Chapter Three

~WTF~

I feel bad bringing Jimmy straight back to my place, where Emmett is waiting, but it seemed to be the only way to get rid of Rose. I live in an apartment above a record store a few blocks from Inkspiration. It's large and open with two bedrooms and a deck off the back.

Jimmy and I climb the back stairs to the deck. I expected Emmett to be waiting inside, but the lights are off, so I fish the key out of my pocket.

"That took a while." Emmett's voice comes from the corner of the deck. When I look his way, I can see a glint of light reflecting from his eyes, and now that my vision is adjusting, his hulking shape sitting in a chair.

"Fuck, Em! Why are you sitting there in the dark, like a creeper?"

Emmett tips a bottle to his lips, taking a strong pull. "I was just thinking, man. Sorry if I scared you. Jimmy, long time no see."

Jimmy laughs. "What are you drinking, and can I get some?"

"Beer. The fridge is stocked. Help yourself, and please bring me another."

I open the door and turn on the string lights that line the railing of the deck. They offer enough light to see by while keeping things low key. I flick the kitchen light on and throw my shit on the counter. Jimmy goes straight for the fridge and grabs beer for all of us.

The three of us sit on the deck and shoot the shit for an hour or so. Jimmy is vague about why he's moving here other than to say he's burned out and needs a change of scenery. His girlfriend is apparently more of a small-town girl and doesn't appreciate big city life.

"So tell us about the woman who captured Jimmy the Gigolo's heart." Emmett laughs.

"Fuck you, man!" Jimmy throws a bottle cap at him. "I met her at a florist. She was arranging flowers behind the counter. She got this cute little pucker between her eyebrows when something wasn't going together right. I couldn't resist her charms." He smiles, eyes unfocused as he loses himself in the memory.

"Guess she couldn't resist yours either!" Emmett leans forward and clinks bottles with Jimmy.

A jolt of envy burns through me, the same as it did with Alice and Jasper earlier. Don't get me wrong—I'm really happy for them, but I want to know when my turn is coming. Everyone around me seems to be settling down. A couple of our college buddies are already married and starting families. I'm twenty-seven, and I've never been in love. There comes a time when a man needs to stop messing around and find the right woman. Even Jimmy has. Part of me fears it will never happen for me, that something is broken inside me.

"Earth to Edward!" Jimmy snaps his fingers in front of me.

I swipe a palm over my face. "Sorry. Long day."

Jimmy turns his attention back to Emmett. "So, Ed tells me you've got the hots for Rosalie."

Emmett nods. "Sure do. I know I'm out of my league, but damn if she isn't the fairest of them all."

Jimmy smiles, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Listen—I can help you bag the babe. You follow my advice, and she'll be panting after you like a bitch in heat!"

The two of them enter into deep conversation, outlining Emmett's game plan. If it works, I just might let Jimmy help me out too, but first I need to find a candidate for Ms. Right.

oOo

My schedule is beyond full today. I sip a coffee while I look over the list of clients. I bring up Jasper and Emmett's schedules, which are at half-mast. This makes me cranky as fuck.

"Seth!" I bellow.

He rushes into my office. "Yeah, boss?"

I jab a finger at the computer screen. "The schedule for today is seriously unbalanced. Why?"

"A lot of people have been coming in asking for the Wizard of Ink. They don't want anyone else." Seth looks distressed and keeps clenching and unclenching a fist. "Sorry."

My forehead wrinkles in consternation. "People are actually using that name?" A lot of tattoo artists use monikers, but I prefer not to. I'm a fly-under-the-radar kind of guy and prefer to build my clientele through word of mouth. I admit when I first opened the shop, I did spread the word around that Wizard was now at Inkspiration. It brought in some much-needed business, but the shop is thrumming now, and I've been able to hover in the background the past two years.

"Yup."

"You screening them well?" When he nods, I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. "Well, I want to keep the schedule balanced, so fill us up evenly. If too many are requesting me, spread them out. Say I'm not available for a few weeks. Let them know Jasper or Emmett can squeeze them in."

"Um, boss?" Seth asks tentatively. He's young and hasn't built up much confidence yet.

"Yeah?"

"Just a suggestion. Maybe play up Jasper and Emmett in advertisements or flyers?"

I smile. "Not a bad idea. You want to make something up for me?"

"Sure!" Seth's eyes light up.

"Cool. And pull the intake sheets for today's clients. I'd like to take a look at them."

"You got it, boss!" Seth races away, obviously eager to start working on something creative. He's a talented artist, and when he's eighteen, it's my intention to make him an apprentice.

It would be unprofessional of me to cancel customers who are already scheduled, so I steel myself for the day ahead.

When Seth brings me the intake sheets, I flip through them to look at the "how did you hear about us" section. The majority say Wizard of Ink's Instagram. Inkspiration has an Instagram account, which features the shop and shows pics of our work, but I don't have my own account. I bring up the app on my phone and do a search.

What. The. Fuck.

~*oOo*~

A/N: Thanks for joining me on this bumpy ride. You guys have a lot of opinions about Jimmy! Love reading all the thoughts and theories. See you next Saturday!

Huge thanks to my awesome betas, SassySue (chayasara) and Wendy (wmr1601), for wielding the sparkly reds and fixing my flaws. Wendy made the banner for this story. You must check it out!

I've heard notifications aren't going out to a lot of people. Princess updated this week. I appreciate and treasure every single review. If you post anonymously, I can't respond!

Animal was featured on the TLS Sneak Peek on September 24th. Hop on over there if you want to read a teaser from future chapters. And I must thank the ladies at TLS for featuring many of my stories in their What We're Reading feature! Animal was up there this week! Mwah!

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