Free Marco (The Men of Indecent Exposure #1) by Raven St. Pierre

ink addiction and I didn’t mind it. No, I wasn’t making money, but we all had our ‘ thing’ we brought to the table and this was my thing. Logan’s brother owned the gym we were members of, so we got a pretty hefty discount. Carlos got us a hook up on costumes with some chick he used to bang a couple years back—apparently, she still had a thing for him. And Justin was our go-to guy for advice. Kind of like our own personal Dr. Phil.
    I disposed of the old needle and set out a new one to load, hearing the doctor’s words from the day before echoing inside my head. ‘Congratulations! Later this year, you two will be welcoming a new, little bundle of joy into the world!’ She was the only one in the room who seemed happy about the news.
    The rest of the appointment was pretty much routine, I guess—she took Brynn’s blood pressure and asked her a bunch of questions. After that, I left the room so she could examine her further. The whole thing only took about half an hour, but that half hour reshaped my entire future.
    Brynn was a stranger to me and yet, here we were having a kid together and I didn’t know anything about her. Like… at all . I had no idea who she really was, what she was capable of, and I never envied guys who had baby mama drama.
    What if she was like that?
    What if she was one of those manipulative-type females?
    What if late night phone calls with her yelling all in my ear about nonsense was what my future looked like now?
    Even the possibility of having to put up with that made my head hurt.
    I waved Carlos over when I was done setting up, but he didn’t come. Instead, he shook his head and stayed posted against the wall.
    “You ready or what?”
    He shook his head again when I asked. “Nah, I’m good. You seem distracted, man. I’m gonna sit this one out.”
    At his words, Justin looked up from his phone. He was the only one I told about any of this, so I guessed he at least knew what was on my mind even though I hadn’t told him the new development—that I was definitely gonna be a dad.
    “Quit bein’ such a pussy and get in the damn chair, man. You see Logan’s came out fine.” I gestured toward Logan and he gave my work a wordless thumbs up to back me up. “See?”
    Carlos waited a few seconds, stared at me long and hard until he was sure, and then finally came over to the chair, unbothered by the fact that I was now laughing at him for almost punking out. While he removed his shirt so I could finish the art on his shoulder, I glanced over at Justin, not surprised to find him already watching me.
    “You got something to say?” I asked, pretty much knowing what he was thinking.
    He shrugged, pretending to be casual, and then started texting again as he answered my question. “Yup, but I won’t put your business all out in the street.”
    The seat behind me creaked when Logan dropped down into it, probably so he wouldn’t have to strain to eavesdrop.
    These three, my brothers, were as close to me as my blood family. I already intended to fill them in on what was going on, but I was planning to wait for a better time—or maybe I was just stalling. However, when would we get another chance to talk openly without all the other guys being around? Here, in my shop, was probably the safest bet.
    All eyes were on me as I pulled on a pair of black, latex gloves. Although they were just now showing it, the guys had probably been able to tell for weeks that something was wrong. This thing with Brynn had definitely stolen my focus. It wasn’t affecting any of my work, but offstage I knew I’d withdrawn a bit. I didn’t take calls from anyone I didn’t have to and I found myself uninterested in hanging out. It’d been work and home for me. Those were the only places I went.
    At this point, it didn’t make sense to keep hiding my situation because, in a matter of months, everyone would know. I set aside the bottle of alcohol in my hand and took a breath. All three sets of eyes