39. Derek

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Derek

" G od, I love a good cherry popping." Atlas states while shoving a handful of chips into his big ass mouth. Interesting choice in last words, but whatever.

"Dude," Ash shoves Atlas' shoulder. "That's my sister."

"Oh," Atlas scoffs. "So it was funny when you said it about my wife, but your sister is off limits?"

Ash rolls his dark eyes. "Ren wasn't your wife at the time."

"And you would've been laughing too, had you not just beat the shit out of that dude who used to work here…" I mutter while continuing to set up my station. Turning to grab one of the bottles of ink, I see Indy sitting in my chair, spinning in circles, and it causes a light chuckle to escape me.

"Indy, darlin', what are you doing?" She doesn't stop; shejust continues to spin, allowing her arms to fly out at her sides.

"Flying," she says simply, her eyes closed, and I can't help the smile on my face. The last three days, Indy's mood seems to be lifting. She's been getting up, bathing, eating, and even doing some light exercises this morning. Her resting smile is slowly returning, and I'm so thankful for it.

Ash stretches as he walks over to Indy and grabs the stool, spinning her again and causing her to squeal and giggle as she holds onto the seat. A shot of something runs through me, and I can't pinpoint what it is. Jealousy? Irritation? I don't know. All I can think is, why didn't I spin her around to make her laugh like that? Why hadn't that even been a thought in my mind?

It's her brother. You can't be jealous of her fucking brother. Even as those thoughts enter my brain, I can't listen. I must be jealous, not the kind of jealous where you worry about another man taking your girl. But a kind of jealous that I'm not the type of man that can casually walk up to his girl and do something to make her giggle that way. I have zero spontaneity, and seeing the happiness on her face, I realize it's something she enjoys.

"So," Ash says from next to my station as he stares over the artwork while I fill the ink cups. "What are you planning this year?" I'm about to ask what he's talking about when I see he's looking at the dizzy, laughing girl.

"Well…" She taps a finger to her chin and… what're they talking about? "I'll probably just have something low-key around here, and then whatever you have planned." She wrinkles her nose up at me, and I'm at a complete loss. What am I not getting? I give her a smirk, praying that she can't see the panic in my eyes.

"It's a surprise. Now, hush up before you ruin it." I tease, and oh my god, she's giving me the giggle. Me. Fucking hell, I don't know what I don't know, but I damn well will be figuring it out. I smack my table and look at her. "Come on, darlin', let's tuck your shirt and get the stencil on." Indy frowns as she walks over.

"Tuck my shirt?" She asks, and Atlas speaks up as he walks behind me to grab some ink, prepping his own station.

"Tuck the bottom up into your bra so it doesn't get in the area."

Indy's frown deepens as she looks at me. "I didn't wear a bra." My face falls as I look at her t-shirt.

"W-why not?" I sputter, looking around as if a bra will magically appear. I don't need her shirtless with just a pad hiding her chest from whoever may come in here.

"I rarely wear one," she shrugs. "They're restricting. A pain in the butt to put on, plus I have tiny tits."

Ash spits out his drink all over Atlas' station.

"Ughhhh…" Atlas cries. "I just cleaned it!"

"Don't talk about your tits, Indy!" Ash warns, shaking his head. "You're my baby sister. As far as I'm concerned, you don't have any."

"That's what I'm saying!" Indy snaps, and, for the love of Christ, there she goes, grabbing her chest again. "Itty bitty titties! I don't need a bra! Actually, if you want to know the truth, no woman needs a bra. They were designed by pig-headed men that felt women's tits needed to be at their chins to be sexually appealing."

Atlas nods. "That's that whole sleeping penis thing, right?" We all turn to stare at him in confusion. Indy curls her lip and shakes her head.

"Unconscious misogyny…" she sighs, shaking her head. I glance at Atlas to see his smirk. He's trying to get a rise out of her, and again, I have to tap down the jealousy. I don't know how to do a public relationship. Dates, flirting, and teasing in front of people are not anything I've ever done. Even with my ex-wife, that was one of her things about me. I didn't show I cared in public.

While deep in thought, Fox must've pulled one of Janie's sports bras from the back office. I didn't think about Janie having clothes here, but she often goes to Sunday's pole classes in the middle of the day. Indy walks into the bathroom to change, and as soon as I know she's out of earshot, I take a long breath.

"I'm not kidding," I slowly grind out through my clenched teeth. "I'll never forgive you fuckers if you rat me out." I go to ask, but Ash's chuckle stops me.

"Her birthday is this Saturday." Oh my god. Her birthday. It's her birthday, and I had no idea. How did I not know?

"Fuck. Shit, I told her I have a surprise." Atlas cackles at my panic.

"Good luck with that! Indy is worse than Red when it comes to needing attention."

"Hey," Fox barks, but then stops and thinks. "Yeah, actually, that's valid."

Indy walks out, arms over her chest. "Janie is very gifted in the boobs, but at least I'm covered." Fox chuckles, and I roll my eyes before having her stand straight so I can center the stencil. I try a couple of times, but I can't seem to get it exactly right.

"Hey Ash," I call out, since he's the only one without a client. "What am I missing here?" Ash wheels his chair over to us and looks at the stencil.

"Can you put your arm out, Indy?" He asks, and Indy quietly obeys. "It's definitely even, but it's taking away from her feminine curve, which is probably what's throwing it off." I nod in agreement.

