Page 11 of Joey's Trick
“Aww, gross!” Anthony shouted. “I don’t wanna hear about my baby brother and the dude he’s banging.”
Joey couldn’t stop the full belly laughter he fell into from Anthony’s reaction. “Just remember that the next time you try to share details about you and your girlfriends.”
“Hey, there better not be any other girlfriends,” Veronica said, her brows drawn.
Anthony grabbed Veronica, tugging her close. “Just you, baby.”
“Let’s finish this,” Joey said. “Next point wins.”
He glanced at Trick, giving him a nod, and tossed the ball at him. Joey’s shirt stuck to his skin from the sweat. Without thinking, he yanked it over his head, tossing it aside, and he crouched slightly, watching Trick intently.
“Holy shit, Joey!”
Anthony caught Joey off guard and Joey straightened, frowning. “What?”
Then the realization of what he’d done sank in. Fuck. He hadn’t wanted his family to see how many tattoos he had. Especially his mom. They knew about the ones on his bicep and they’d obviously seen the other one on his calf this morning. Surprisingly, his mom had said nothing about it. Groaning, he rolled his eyes as Anthony moved around him to look at the various tattoos he had.
There was a tattoo of a snarling wolf on his left pectoral and another of a dragon on his right. His calf sported another with thick lines much like his bicep. But the one on his back, he’d wanted to hide that one from both his family and Trick. The one spread across his shoulders was the words “Never Again” and beneath was a warrior angel, wings spread, spear raised, standing on the impression of a man beneath him. Radiating lines to show the light he’d stepped into as he defeated his demons. He’d gotten it as a promise to himself to never let another push him to the brink again.
An intake of breath caught Joey’s attention, and he looked at Trick. He did a double take. He could almost swear he saw lust in Trick’s gaze. Trick came closer and reached up to touch the one on his back. A shudder raced down Joey’s spine. The calloused fingers tracing over the lines of the angel. “Did you design this?” Trick asked, his voice husky.
He had. In the hospital where he’d awakened to find himself still alive after he’d sliced his wrist. The pain had been so great, he’d passed out with the first wrist, never getting to the second one. His college roommate had found him, called the ambulance and stemmed the flow until they arrived. The only reason his family hadn’t found out was because Joey was over eighteen and he’d insisted he didn’t want them to be contacted.
Shrugging, Joey nodded. “I’ve got tattoos, no big deal. Let’s finish the game.” He felt uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on him, not to mention Trick’s touch.
They continued the game, but he felt Anthony’s attention on him more than once. There was no way in hell Anthony hadn’t realized the words on his shoulders meant something. Joey scored the last point, tossed the ball at Anthony, and without a word, strode into the ocean. Emotions he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in a long time swamped him. He went out several yards, then turned parallel to the shore to begin a breaststroke. Less than forty-eight hours and he’d already revealed more than he ever intended when he’d come home. Losing himself in the mindless exercise, Joey swam close to the pier before swimming back to where he’d entered.
4
Seated on the blanket, Anthony, Veronica, and Trick accepted drinks and sandwiches from his mom. Joey exited the water, grabbed his shirt, pulled it on, and took a seat on the blanket close to his dad.
Thankfully, Anthony sensed Joey wouldn’t want to discuss anything in front of their mother, so he didn’t ask. “You picked up some skills in your time in Orlando. When you left, you could never make it past me.”
Joey gave a smirk he didn’t feel. “It’s been seven years, Ant. More practice.”
“Surprised you’ve had time with how busy you’ve been,” he said.
He knew that was a dig at not coming home sooner. “Usually after work. No weekends in my line of business.”
Of course, that was bullshit. He had plenty of days to do what he wanted, but coming home and possibly seeing the one man who’d broken him definitely wasn’t what he’d wanted. He accepted a sandwich and a can of soda from his mom. While the four of them relaxed on the blanket, his mother and father went for a quick swim in the ocean. Joey smiled when he saw the way his dad still cared for his mom, making sure she didn’t getknocked over by some kids running around or holding her hand as they entered the water.
“How long did you think you could hide the tattoos from us?”
Joey mentally sighed. His peace had lasted all of sixty seconds. “I didn’t want mom to freak out. You saw how she was at the house about my arm. Can you imagine my back? I’m surprised she didn’t say anything about the one on my leg this morning.”
“Is that all it is?” Anthony asked, brow raised.
“Why else?” Joey said.
“Did they hurt?” Veronica asked.
“Not that bad. Certain areas hurt more than others.” Then Joey slipped up in a way he wanted to slap himself for. “The one on my inner wrist hurt the most really. Guess it’s a more sensitive area.”
“Your inner wrist?” Trick interjected, frowning while looking at Joey’s left wrist, which was blank.
Joey flinched. The black band covered it. Even going into the water, he hadn’t removed the band. “Uh, yeah. I keep it covered when meeting clients and, of course, my mom.”
Veronica didn’t let it go at that, though. “Can we see it? I’ve thought about getting one but I didn’t know if I could handle the pain.”