Clang(9)

Their waiter took their drink orders. Jackson and Chase quickly picked their meals to order at the same time.

Once the waiter left, Chase looked back at Jackson. "But, no, kind of the style of an old-fashioned fencing sword, I guess?"

"Ahh. Foil? Sabre? I can't do everything," Jackson warned.

"I don't have a particular style in mind. I know it's not competition-legal."

"I can't do those either."

"Right, right. I just want something to... I don't know, make me feel a  bit safer. If I can bring it to some medieval festival someday, so much  the better. But something I can display and... know I have around."

Jackson looked at him oddly for a moment before he nodded. "Well, I want a family tattoo done."

Aww, he's sweet. I hope he doesn't regret that, though. "Oh, family  tattoos aren't always a good idea," Chase laughed under his breath. "So  many people wind up getting laser removal when they have family fights."

"I'm not fuckin' doing that," Jackson answered, his voice much sharper than Chase expected.

Chase flinched hard.

Instantly, Jackson frowned an apology. He reached out with an open hand  across the table to touch his arm. When he touched him, Chase's nerves  crackled with pleasure. "Sorry, man. No, I didn't mean that at you."

"No, sorry," Cameron murmured. "I hit a nerve...?"

Jackson hesitated before he nodded. "I want it as a family thing... before my brother's heart surgery."

Now Chase felt like crap. His eyes widened. "Is it Cam?"

"Yep."

Chase winced. No matter how he felt about family, he ached for Jackson.  He could see why Jackson was touchy. "Shit. I'm sorry. That has to be  stressful."

"It... It hasn't been easy." Jackson looked a little more raw than Chase  had seen him  –  like he'd looked when he talked about online dating.  "It's called CPVT, have you heard of it?" Chase shook his head. "Well,  it's a bit rarer. They took months to diagnose it because it usually  shows up way earlier. I mean, occasionally you get older people  diagnosed. Apparently it's usually after they go into cardiac arrest. In  the States, I'm sure they would've diagnosed it in days. But because  the public health system in Canada is--"

"--shit," Chase chimed in, nodding his agreement. "Oh yeah."

"It took a really good specialist and he had to go back to Ontario in July, middle of his work season..."

Jackson's passion about his brother made Chase smile with familiarity.  If any doctor tried to fuck over his little brother... but he didn't  have a say in that anymore. Not the moment. This is about Jackson, not  me.

Jackson cut himself off, then cleared his throat. "Anyway, they know  what he needs now. They think it won't have a lot of risk, but... he  kinda doesn't have a choice."

The waiter came back with their drinks. Chase took a good few gulps of  beer to wash out the bitter taste of regret for his ill-timed joke.  Then, he leaned forward again. "Sorry I said that."

Jackson seemed to have to think for a moment to remember. "What? Oh, no,  I shouldn't have snapped. I get a little defensive about the people I  care about. But you're right, overall. Like, boyfriends' names and stuff  are stupid."

Chase laughed at the honesty. "Well... yeah, I think so, but I'll do  them if they've been together for decades or something. That's  different."

"You can know you want to spend your life with someone in weeks, though."

It was Chase's turn to feel hot under the collar. He tugged it a little  as he sipped his beer, then shook his head. "You can think you know  them."

"But if you both have the same approach to a relationship..."

"Like knowing that they told you the truth about themselves? What if  they were lying?" This wasn't even an argument, oddly enough. Chase  hadn't had a passionate discussion that wasn't a shouting fight in  forever.

Jackson was sitting up straight, too. He looked much less stressed and  livelier now. "Well, if they weren't deceiving you about the kind of  person they are. I mean, if they clearly want to work to grow the  relationship and be honest from the start..."

"Well, yeah, but they could just be... I don't know, tricking you."

Jackson furrowed his brow. "How? By saying they want to be real and then... not being real?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Jackson hummed and leaned back in his chair. His lips pursed, and Chase  watched them without meaning to. "Yeah, I see your point. But  –  I dunno.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt."

