Page 40 of For You I'd Mend
Aries nodded. “You do any of yours?”
I held up the Xs on my hands. I had half a dozen more I’d done myself, including the Omega with Logan’s name, but the Xs told him the most about me.
“You did both your hands?” he asked, his eyebrows raising in disbelief.
“I’m ambidextrous,” I said as the bell rang to announce a client entering the waiting room.
“No shit,” he said. “You’re the first one of those I’ve met. I can’t imagine being able to use both hands the same.”
“It’s why he’s such a good art teacher. He can switch depending on who he’s teaching.”
If every muscle in my body tensed at the sound of her voice, they knotted as I watched Aries scan Poppy up and down. His eyes, which had looked a little bored while we talked, sparked to life. He flashed her a huge smile. “Good morning, how can I help you?”
I’m not sure what my face did, but he stepped back and held up his hands. “My bad, man. Seriously, no disrespect. Must happen all the time though, right?”
I braced myself and turned. Poppy had added a green streak to her hair that sharpened her moss-colored eyes to jade. Her shirt draped artfully off one shoulder, showing the strap of whatever black lacy thing she wore underneath. I swallowed, hard.
After Rose, Chris, and Rowan left yesterday, Cal and Aiden gave me enough shit about my conversation with Poppy to stinkup Maple and Sullivan Streets. But it had to be done. Even if part of me had wanted to follow her into the kitchen and beg her to forget everything I’d just said. I’d planned to stay in the studio until I felt confident I wouldn’t. If Lauren hadn’t left, I’m not sure how long I’d have been there. But what I’d told Poppy was the truth. We could never be more than friends.
“What must happen all the time?” Poppy asked.
“Other guys checking out his girl.”
Poppy shook her head. “We’re just friends.”
I’d be lying if I said I was relieved she sounded relaxed. A selfish part of me wanted her to be angry or even hurt, which basically proved I was not, and would never be, good enough for her.
“In that case,” Aries said, stepping right into my space to stick his hand toward Poppy. “I’m Aries.” She took one of her hands from the bakery boxes in her arms and shook his. He gave her delicate fingers two squeezes before he dropped them.
“A-r-i-e-s,” I said.
“Poppy,” she said. “I’m an Aries.”
Her cheeks pinked, and my stomach plummeted to my boots. Was she flirting with him?
“I bet you are,” Aries said. “I know a badass when I see one.”
Poppy laughed. “Hardly. I’m here to deliver baklava and conquer my New Year’s resolution to get over my fear of needles.”
“You want a tattoo?” I asked. Poppy’s gorgeous skin was a blank canvas I’d been dying to work with from the moment she walked into my life. If offering her body for me to ink was her idea of punishing me, she’d nailed it.
The pink in her cheeks deepened. “Maybe. For now, I’m just trying to be in the same room with a needle and not faint.” She lifted her chin toward the station where Max continued to work,his needle buzzing a deeper pitch each time it connected with skin.
I reached for her instinctively. She responded by stepping back.
“I’m good. I’ll tell you if I start to feel dizzy.”
My chest tightened. She appeared cool and collected, but I could tell I’d hurt her, and she needed me to keep my distance.
“Hey, every journey begins with the first step,” Aries said, taking a step closer to Poppy. “I’m starting one today too. I’m apprenticing with Max, so maybe by the time you’re ready for ink, I can give it to you.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said and smiled. She fucking smiled.
“Are those for me?” I asked, pointing to the Red Blossoms boxes.
“Yeah, Rowan went a little crazy with the zests. One is orange. The other is lemon. She cut one into triangles and the other into squares, but she made me swear not to tell you which was which. Try them out and let her know the shape you like best.”
“Thanks, Poppy,” I said taking the boxes. “But she shouldn’t base her recipe on what I think.”
