Chapter 55

Gavin’s breath is hot and ticklish along Brody’s collar bone. “Why do you say that?”

“Some people aren’t big fans of guys with a lot of tattoos.” Then, as if he has to remind Gavin, he adds, “I have a lotof tattoos.”

“Oh, please.” Gavin kisses Brody’s ear, then traces the curve of Brody’s jaw with his nose. “Marian won’t care about that. She even has a tattoo herself.”

Despite the darkness, Brody turns toward Gavin and frowns. “You’re serious?”

“It’s a little cat curled up on her hip,” Gavin explains. One hand dips beneath the covers to touch Brody high up on his leg, then the fingers curl in towards his crotch. “Right about here. Above the panty line, but only just. Before Evie was born, she was a bit of a party animal, and that was one of her pick-up lines.”

“‘I have a cat tattoo?’” Brody asks, dubious.

Gavin laughs. “No. She’d pop open the button on her jeans and inch down her zipper and say, ‘Want to see my pussy?’”

Brody snickers. “Okay, yeah, I can see how that would work.”

“She’s a really cool lady,” Gavin says. “She is. We used to be…well, I wouldn’t say great friends, but we got along. When she got pregnant, I thought I’d do the honorable thing and stay with her. At the time neither of us wanted anything too serious, but having a kid makesit serious. I mean, how much moreserious could it be?”

Kissing Gavin’s chin, Brody murmurs, “So things didn’t work out between you.”

“They wouldn’t have anyway,” Gavin tells him. “We’re too different. She still likes to drink and party and have a good time, and I’m more settled down now. And, well…”

“You’re gay,” Brody says softly.

Gavin’s lips find his in the dark. “I love you. I never loved her, even when we were fooling around, and having a baby didn’t change that. I love Evie, yes, but Marian? I was living a lie when I was with her, and she knows it. Hell, she was lying, too. Neither of us wanted to admit it. So we started to resent each other, and by the time I moved out, things were pretty bad between us.”

“I’m surprised you managed to get partial custody,” Brody murmurs. “I hear the court always favors the mother.”

“We didn’t go to court,” Gavin says. “We didn’t have to. I’m more than willing to pay for anything my daughter needs, and Marian knows it. Plus it helps that Evie’s high-maintenance. I mean, I love her to death, but she takes a lot out of you. She can be exhausting.”

Brody grins. “She’s okay in small doses.”

“The only time Marian gets a break is when I take her,” Gavin explains. “On weekends mostly while she’s at school, but now that it’s summer, we’ll have her sometimes during the week, too. Which is why Marian wants to meet you. She knows we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and she wants to make sure she’s comfortable with Evie hanging around you.”

“And you think meeting me is going to set aside all her fears?” Brody asks, skeptical.

Gavin kisses him. “It’ll make her feel better, yes. And when she starts dating someone, I’ll put the poor son of a bitch through the same ringer.”

“Why doesn’t that make mefeel better?” Brody muses.

“Don’t worry, she’ll love you,” Gavin promises. “How can she not? Evie and I both do.”

43

Brody has a lot to keep him busy, between finishing up the skate shop in Carytown, a new graffiti-style project to spruce up the side of a storefront downtown, and the commissions he picked up at the art show. Also, a couple of guys opening a new tattoo parlor want him to help fill up the flash books with fresh designs. So his days are spent hunched over a sketchbook, his fingers cramping as he draws, and his evenings are spent canoodling with Gavin after his lover gets off work. They take in a movie one night, but most of the time Gavin stops by Brody’s to pick him up and they go out for a bite to eat before retiring to Gavin’s apartment. Brody has his own stash of clothes and toiletries there, in the same dresser drawer as Evie’s things.

The whole thing with Marian completely slips his mind until Friday at five o’clock, when Gavin knocks on the front door instead of beeps his horn from the street. Brody answers, but doesn’t see Gavin’s car. “Hey, babe.” He gives Gavin a quick kiss, eyes open as he scans the street. “You want to come on up?”

“No, I thought we’d take Marian up on her offer,” Gavin says.