Page 94 of Rock Giant

Jodi bristled at his accusatory tone.The way he said it made it sound like a planned excursion, and it hadn’t been.

“The guy’s proper inked up.Best person to consult if you’re looking to get some ink of your own,” Balin said.

Thank you, Balin.

Nash glared at him.

“What?It’s who I’d consult if I was looking to get some ink done.”

“Do you now have matching tattoos?”Nash asked, ignoring Balin’s attempts to dial the level of tension down.

“We bumped into one another.I don’t know what you’re implying, but there wasn’t anything untoward about it.I went to get the stuff you all wanted from the shop, and he was kind enough to point me the right way.”

“And after picking up some johnnies and snacks you thought, ‘Hey, let’s go get inked together’.”

“Yeah… Sorta… No.I told you.I went to the park.”

Nash scratched his nose.“With him?”

She was too shit at lying to even attempt to say otherwise.Not that it should’ve been necessary.She hadn’t done anything wrong.She was allowed to hang out with her friends.But Nash levelled her with the sort of stink eye her father had been a master of.He’d look at her that way whenever she rolled home after curfew—a decidedly arbitrary time that was never communicated—before accusing her of being a little prossie, and telling her he’d throw her out, or worse if she ever dared to come home with a bun in her belly.And where the fuck was his tea?

Back then, she’d beenfar too busy borrowing cars to concern herself with mucking around with any of the racer boys she knew, and she’d not been their cup of tea, anyway.They all rode with skinny chicks.

Rock Giant was different.There was attraction there.Attraction that ran both ways, but so what.She was also attracted to Lee, sometimes got gooey over Rune’s beautiful soul, and indulged in celebrity crushes on members of both sexes and a few non-binary ones.She wasn’t about to get off with any of them, because she wasn’t a cheat.

“I suppose he’s got a matching cat tattoo now?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

Nash gave a dismissive snort.

Jez sat, throwing off the jacket.“You sound jealous, Nash.What’s the matter?Not feeling too secure?Worried she’s going to dump your scrawny arse?Considering the way you treat her, she fucking ought to.”

Her fiancé lurched to his feet.“The way I treat her!”

“Like chattel,” Jez retorted.

“Shut the fuck up.Like you wouldn’t ask questions if your fiancée had spent the afternoon with another guy.”

“But I don’t have one,” Jez said, his lips curling into a cruel sneer as he held Nash’s gaze.

“Guys, enough.”Balin inserted himself between them.“Sit down, Nash.Quit provoking him, Jez.Jo, what ink did Rock Giant get?”

“A Celtic knot,” she replied.The truth.

“See, not even vaguely the same.So, can we just can the pointless squabbling?”

Brian stuck his head around the door.“An hour thirty until show time, boys.We all good?”

“Fabulous, Brian,” Balin said, conjuring up a convincing we’re all delightfully untroubled expression.

The minute their tour manager left, Balin snatched the jacket from Jez’s lap and stalked towards the door.“I’m going to go hang somewhere else… find some chill.”

Jez catapulted off the sofa and followed him.

There was no need for Jodi to speculate about what they intended to do.Find some girls.

Willing girls.