Page 55 of Four Tattoos

Christian barks out a humorless laugh. “We’d look real good walking in there.”

“I don’t fucking care how we look,” Zipper says, standing up again.

The determination in his voice takes me by surprise, because Zipper was the one leading the charge to break up with Rose.

“Have you changed your mind?” I ask him.

He looks at me, but doesn’t answer.

“Do you want her back?” I press.

Through gritted teeth, he says, “We’re not right for her.”

“You’re miserable without her,” Hutch says.

“I’m always fucking miserable.”

Hutch and I actually laugh at this, and the overall mood is lighter now that we have a plan. He opens the tablet again and taps at the screen. “We’ll go to Club Red tonight. I’ll see what time they open.”

42

CHRISTIAN

If a guy wanted to pick up women, Club Red would be the place to come. We’re still just in the parking lot and I’ve never seen so many in one place.

But I don’t care about any of the faceless women streaming into the club; I’m only here to see one woman.

“I feel like a nun walking into a liquor store,” I say, but I don’t get much of a reaction. All of the guys are laser-focused on our mission.

The pretense of our visit is to check on Rose and make sure she’s okay, but I want her back. Not much has been said, but I know we all want her back.

Whether or not we should try to get her back is the question. What’s good for us isn’t necessarily good for her, no matter how much we may have matured and grown since our last relationship.

Despite our determination to see her, we take our time approaching the door so that the masses of horny women thin out. Since she works the front desk, Rose may not appreciate us showing up unexpectedly while she’s busy dealing with customers.

“It’s Duke,” Hutch says as we finally reach the entrance. He gestures to a big guy standing next to the door, who I recognize as one of his tattoo clients. I knew Duke worked in security, but I had no idea this was the place he guarded. I wonder if women ever mob the stage?

“Hey,” Duke says when he spots us. I’m sure we’re hard to miss in this environment. He grins at first, but then arches a brow, going into guard mode. “What brings you here?”

Hutch reaches out for a half-handshake, half-clap on the back. “Good to see you. We’re here to see Rose.”

Duke looks Hutch up and down, then looks at each of us briefly before he says, “She’s not here tonight. She called off.”

“Fuck,” Zipper mutters, sounding like this is exactly the bad news he was expecting.

“What’s the matter? Is she okay?” Concern is plainly evident in Hutch’s voice.

Just then, a familiar-looking young woman rushes up and comes to a stop at the sight of the four of us. She assesses us even more closely than Duke did. “Are you here for Rose?” she asks finally.

Hope brightens Hutch’s eyes. “Yes, do you know how she’s doing?”

The woman is still nearly breathless as she says, “Well, I heard that she hasn’t had any morning sickness, so that’s good, but she’s still pretty shaken up by the surprise.”

All the noise around me, every bit of it, ceases as though I’ve stepped into a vacuum. The only thing I hear is blood rushing in my ears and the echo of her words,morning sickness, shaken up by the surprise.The ground beneath me tilts as my mind overloads with the implications.

“Morning sickness?” Hutch repeats, looking like he’s experiencing the same things I am.

The young woman, who’d been surveying our bodies and checking out our ink, looks up at Hutch and notices his stunned reaction. She looks around at all of our faces and then hers goes white. “Oh, shit.Shit!I’ve got to get inside.”

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