Covet Thy Neighbor

cough. “Uh, before I forget, there’s a move-in discount.” I nodded toward the artwork on the wall. “First tattoo is on the house.”
    Darren grimaced. “Oh. No. I don’t do needles.”
    “Or tattoos,” Chris grumbled.
    Darren eyed him. “The needle kinda negates that part.”
    Chris started to say something more, but a pointed look from his brother shut him up.
    “Well, damn.” I sighed. “That’s usually how I get to know my new neighbors.”
    “Is it, now?” Darren asked.
    “It gets them in a chair for a conversation, anyway,” I said. “Assuming they can handle the pain.”
    Darren shuddered. “I’ll pass, but thanks for the offer. We’ll just have to find another way to get to know each other.”
    The boldness of the statement startled me. Probably because I immediately read way too much into it.
    I met his eyes, and he grinned, and it was one of those little yeah, I’m flirting right back grins. Read way too much into it, my ass. One eyebrow rose so slightly I was probably the only one in the shop who noticed, but it was more than enough to fuck up my balance. And he was going to be living across the hall from me? Right then and there, I gave it a week before he smiled at me or something and I ended up tripping over my own feet and going down the stairs on my ass.
    And we were still staring at each other.
    I broke eye contact and cleared my throat. “So are you new to the area? Like, just new to this part of Tucker Springs? Just moved here from another planet?”
    Darren shifted his weight and glanced at Chris, but then smiled again—and damn, it seemed forced this time—as he said, “I just moved here from Tulsa.” He gestured at his brother. “He’s been here a few years and suggested it, so here I am.”
    “Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting you to move into this part of town. Especially . . .” Chris scowled, giving the shop a sweeping look of obvious disapproval. “Are you sure you want to live on top of a place like this?”
    “Don’t worry,” I said with a dismissive wave. “The Light District is totally quiet and safe. And as for living above a tattoo shop? All that nonsense you’ve heard about ink fumes bringing gremlins to life and causing buildings to teleport into parallel dimensions? Nothing more than unproven pseudoscience.”
    Darren laughed, but his less-than-amused brother said, “I’m more concerned about the people who hang around tattoo shops.”
    “Chris.” Darren glared at him. To me, he said, “Sorry. I’m really not concerned about—”
    “It’s a tattoo shop in a college town,” Chris growled. “With bars and clubs within vomiting distance.” He pointed out at the street. “That sleazy club I told you about? Lights Out? It’s right up the road.”
    “Actually, it’s that way.” I nodded in the other direction. “And it’s not that sleazy.”
    Chris grumbled something I didn’t understand. Then, to Darren, “How do you know this neighborhood’s not going to be crawling with drunks and loud people at all hours of the night?”
    I gritted my teeth. “Just don’t bring your friends by, and we won’t have to worry about any unsavory riffraff.”
    Al glared at me. So did Chris.
    Darren just laughed. “I think the neighborhood’s fine. Really.”
    His brother scowled again, but shrugged. “Well, you’re the one who has to live here, not me.”
    Darren rolled his eyes. “If it gets unbearable, I’ll come stay with you and Mona. Anyway, the neighborhood seems pretty nice. Might be better if management did something about”—he gestured outside—“the precipitation problem, but I suppose I can deal with it.”
    Oh, for fuck’s sake. A dry sense of humor. I’m a dead man.
    Al laughed and clapped Darren’s shoulder. “I’ll put in a request and see what I can work out.” To me, Al said, “Assuming his credit and background checks go through and he doesn’t change his mind, he wants to move in on Thursday. Would you and Lane mind parking behind the building that day?”
    “Sure, no problem.” I turned to Darren. “If you need a hand with anything, let me know. Thursdays are pretty quiet around here.”
    He smiled, which threw my pulse out of whack again. “Thanks. I should have it under control, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
    Al herded Darren and Chris out of the shop, and I’d be damned if Darren didn’t throw me one last glance—and one last holy fuck smile—before they continued out of sight.
    I needed to get