooley’s tonight.”
Chapter 9
HERO
Thesunisstartingto set by the time I pull my Harley into the driveway. Before I’ve even put the kickstand down, Onyx steps out onto the front porch and stops to lock the door behind him. He’s wearing a pair of tight jeans, like usual, and those same rainbow suspenders he had on the first time I met him, hanging uselessly at his sides, for fashion rather than actual support. I can see the socks he borrowed from me this morning sticking out of his Chucks, and he’s finished the outfit with a vintage band tee and a flourish of eyeliner. He looks every bit the rockstar he is, and my heart thunders as he strides over to climb on the back of my bike.
“Here.” I shrug off my heavy leather jacket with the Ink Slingers club logo stitched onto the back and a rainbow flag patch on the right shoulder. Onyx gives me a skeptical look when I shove it towards him. “Come on, I’m protecting my time investment. I put way too much blood, sweat, and tears into those tattoos to see them scraped off against the unforgiving road if we wipe out.”
He cringes. “There’s a fucking image for you.”
“Exactly.” I chuckle, pulling my helmet off next and handing that to him too. We’re barely two miles from the bar, so it’s no big deal, but I’ll breathe easier knowing he’s covered. Later this week we can stop over at Basket Case Bikes to get him a helmet and proper bike jacket of his own.
Onyx huffs at me but slides the helmet on too. Then he wraps his arms around my waist and shuffles close, pressing himself up against my back all nice and snug. I make a happy sound in my throat and guide my bike back down the driveway. I’m half tempted to go straight past the turn towards Wooley’s and take him to Milwaukee after all. He’s going to be bored to tears at a townie bar like this.
He said he wanted to come here though, so maybe it’s all part of his relaxed, vacation mindset. Like people who insist on skipping the tourist spots and going where the locals go when they travel. Or nostalgia. He was too young to drink when he moved away from Fall Crosse, but maybe he had a fake ID and is dying to remember the good old days of sneaking into Wooley’s for an illegal drink or two.
I pull into the parking lot and roll right into line with the row of Harleys already parked in front of the bar. I miss the heat of Onyx’s body as soon as he slides off the back of my bike. He takes the helmet off and shakes his head to get his hair back to its usual artfully messy state. Longing tugs at my gut, and it takes me just a second to realize there’s no reason I have to stop myself from kissing that sweet, relaxed smile right off his lips, so I swing my leg over to dismount my bike and wrap an arm around his waist to pull him in for a slow, deep kiss.
He hums against my lips. “What was that for?”
“Didn’t know I needed a reason to kiss you.” I chuckle, wrapping my fingers around his loose suspenders and resting my forehead against his.
“You don’t need a reason, you’re just usually more…” He shrugs. “I don’t know, cautious, I guess?”
“I figured you wanted your privacy. If I kiss you in public, it could end up trending on social media or something. I didn’t think you wanted that. I’ve never seen pictures of you with your tongue down anyone else’s throat, so you must be pretty careful about keeping your personal life under wraps.”
“There’s a reason you haven’t seen pictures of me with anyone else.” Another smile twists on Onyx’s lips. It’s the one he gets when he’s about to tell me I’m a fucking idiot. Why I’m an idiot this time, I have no damn clue. “Ask me how many people I’ve fucked in the last four years.”
My gut twists and I shake my head, untangling his suspenders from around my knuckles and leaning back a little.
“I’d rather not know about anyone else.”
He sighs and pats my cheek with his free hand. “You’re a fucking idiot.”
He kisses the tip of my nose, and I let the tension in my stomach unwind. It really doesn’t matter who else he’s fucked. He’s here now, and that’s all I care about.
I take my helmet from him and set it on my seat. This time Onyx is the one shaking his head, a look of wonder dancing in his eyes.
“I forgot what it’s like to live somewhere where everyone is too nice to steal your shit.” He chuckles. “One time I sat down on my stoop and took my shoes off to shake the pebbles out of them, and someone jogged by and snatched them while I was sittingright there.”
“Gotta love Fall Crosse,” I say flippantly, reaching for his hand without thinking. I’m about to pull back, but he catches my hand and twines his fingers between mine.
“Come on—” He tugs me towards the door. “—I want to kick your ass at a game of darts.”
ONYX