"Feathers?" I ask, and he nods his approval.

"A couple of feathers would help with depth and flow." I nod and look up at Indy.

"You okay with that?" She gives me a small nod andsmile, and I see it. I've seen that look hundreds of times over my career. I help her sit on the table, and I pat her hand. "I know you're nervous. I won't lie, you picked a tough spot, but you're in control. You need a break or to stop, you tell me, okay?"

"I don't want to start hurting and shaking and mess you up." I chuckle lightly.

"Darlin', I know how to tattoo through body shakes. Yeah, if you thrash around, that can be a problem. Just lay your head on the pillow, and whatever you do, don't hold your breath. Breathe through it." Indy lies on my table, and Ash returns with Atlas as I ink my machine.

"You're going to do awesome, Indy." Ash smiles, and Atlas nods.

"You're tough as fuck getting this badass tattoo for your first one."

"Alright," I sigh as I turn to her, wishinglike hell I had said any of that to her myself."I'm going to do a small line, so you know what to expect, alright?"

"Okay," she worries her bottom lips, and before I realize it, my hand reaches out and cups her cheek, and my thumb pulls her bottom lip free.

"You got this darlin'. Ipromise,I won't break you." Indy gives me a genuine smile before kissing my glove-covered palm.

"Uh oh…" Atlas gasps. "Indy has contaminated Derek's hand."

"Out!" I bark before turning and grabbing a new set of gloves.Isetback up on her stencil andlookat her."Ready?" Shetakes a breathand nods as I do a test line on her. Stopping the line, I look up at her. "You alright?"

She gives me a smile. "Yeah, let's do this."

"OH. MY. GOD!" Indy musters up all the energy she has and looks in the mirror. The piece isamazing, and mygodthe hotness factor. Nope, not now. Anyway, it looks beautiful, but the poor thing is exhausted. My girl sat like a fucking champ for six damn hours. The last hour wasbad. Every line made her whimper, and I wanted to stop, but she insisted I finish. Now, she sips on apple juice as all the men look at it while she stares in the mirror. "Derek, it's… Oh my god, it's beautiful!"

"Yeah, man," Ash nods his approval. "That's fucking killer." He slaps me on the back, which feels uncomfortable, but I let it go.

"Come on Darlin', let me bandage you up, and then I'll clean up and we can go." Indy stands while I place the SaniDerm over her tattoo before letting her go to put her shirt on.

"You did a great job," Fox says while cleaning up hisownstation.

I grunt while stuffing the garbage into the bin. "Not like it's my first tattoo."

"Well, could've fooled me the way you were acting." I glare at the man, though I know it's the truth. I was nervous as fuck while working on her. The tattoo ishuge. The placement is painful, and the thought of causing her pain guts me. But she took it better than most men I've tattooed. My tiny ball of sunshine really is a badass.

"How are you feeling?" I ask Indy while walking into her room. She's curled up in her bed under the covers with the tattoo flu. I forgot to warn her about it. It's common to feel run down and even have a slight fever after a big tattoo as your body tries to heal itself.

"Like crap," she whines as she looks at me. "Can I lay on your chest?" I ignore the quickening of my heart at her request. Nodding, I slip my shoes off and slide into bed.

"Noooo…Take your shirt off." I sit up and do as she asks before laying back down. "That's better. I like running my hand through your chest hair." While that seems like an odd thing for her to like, it does feel amazing, and I find it to be one of my favorite things she does, like everything else.

I stare at the TV, watching whatever sitcom she has on while she runs her fingers down my chest and abdomen, then back up. It's about to put my ass to sleep. It's so soothing.

"I can't wait for my surprise." Well, that woke me the fuck up.

"Oh, yeah?" I chuckle, shifting uncomfortably. "Why's that?" Indy leans over and presses her lips to my pec. "Fuck," I gasp as her tongue flicks over my nipple.

She giggles playfully. "Because I know you probably did somethingsuperawesome and thoughtful, and it'll be something I treasure forever."

I'm going to vomit, shit myself and then die. Fucking hell, I have no idea what to do. Awesome and thoughtful? Why's that something she'd assume coming from me? Wait…

My panic-filled eyes go back to her twinkling blues and… this fucking brat. "You know, don't you?" She bites her bottom lip, but the laugh forces its way out.

"Of course I do!" She giggles. "I never told you when my birthday was."

"I hate you so much rightnow." I growl out, but I can't help but laugh. Her happiness is so infectious."I am planning something for you, though," I say, stillnot sure what I'm going todo."But it's going to be after your birthday, fuck…" I shudder as her fingers slip into my waistband and her tongue dips into my belly button.

"I don't think you hate me." She smirks as she reaches with both hands and—holy shit! She and I stare at each other in shock before looking at my jeans, my unbuttoned jeans that she unbuttoned herself. "Oh my god," she smiles brightly. "I wanted to try, but I didn't think… Derek! I did it!" I smile and pull her to me, hugging her tightly.

"I knew you'd regain your hand strength; I'm so proud of you." I silently thank the universe for this because, honestly, I didn't know. This last relapse took her hand ability, and the girl has been trying so hard to regain mobility, but even picking up small items and buttons has seemed impossible. I grab her by her cheeks and kiss her softly, feeling light for the first timein a while. Not necessarily because she can work a button but because she feels light and happy.

And that's all I want.