Chapter 4

Leo

My alarm blasted in my ear, and I winced, reaching for my phone to shut it off. I would have loved to hit snooze and sleep for a few more hours, but that wasn’t happening today. I needed to head to work and meet with my next client.

I rolled out of bed, stretching my arms over my head as I arched my back, telling myself that I needed a better mattress. I was an adult now. I should own a mattress I chose for quality rather than buying the cheapest one.

I turned to make the bed so I wouldn’t forget to do it.

It had been ingrained in me at an early age that if you made your bed before you even fully opened your eyes, it would be done for the rest of the day. And while some kids might’ve gotten away from that idea, I liked sliding into smooth sheets after a long day. It might not be what most people thought when they saw me, but whatever. I had quirks and idiosyncrasies.

I made my way to my bathroom, brushed my teeth, took care of my business, then stepped into the shower, all while mostly sleepwalking.

I wasn’t a morning person. I preferred late nights and watching the sunrise from the opposite end, but sometimes my schedule didn’t allow for that.

The water heated, the glass walls of my shower steamed, and I slowly woke up, promising myself that I had a cup of coffee waiting for me as soon as I got out.

I didn’t know why I was so groggy, or why everything hurt. Well, maybe I did. I hadn’t been able to sleep thanks to dreaming about a certain woman.

Someone who wanted nothing to do with me. Whom I had promised to stay away from.

I cursed under my breath as images of her hit me again.

It was probably wrong to think about her like this, but it wasn’t like I was going to do anything about it. She was only a dream—a figment of my imagination. I cupped my balls, gripped my dick, and slowly slid my hand up and down my length.

My cock ached, and I continued stroking myself, imagining May’s hands on her pert breasts and how she would moan for me as I slid deep inside her.

She would wrap her legs around my waist, and I would fill her before we both moved, me pounding into her as we each tried to get closer.

She would scrape those pretty little nails down my back, and I would grip her hair, clamping my mouth down on her neck to nip, bite, and lick.

I would wrap my lips around her nipples and suck until they were the color of bright red cherries.

She would come for me, clamping around my dick as both of us groaned in completion.

The water slipped over my back, and I shouted, coming into my hand and against the shower wall, just the thought of May riding me until we lost our minds sending me over the edge too quickly.

I hadn’t even let the water grow cold before I came in my hand like a teenager. All while thinking of a woman who would never be mine.

I blushed, then quickly finished my shower and got out, wrapping my towel around my waist.

I leaned against my counter, cursing and calling myself all kinds of a fool. Because I shouldn’t think of May that way. She was a friend. Or someone who could be a friend. And how was I supposed to face her when I imagined what her nipples would look like? Wondered if they would be large. Pale. Dark. Little red berries begging for my mouth.

It didn’t matter in the end. Because all that mattered was that I wanted to know what her cunt tasted like. If she was honeydew or strawberries. Peaches and cream. But I was not allowed to know those things.

The guys had warned me off her, and for a good reason. One should not date within their group of friends. Things got sticky .

I’d seen that firsthand when Lake and Nick first started dating. Sure, everything had worked out for them. But what if things had gone to hell?

The two of them owned a damn business together. If they had truly broken things off like they tried to, things would be insane. It would be awkward as hell and hurt more than just pride.

While my connection to May was complicated, it didn’t make sense for me to take a step that could have lasting consequences. So, I told myself that this morning was the last time I would give myself an orgasm while thinking of Leif’s nanny.

I shook my head, then got ready for my day. I made the cup of coffee I’d promised myself, then picked up another, as well as some for my friends as I walked past the coffee shop and into Montgomery Ink Legacy.

My phone buzzed, and I frowned, looking at the readout.

Mandy: U free 2nite?

I sighed, thinking about her. She and I had spent the night together a couple of months ago but hadn’t seen each other since. I knew what she wanted since this wasn’t the first time she’d texted, but I wasn’t about that. I didn’t want to settle yet, and Mandy was all about settling. That and using me to make her ex jealous.

I should have ignored the text, but I wasn’t an asshole.

Me: Out with friends.

Mandy: Call me. I want you, Leo. Like before. Eric is being a jerk.

That time, I did ignore her. I needed to head inside and get to work. Besides, I wasn’t sure how much clearer I could be with her. I was shit at relationships.

Nick was already working on a full back piece, and Tristan and Taryn were in the back, fighting with each other. I could hear the laughter in their tone, though, so I knew they were only messing around. Lake was sitting at Nick’s station, her tablet in hand as she worked a mile a minute on some multimillion-dollar company, most likely. Every once in a while, the two would look up, kiss each other, smile, then go back to work.

I only felt a little jealous. I didn’t think that kind of life was for me and didn’t think I could have something like that. You had to be lucky to get that. I didn’t imagine that being me. But maybe. You never knew.

It just wouldn’t be with May.

I wondered why I kept telling myself that, considering I didn’t even know her that well. And yet, there was a pull. A connection.

But was I fooling myself?

Leif looked up from his notebook and smiled at me. “Is that coffee?”

“You know it. I brought something for everybody. Except for Lake. Sorry. I didn’t know you would be here.”

Lake waved me off, even as Nick scowled. “Don’t worry about it. I already had mine.”

“Well, I got coffee for you and a couple of extras, so you’re going to have to take it,” Brooke said as she came in behind me. I hurried out of the way of Leif’s girlfriend. She winked at me, then went to Leif, kissing him hard on the mouth.

Again, I ignored the jealousy that flared.

Brooke and I handed out our drinks and made sure everyone was happy.

“At least we’ll be caffeinated,” Nick grumbled as Lake kissed him.

“You like us that way.”

