Free Hand by E. M. Lindsey

Author:E. M. Lindsey [Lindsey, E. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

***

When Derek walked into the shop Saturday morning, he was humming with nerves. He’d already had his first coffee meet-up with Basil where they’d gone over the basics of what he knew, and they’d even managed a simple conversation by the end of the night. It might have consisted solely of talking about family members and what he was studying at the university, but it was still progress. And he got to see that look on Basil’s face—the quiet smile filled with something a little deeper than pride—that made him want to do anything to keep it there.

Today, he would start Basil’s piece. They’d switched to paper to discuss it, and Basil had carefully explained, using more written words than he usually did, the meaning behind the flower. Was it coincidence or irony that one of the most captivating blossoms Derek had ever seen was something Basil’s mother had used to show her son that he was special? He could never figure those two words out, but what he did know was that it was important. That it meant something for him to get it right.

Basil had decided he wanted an entire forearm piece—more than just the flower, but he wanted Derek to design it, to come up with something that spoke to them both. It was a lot of pressure—and as an artist, it was his dream job. Not only to have the freedom, but the trust of the person in front of him to get it right.

His heart had been beating in his throat all morning, and his nerves took the place of his need for coffee. He was running on pure adrenaline as he stepped in through the back door and walked through to the main lobby, and he was ready to get settled in when he saw a familiar face in his brother’s stall.

Derek felt a small pang of betrayal when his eyes locked with Niko’s. The guy was leaning on Sage’s bench, and the two of them were bent over his ankle, discussing what looked like a very old, faded lion’s head right near his calf.

The silence and tension were almost tangible between them, then Niko cleared his throat and lowered his gaze. “Derek. Hey.”

Derek pursed his lips, looked over at his brother, but he didn’t see guilt, only a little awkward hesitation. “Hey,” he finally said.

“I swear I didn’t know you were coming in,” Niko rushed to explain. “I sort of surprised Sage—I figured if it was early enough, I’d miss you, and it wouldn’t be weird.”

“It’s fine,” Derek said a little tensely. He glanced at the clock and felt profound gratitude that Basil wasn’t coming in for another couple of hours. He turned his back away from Sage and pulled out his sketch pad. He’d been working on a few design ideas, but Basil was set on the entire thing being drawn fresh, on his skin. Derek had only done a couple of those, and only on Sage and Mat. He wanted to

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