He was sweet all over, then. Chase just hoped not too many guys would  take advantage of him while he was dating. Speaking of which...         

     



 

"Have you met anyone from online?"

"Nah, not yet," Jackson shook his head. "I haven't been looking. I don't  know, I just think it's weird. Like, how would I know if I'm going to  click with someone and have conversations like this on our first date or  not?"

Chase felt heat flush to his cheeks. He was being used as an example of  someone who clicked with Jackson? Something about that made his heart  flutter in a familiar way that he hadn't felt in a long time. Was it  possible Jackson thought he was hot, too?

No way... He's always been a gentleman. Wait. Unless that's just the way he is...

Chase leaned forward a little, but he didn't have the balls to follow  through on the response he wanted to give. Instead, he answered, "You  try it out just to see."

I... I wouldn't mind trying him out. Just to see.

Chase drained the rest of his beer, his gaze sliding to their food order  that was now arriving. That made for an easy subject change, at least.

They lapsed into comfortable conversation for dinner. Jackson agreed to  come over tomorrow evening after the tattoo shop closed. They'd talk  then about the services they wanted to trade.

Chase couldn't get that sudden thought out of his mind the whole time, even as he waved goodbye.

Why was Jackson suddenly catching his eye in a way he hadn't thought  possible? He had to stop thinking about his friends like this.





Chapter 12


Jackson


"Hey, Chase. How's it goin'?"

Was that too casual? Or too flirty? Was he too early? Jackson tried to  stop his mind from wandering and worrying over what he was doing seeing  Chase again so soon. He was definitely not interested in Chase, right?  Not if Chase wasn't interested in him...

The way Chase smiled at him in greeting made him wonder. His body warmed  up as Chase's brown eyes lit up at the sight of him. Chase unfolded his  arms and straightened up from where he leaned against the counter. "Hi!  Good, you?" His smile was so cute.

"Great, thanks. This too early?"

"No, no. It's usually slow for the last bit. People don't come in to get  work done right before closing. Just to book appointments, if that."

Jackson nodded and approached the counter, setting his sketchbook down on it. "So, ready to go over what we're looking for?"

"Yeah. Hold on, let me grab my book." Chase stepped into the back  office. In the meantime, Jackson flipped through the photo albums on the  counter.

One was labelled Floyd and one Teri, but there wasn't one for Chase.  Were these the tattooists? When Chase returned, Jackson pointed them  out. "None for you?"

Chase's eyes flickered up to Jackson's, his shoulders rising. The  defensive moment was gone as fast as that before he pointed to his arms.  "There's my portfolio."

Jackson laughed. "I bet you use that line a lot."

"I do, yeah," Chase joined in the laugh. He came around the counter to stand next to Jackson, flipping his own sketchbook open.

"Can I check them out, then?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." Chase leaned his hip on the counter and offered  his arm, turning it this way and that. Jackson sidled closer, trying not  to brush too close to him.

A lion stood proud on one arm, its every contour rippling with majesty.  It blended into a rippling series of dusky blue and lavender clouds,  then pale red roses. Further down, towards Chase's wrist, thorny green  branches were entwined with the roses.

On Chase's other arm, a peacock spread its wings in flight. The tail  feathers wrapped intricately around his elbow all the way down to his  wrist. The same dusky blue and lavender clouds set it off in the  background.

Just as when they'd first met, Jackson marveled over the smooth swirls  of that style. "Wow," Jackson murmured. "That's... that's really  detailed. Did you do all this?"

"I had to get some people to help me fill in a few bits and hold mirrors  and stuff. Some spots were an ordeal," Chase laughed. "But most of it."

"I'd like that kind of style on mine, and those kinds of colors."

"All right. Well, we'll talk about it," Chase agreed. "Do you have any concepts?"

Jackson shook his head. "Just some rough ideas." He flipped through his  book in search of them. It was always risky to flip through a  sketchbook, though. He tried to flip past certain pages quickly.