Page 63 of Four Tattoos

“You’re all so busy with work,” I say. “I couldn’t imagine fatherhood fitting into your lifestyle.”

“We can bring the baby into the shop and take turns caring for it while we work,” Christian says, grinning, with a look on his face that tells me he really likes the idea.

The image of this makes me laugh, but there’s still a concern on my mind. “Mace, what about your plans to move away?”

His brows lift as if my question is completely unexpected. “Those were plans I had before I met you. Everything’s different now.”

“Really?”

“I’ve always wanted to wander, but you ground me. I’m happy to be wherever you are.”

All of this is slowly sinking in, and Mace’s declaration has all of my emotions rushing to the surface. “Really? I didn’t know you felt that way. All of you are taking me by surprise, actually.”

“We’re sorry that we weren’t more open about how we felt about you, but I don’t think we fully realized the depth of our feelings until we were apart,” Hutch says.

Zipper takes my hands in his. “That’s definitely true for me. The relationship we were in together in the past, the one I wrongly compared you to, hurt me a lot, and I haven’t let myself get serious about anyone since then. I told myself we were just having a good time with you, and I thought it didn’t mean anything to you, since you didn’t want to tell anyone about us.”

“Oh my gosh! I hurt you by keeping it a secret! I’m so sorry.” My recent tears have been happy ones, but this realization pains me. I never imagined that they would care about me keeping them a secret, but suddenly I see how it looked from their point of view.

“It’s okay,” Hutch says firmly.

“No, you must have thought I was ashamed of you, or that I wasn’t proud to be with you, but that’s not true at all!”

Zipper’s thumb brushes away a tear. “It’s okay, Rose. I understand why you did it. I know it was easier for you not to tell your brother, but we don’t want you to have to keep secrets.”

“We’ll always be here to protect you from any problems,” Hutch says. “We can deal with your brother.”

“But what about your past relationship?” I ask. “Aren’t you still worried about our relationship having the same problems?”

“No,” Zipper says. “Things went wrong in the past because we weren’t with the right person. We weren’t withyou.”

48

ZIPPER

I’m the luckiest man in the world when Rose curls into my chest. I don’t deserve her, but I sure as hell plan to behave like a man who does. I intend to earn her love every day from now going forward.

“You’rethe difference,” I say as I wrap my arms around her, “and you’re perfect for us.”

“You bring us all together in a way no one else ever could,” Hutch tells her.

Christian steps in, sliding his arm around her shoulders, and I can see how smooth it’s going to be with all of us. How right it is.

“We fell hard for you,” he says, “and now we can’t imagine being without you.”

“We almost forgot to show you,” Mace says. As Rose turns to look at him, he pulls his shirt up, revealing the new tattoo on the side of his chest. The red ink of the rose petals is vibrant under the lighting in Rose’s bare apartment.

“Did you do that for me?” she asks, her eyes wide.

“You’re a part of me,” Mace says.

She stares in awe. “I thought you said the ribs were one of the most painful areas.”

“Not as bad as the pain of almost losing you.”

After Rose hugs him, Hutch tugs the side of his pants down to show her his new art. “We all got them,” he says.

Christian pushes up his sleeve to show her the matching rose on the inside of his arm, and I pull my collar down, revealing the rose on my chest.

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