Katana was right.
Cove has me all twisted up.
Apparently we can’t just show up at this bar tonight or we’ll be obvious. According to Bermuda during our FaceTime call after breakfast, we need to make a stop by a tattoo shop. A guy there named Wex is supposed to be our ticket to the bar. If we show up with him, it lets everyone else know we’re cool. Then we can get inside to where Corsetti is lying low. It sounds like a lot of extra goddamn steps if you ask me, when we could just wait for the fucker to emerge, but Koyn’s word is the law. He wants us to get our mark in the quiet, less messy way.
“Any good bars around here?” Nees asks the receptionist at the tattoo shop. “We’re passing through and wanted to get smashed tonight.”
The girl has a face full of piercings and tattoos that color every available inch of skin. She seems annoyed with Nees’s friendliness based on the way she rolls her eyes and smacks her gum.
“There’s a shit-kicker bar next door.” She smirks at him. “Not that you’re old enough to get in.”
Knowing we’ll never get anywhere with Nees leading the operation, I grab him by the back of his cut and drag him out of the way.
“I heard Empty Moon was a good place to get a drink.” I narrow my gaze at her. “And I’m thirsty.”
Her eyes narrow as she studies me. “You a cop or somethin’?”
Cove snorts. “Worse. He’s Batman.”
The girl peels her eyes from me to study Cove. “Blank canvas. Wex loves a virgin.”
Katana’s heat is behind me, calming the storm of irritation whipping inside me. I’m ready to reach across the counter and grab the girl by her nose ring if she doesn’t cut the coy shit soon.
“I’ve been wanting a tatt,” Cove says, shrugging.
Stormy would kill my ass if I let him get inked by some fuckface in OKC.
“No. Not here,” I grit out. “Unless you’re into shitty stick figures forever stained on your skin.”
The girl scoffs. “The only way you’re getting into Empty Moon is paying the price.”
Still not marking up the kid on my watch.
“Fine,” I snap. “He can ink me.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head. “Nope. You all get something done or you don’t go to Empty Moon.”
“Then we don’t go.” I nod my head toward the door. “We’re out.”
Cove pulls out his wallet and tosses some bills onto the counter. “I don’t want a shitty stick figure, but it said on your website he does piercings too.”
Her eyes gleam with delight. “Wex enjoys poking a virgin.”
I’m seriously going to kill this bitch.
“Cool,” Cove says, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ve been wanting to get my nipples pierced.”
Fiery heat chases away all the ice in my veins. My mind fixates on what Cove’s nipples would look like with metal piercing through the tender flesh. I can’t help but imagine the way they’d taste, too. A little salty like his personality, but sweet because he’s fucking soft.
“That settles it. I’ll get a room ready and call Wex in.” She sneers at me before disappearing into a back room.
Nees playfully punches Cove. “Your nipples? Kinky fucker. You think Nick is into that shit?”
Cove stiffens and scowls at Nees’s words. Someone hit a nerve. Just thinking about that douchebag from Stormy and Copper’s wedding has me fisting my hand, eager to smash the fuck out of something or someone.
“Nick’s married and straight,” Cove grumbles. “It’s not for anyone but me.”
And me.
I’m going to have the metal that’s attached to the bitchy boy between my teeth one day. My dick hardens painfully at the image. All thoughts of Cove’s naked body writhing beneath me vanish when a fat fucker with a long-ass gray beard waddles out of the backroom. Stains litter his once-white T-shirt and he brings with him the scent of greasy fast food. I’m revolted and would prefer to beat the hell out of the slobby fuckface to get answers and access to Empty Moon rather than letting him do work on us.
“I’ll do the virgin first,” Wex says, grinning at Cove.
I know he’s talking about piercing him, but the way he looks at him says something entirely different. Older men seem to lose their fucking sense around this kid. I want to choke the fucker, but Katana’s grip on the back of my neck prevents me from going apeshit.
Cove ignores Wex’s lascivious stare and gives him a nod. Wex shuffles into one of the side rooms, Cove right behind him. I shake off Katana’s hand to follow. The room isn’t that big, but I manage to squeeze into it, my attention solely on Cove. Irritation blazes in his blue eyes—hot and violent. It’s not far off from the look he gave me as our dicks rubbed together. I’m hard as hell in my jeans. Based on the slight pink color on Cove’s cheeks, I’d say he knows it too.