Page 50 of Business Casual
“I need something better to do. Come on, Nova. Please? My life is falling apart, and this would make me happy. I promise not to set you up with a loser.”
“Your life is not falling apart,” I murmur. I scroll through my email without seeing a single thing. “And I told you. I don’t have time for a relationship right now.”
I’m stretched thin enough. I cannot make myself available for another human being. Relationships require work, time, and emotional availability. I am equipped for exactly none of those things at this point in my life.
The casual sex I had last night is all the intimacy I need.
I think of Charlie with his hand between my legs, and my entire body flushes hot.
“Fine,” she pouts. “Can I have a tattoo, then?”
I’m getting whiplash from this conversation. Nessa has never once expressed an interest in having a tattoo. “Of what?”
“Maybe some ballet slippers?” She traces two fingers along the inside of her arm. “Right here?”
I close my laptop with a frown. “You’re serious?”
She nods, eyes misty. “There were strict regulations about tattoos in competition, but I figure I’m not competing anymore. And everyone else in the family has your work. It’s about time I do too.”
“Ness.” I wander my way over to her and nudge her with my hip.I collapse on the tattoo table next to her and hope to god it holds us both up. I can’t afford a new one. “Did you make a decision?”
She nods and wipes her hand under her eyes. “Yeah. I formally dropped out of the competition circuit. I don’t even know why I’m crying. I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
I prop my chin against her shoulder. “Because it’s a big change. And Nathan kind of forced your hand.”
She sighs. “Nathan sucks.”
“Yes, he does.”
“I’ll probably let you key his car.”
“Excellent. I’ll let Beckett know. He had some ideas.”
Vanessa shifts to look at me. “You told Beckett?”
“It may have been discussed in the sibling chat.”
“The sibling chat?” She narrows her eyes at me. “Is there a sibling chat I’m not a part of?”
There are multiple sibling chats with rotating members depending on who we’re talking about. I’m sure there’s a sibling chat that I’m not a part of.
“I’ll give you a tattoo,” I deflect. “But it can’t be today.”
Nessa frowns. “Why not?”
“Because I want to think about what I’m going to draw, and I want you to think about it for more than ten seconds.”
“Did Beckett think about any of his for longer than ten seconds?”
“No.” But I’m older and wiser now, and I’m trying not to depend on my siblings for things. Beckett invested a lot in me when I was younger, more than I deserved. I’m not going to make that mistake again. “I also have someone coming in for an interview in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Oh. That’s fair. I guess you don’t want my bare ass on your table when someone walks in.”
“Bare ass? I thought you said you wanted it on your arm.”
“It’s a developing situation.”
I leverage myself up and off the chair. Nessa stays sprawled across it.
