About Stranger Things Have Happened
by Willa Okati
122 pages / 51750 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-895-1, 1-60370-895-2
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, and Sony Reader pdf
Rack and Daniel are busy exploring their new relationship, on the road
with a tattoo expo. Things go awry when Daniel loses his job, though,
and they have to try to find a way to stay together.
Their relationship gets even more complicated when Josh shows up when
the expo tour hits Dallas. Josh and Daniel's friendship puts a strain on
Daniel's relationship with Rack, and when the tour moves on to Denver,
Rack puts his foot down. Can Rack and Daniel work out their problems?
Stranger things have happened!
Compilation of the Chaser series Stranger Things Have Happened.
Sample
Part One: New York
Chapter One
It's noisy. It's chaos. It's a noisy sort of chaos, and Daniel's loving
every second of it. It would be nice if he could find an excuse to take Rack
upstairs for a minute of peace and quiet -- well, probably not peace and
quiet, more like wild monkey sex, but still.
Still, this group of rowdy artists and punchers are his friends. All they
want to do is give them a really good farewell before they take off into the
wild blue yonder.
"Where is the yonder?" Daniel asks Rufus, who's on his way to his cubicle
with more ink. "And why is it blue?"
"Got me, man. Hey, just let me finish up with the shading on this guy and
I'll be back out to wish you good luck, okay?"
"It's a deal." Daniel high-fives Rufus with the man's free hand, and watches
with a grin as he disappears back into his booth. The guy he's working on
has to be six-three and weigh over three hundred pounds, but he has an
intricate Celtic tattoo on his right arm that Rufus has been working on for
months now.
Daniel supposes it's better than woad.
Mei Li is grabbing a cup of coffee and waiting for her next client to come
walking in the door. It'll be Luz, Daniel's cousin, and he's starting to
think there's a whole lot more going on there than a series of kanji down
the length of Luz's spine. He's always kind of suspected about Luz, and been
sure about Mei Li, but the two of them together? The thought makes him smile
so broadly that Mei Li gives him a shove on the shoulder.
"What are you grinning about?"
"Me, grinning?"
"Yeah. What my daddy used to call a shit-eating grin."
Daniel considers this. "If I were actually eating--"
"Ugh." Mei Li raises her hands. "Don't go there." This, from the toughest
lady Daniel has ever had the pleasure of knowing. "I don't know. It's just
an expression." The bell over the shop door jingles as Luz steps inside, and
the look on Mei Li's face is, well, shit-eating.
"Babe," she says, putting down her coffee. "Thought you weren't going to
make it."
Luz pretends not to understand. She's undoing the light scarf worn around
her neck, an airy wisp of a thing, some female fashion that Daniel has no
grasp of. "Miss my appointment? Why would I do a thing like that?"
"Right." Mei Li leans back against the coffee counter, crossing her arms and
still grinning that kind of grin. "Not like I think you're scared or
anything. Just 'cause we're reaching the sensitive part of your back."
"You don't think I'm tough enough? Oh, hey, Daniel." He finds himself with
an armful of Luz hugging him with all the surprising might in her slender
body, and he embraces her back with the solid knowledge that here is someone
who's always been there for him.
"You're looking good," he tells her, and it's true. Most people come in for
a tattoo while wearing their street clothes, or their grubbies, not wanting
to get ink or blood on their quality outfits. Luz always dresses in
something light and casual, but definitely on the high-fashion end of the
scale. Her makeup is light and natural. Rack's been teaching him a thing or
two about properly applied eyeliner, and he has a new appreciation for Luz's
efforts now.
"She always looks good," Mei Li says, sidling close for a one-armed hug, and
hey, Daniel knows both that move and the tone of voice. He learned it from
Rack. It looks and sounds innocent, but you might as well paint S-E-X on
their foreheads in neon letters.