1
James
The bell above the shop door jingled a chipper little melody that wasn’t nearly enough to stop the malevolent force that swept into my waiting room. I didn’t even have to look up to know it was Shan. I’d know the click of those expensive Italian loafers anywhere, tapping impatiently on the polished concrete like he’d been waiting for hours.
Ryan could deal with it. Shan was his boyfriend’s brother, not that the two omegas shared any resemblance save for their gray eyes. Kellan blended in perfectly with the shop clientele with his blue-streaked blond hair, tattered jeans, extensive ink and piercings. He didn’t look like most omegas at first glance, but he was sweet as pie underneath the piercings and eyeliner.
Shan, on the other hand…
He was just a first-year law student who carried himself like the king of England. To be fair, his good looks probably ensured everyone had treated him like it for the last twenty-three years. His long ash-blond hair complemented his beautiful face, with thick eyelashes that made him look deceptively bashful at times, and full pink lips that my gaze lingered a bit too long on if I wasn’t careful.
Of course, he didn’t have a single tat or piercing. He’d made no secret of how “low-class” he found the minor body modifications his brother used to express himself. I’d never seen Shan in anything other than a three-piece suit, with the exception of the preppy country club gear he wore to his family’s vacation home.
I just shook my head and went back to the linework on my client’s shoulder piece. It was his third sitting, but he kept tapping out, so there was probably going to be a fourth. It was always the big, burly alphas. Meanwhile, I had omegas who looked like they could be blown over with a mild wind who didn’t even blink for a six-hour session. If there was one thing I’d learned during my thirteen years as a tattoo artist, it was to never judge a book by its cover.
Unfortunately, I’d peeled back enough of Shan’s pages to know there really wasn’t that much inside them, either.
It took all of two minutes for him to start banging on the bell at the desk. I tried to ignore it, but James wasn’t answering even though I knew he wasn’t with a client right now. When it became a distraction, I yelled, “Just a minute!”
Must’ve yelled a little louder than I thought, because my client jumped, which would’ve been bad if I hadn’t taken the needle off his skin just in case.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta deal with this. You good with a short break?” I asked, touching his other shoulder.
“Sure,” he said with a shrug he was trying hard to pass off as nonchalant. The relief in his eyes gave him away, though.
I put my machine down on the tray, peeled off my gloves, and went out to find Shan standing in the middle of the lobby looking like he was late for court with a striking gray suit that showcased his tall, lithe build. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail that kind of gave him an angry librarian vibe, combined with the new black glasses.
It really was a shame he was such a dick, because he was hands down the hottest person I’d ever seen, omega or otherwise.
“Can I help you?” I asked without bothering to hide the irritation in my voice. Just because he didn’t see what I did as work didn’t mean he could just waltz in and treat my place of business like his personal playground.
He looked me over with that appraising gaze that seemed more automatic than voluntary, and the downward turn of his lips said he found me lacking, as usual. Or maybe he was just disappointed it was me instead of my brother.
“Where’s James?” he asked in his usual clipped tone. He and Kellan had the same faint British accent since they'd moved to Boston with their parents in grade school, but Shan always sounded snooty while Kellan’s voice was soft and gentle.
“He’s in the back,” I said, jerking my head toward the curtain separating the waiting room from the back hallway. “Why don’t you go find him instead of banging on the bell like a child?”
His eyes narrowed, turning to liquid metal. “Excuse me?”
“I think I was pretty clear,” I said, folding my arms to match his stance. “You do know this is a place of business, right?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, the beaded curtain really gives it away.”
I just snorted, holding it back because I knew it would get under his skin. “After you.”
He glowered at me, but he passed through, probably because he didn’t want any cooties getting on him. I walked back to Ryan’s station, assuming he just had his headphones in while he was drawing up new designs, as usual. When I saw the station was empty and all his stuff was put away for the day, I paused.
“Huh.”
“Where is he?” Shan demanded, looking around the room as if I was hiding my brother behind a trunk or something.
“How the hell should I know?”
“He’s your brother, and co-owner of this ‘business,’” he said, putting a hand on his hip.
“Yeah, well, I don’t have him chipped. What do you want, anyway?”
Shan pursed his lips and stared at me for a few moments, like he didn’t want to answer. Why the hell that was, I had no idea, but I wanted to get back to work.
“Well?” I pressed.
“I have an appointment,” he said through his teeth.
I kept waiting for him to say something else that would make sense of those four words, but that context never came. “I’m sorry, you have a what?”
His eyes flashed in irritation. He was even prettier when he was angry, somehow. Unfortunately for the world, that was almost all the time.
“I have an appointment,” he said, drawing his words out like I was having trouble understanding.
“For a tattoo?” I asked in disbelief.
“What the hell else would it be for?” he hissed. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was blushing.
“Forgive me, but you’ve been shitting on my entire profession from the day we met, so it’s a little hard to believe,” I snorted, reaching into my pocket for my phone. “Chill. I’ll text him.”
I was surprised Shan didn’t already have his number, but I guessed James tried to avoid him as much as I did. I shot him a short text.
Bro, where the fuck are you? Your boyfriend’s evil twin is throwing a tantrum at the shop.
He usually replied right away, and it wasn’t like him to miss an appointment, so I was getting slightly concerned. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Shan wandering around, eyeing the various pieces of art framed on the wall. When I looked up, he was grimacing at a Lovecraftian sea serpent wrapped around a skull.
“I’ll never understand why anyone would want such morbid ‘art’ on their skin.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” I said, deciding not to give him the fodder he wanted. When Ryan finally texted back, I was at once relieved and irritated.
Oh, shit! I forgot that was today. He didn’t fill out the online form so it wasn’t in my schedule.
Well, that figured. Shan had to make everything as difficult as possible. I texted back, How soon can you get here?
He started writing back immediately, then stopped, so I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.