“You really do,” Brooke teased as she kissed Leif again.

Nick’s client laughed, and I just sighed at the four of them.

“This is what we’re doing? Making out at work?”

“Oh, were you feeling left out?” Tristan leaned forward, his lips puckered. I moved back, laughing as I flipped him off. “Sorry. But you don’t flip my switch.”

“I thought everybody flipped your switch.”

“No, that’s you.” Taryn winked and then kissed Tristan full on the mouth. “There, are you happy?”

Everybody looked at each other and then at the two I’d never seen kiss before.

Instead of looking embarrassed and angry, Tristan’s smile went all gooey, and he melted in front of Taryn. “Always, baby. With you.”

That’s when I realized they were a couple. I nearly smacked myself on the forehead. Of course, the two were a couple. How had I never noticed before? They joked with each other, teased, and had such chemistry that it was off the charts.

Good for them.

I went to my station and got ready for my first appointment of the day. A cover-up on a woman’s ankle. She had an old dolphin that had faded to a blob, and I was going to do a wraparound rosary for her. We were both excited, and it was something I had done before.

Yet it was hard to think with so many couples all around me. In fact, right at this moment, I was the odd man out again—the only person without someone.

Except, of course, Sebastian. Sebastian didn’t have anyone either. And now I felt like shit. Because while he wasn’t here today, the youngest of us had once had a connection that made everybody smile and feel only a little bit jealous.

Now, Marley was gone, and Sebastian was a single dad. I needed to figure out how not to walk on eggshells around him. He would never ask that of me, and he wanted things to be normal, but I always felt like I was doing something wrong around the kid.

I also had to stop thinking about him as a kid. He was a full-fledged adult—and a dad. He wasn’t some kid still in high school, figuring out who he was. He was working, going to school, and raising a daughter on his own.

And here I was, having sex dreams about a woman that barely even knew I existed. Yes, she knew my name when we’d spoken those few times in odd circumstances, but she hadn’t looked twice at me.

I needed to remember that.

Everyone was talking around me and laughing with one another. I looked up at my client.

Brandi sat on the chair across from me and gave me a curious look. “You’re looking all serious like. You want to talk about it?”

I shook my head at the woman with dark hair, kind eyes, and a familiar lift to her mouth that I couldn’t quite place. I knew many people, though. For all I knew, she had a Montgomery in some part of her family tree.

“Just thinking about life.”

“And all the lovebirds around you?” she asked, teasing.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s like an epidemic. Everybody’s falling in love and making out with each other at work. This is a place of serious business.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Nick grumbled.

Lake shushed him. “Don’t curse in front of the clients.”

“I don’t mind the cursing, ma’am,” his client said, and I held back a laugh. Nick’s client was a man who looked to be around three hundred pounds of solid muscle. He was a former linebacker for the Denver Broncos and could probably break anybody with his pinky. I was sure he had probably said worse in his life, so when Lake blushed, I shook my head.

“See? Serious business. ”

Brandi rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say. Now, are you ready to help me fix my teenage decisions?” She fluttered her eyelashes at me and pointed at her ankle.

“A porpoise with a purpose.” I nodded, my lips twitching at my joke. “I guess it’s time to say goodbye.”

“You did not just say that,” Leif said with a groan. “Seriously? How long have you been waiting to use that with the dolphin tattoo?”

“I have no idea what you mean. You flipped.”

Brandi groaned, and I grinned.

“I guess this is the tail-end of this conversation.”

“You don’t even have good dolphin jokes. I mean, at least when you went on a minute rant about sheep, goats, kids, and baaaaad jokes, it made sense.”

I looked straight. “I was trying to say something about me crossing a fine line, but the dad jokes just needed to be said.”

“Well, thank God for that,” Brandi said with a laugh.

“Two peas in a pod right there,” Nick grumbled.

I froze and slowly turned to look at my friend. “Did you just make a dolphin joke?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course, I didn’t. You’re fishing.”

I threw my head back and laughed as everybody tried to add their own fish jokes that made no sense but still made us laugh. It was something my parents had always done for us when we were kids. If you said something about a cow and we turned it into a joke, we would make random cow puns until the cows literally came home. It was what we did. Now, I felt a little bit better with my friends making worse jokes than mine.

“Okay, now that we’ve exhausted that, and…no, I’m not making a pun or joke—” Brandi started.

“I didn’t think you were. We’re literally out of them,” I said.

“Oh, we were out of them before you even began.” She rolled her eyes, still laughing. “Anyway, I’m excited about this, and I have some ideas.”

I nodded, knowing that Brandi always had ideas. “What do you have in mind?”

“I know we already have a sketch, but I want to go over it in a little bit more detail. Not detail where we have to go bigger, but to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“I’ve got you. And then, after that, we’re working on your back piece, right? ”

“You know it. I have ideas for that, too.”

“I have no doubt you do.”

“By the way, I have someone you would love. I know you said no before, but I think you should let me set you up.”

I shook my head at her familiar refrain. “I don’t do blind dates. Ever.”

She waved me off. “You’re missing out. I have the perfect person for you. I saw you looking around at all these couples here. I can make you that happy.”

I leaned forward and gave her my most brilliant smile. “Are you offering yourself? You’re going to leave your husband and fall madly in love with me? Because if that’s the case, all you had to do was say something.”

She pushed at my shoulder, laughing as the others groaned, making fun of me.

I just shook my head and looked down at our sketches, knowing this was what I did best. I worked with my clients and played with art.

Dating? No, I didn’t do that well. Or at all. A night was fine. Anything more? No, thank you.

And if I didn’t make good decisions when it came to dating someone I knew, there was no way I would go on a blind date.

Ever.