Page 41 of You Found Me in the Dark
“Reed, what the actual hell?”
I jolted back like I’d been caught red-handed. Which, in a way, I had. Dax stood in the doorway, smoothie in one hand, keys swinging from the other. His gaze flicked from me to Wren, who was still sitting half-undressed on the tattoo table, her fresh ink still red and wrapped.
Wren quickly reached for her shirt, pulling it on as the moment cracked and fell apart, awkward silence filling the space with a little too much air conditioning.
“I thought you weren’t working today,” Dax said, raising a brow. “Did I get the schedule wrong, or did you sneak in to get lucky on the shop chair?”
He knew the schedule was right. We have kept the sameschedule for over a decade now. I sighed, dragging a hand down my face. “I’m not working. I brought her in to see the place. She’s been asking for years.”
Dax blinked. Then it clicked. “Oh. Oh shit. This is… her. You look familiar. Have we met before?”
Wren gave a small wave, cheeks flushed but eyes still dancing. “I think once or twice, a few years ago. I am Cameron’s sister.”
Dax looked at me like he was suddenly connecting five pieces of a puzzle I hadn’t told him I was putting together. I have never seen Dax nervous, not once in all these years. But watching him avoid eye contact and rub the back of his neck? Dude was seriously feeling something.
“I’m gonna just grab some stuff from the back,” he said, already backing away, a grin forming. “You two carry on. But maybe not too much carrying on. I still work here.”
He disappeared around the corner.
“Well,” I muttered. “That was subtle.”
Wren laughed. It was a real laugh, a sound I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard from her before. Soft, unguarded, the kind of laugh you wanted to bottle up and keep in your back pocket. “So… does he walk in on your ‘non-working’ days often?”
“I think this is the only time I’ve tattooed on a day off,” I said, smirking. “Unless we count when I tattoo myself.”
She hopped down from the table and came to stand beside me. That smile hadn’t gone far.
“I like your shop,” she said quietly. “It feels like you.”
I glanced down at her. Wren barely reached my chest at five-foot-three, but somehow she always felt bigger than her size. Especially in moments like this, when everything in me was buzzing from her presence.
“You mean chaotic and covered in ink?”
She shrugged. “I mean full of life. And secrets.”
That stopped me cold. Like she’d seen something I hadn’t meant to show.
I leaned in, lowering my voice just for her. “You realize you’ve got one of those secrets on your skin now, right?”
She grinned, eyes sparkling. “Yeah. And I think I’m addicted.”
26
REED
We didn’t say much on the drive back. She had one leg tucked beneath her in the passenger seat, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt, still half-hiding that lazy, knowing smile she’d worn since the shop. The kind that made it impossible to think straight. The fact that I was still thinking about her shirtless didn’t help either. I kept my eyes on the road, gripping the wheel a little tighter than necessary just to give my hands something to do other than reach for her.
When I pulled up in front of her place, she didn’t move right away. Neither did I. The engine ticked softly as it cooled, headlights throwing long shadows across the driveway. She stared out the window at the setting sun, then slowly turned to look at me.
“It’s cold tonight,” she murmured, her arms crossing tightly over her chest. “Didn’t expect that.”
Without thinking, I leaned behind my seat and grabbed my favorite hoodie I always kept in the truck. It was black, soft, and a little worn. Embroidered in the center was a sun nestled snugly against a crescent moon; the lines were stitches in yellow. Despiteall the wear and washes, it still looked great. I held it out to her. “Here. Take it.”
She hesitated just long enough to make my chest ache, then reached out and brushed her fingers against mine as she took it. “You always carry spares for freezing girls you tattoo after hours?”
“Only the ones who drive me crazy,” I said before I could stop myself.
Her lips curled, slow and deliberate. “Drive you crazy, huh?”
