Business Casual (Lovelight, #4)

by B.K. Borison

“Why don’t you want him to see your studio yet?” She traces the Y in MATTY. “I don’t know.” “Yes, you do.” Nova huffs and gives me a look. I raise both eyebrows back. “I just…I want it to be perfect.” Quieter, she says, “I want him to be proud of me.” “You don’t think he will be?” “It’s not that I don’t think he’ll be proud.” She curls her fingers in the sleeve of her shirt and rubs it against her cheek. “I know he will be. I know he is. But I’ve never done anything to deserve that from him, have I? He’s always just…given it. He let me do all of that work on his arms when I really shouldn’t have been tattooing anyone. He dropped out of school and gave up on his dreams so I could have mine. I want him to walk in and feel like all of that was worth it. And I don’t feel ready yet. There’s some stuff I still want to do before he sees it.” She peeks up at me and tucks her knees tight to her chest. “Is that dumb?” “It’s not dumb.” I rest my hand against her ankle and trace the jut of the delicate bone there with my thumb. “But, Nova, you don’t need to be perfect.” “Yes,” she whispers, voice cracking. “Yes, I do.”