Of course, as soon as I finish with my three o’clock appointment Madison jumps into my chair, waiting to hear my story about not coming home last night.

“I was at Royal’s,” I admit. “We had a few too many beers and I fell asleep outside by the pool. There. Happy?”

“I thought you went to Colton’s parents’ house for dinner last night? How the hell did you end up with Royal?”

I find myself smiling at the reminder; just thinking back to the way my heart skipped a beat when he walked through that door. “He showed up there and I left with him.”

Madison’s eyes widen in excitement. “Are you serious? That’s hot.” She rubs her hands together. “You showed up there with one brother and left with the other. The hotter brother might I add. My old Avalon is coming out to play.”

I let out a frustrated breath and push her out of my chair. “Yeah, well maybe she never left. Maybe she was just trying her best to be good.”

I’m so lost in talking to Madison that I don’t even notice my uncle until Madison is undressing him with her eyes.

“Hey, Uncle Mark.”

Leaning in, he kisses me on the side of the head, before taking a seat in my chair.

“Hope you have time for a quick cut. I’ve got a good five minutes or so before I get a call.” He smiles at me, and then turns to Madison as she growls at him. “Nice to see you too, Madi.”

“It’s always a pleasure, Mr. Knight. You sure you don’t want to take a seat in my chair?”

Rolling my eyes, I reach for the comb. “Stop flirting with my damn uncle. Didn’t Claudette ask you to clean the merchandise before your shift ends?”

“And I will. The end of my shift isn’t coming anytime soon, sweets.”

Used to Madison ogling him, my uncle just laughs it off and looks at me through the mirror. “You staying out of trouble, Ava?” He asks as I start trimming the ends of his longish, brown hair.

“Yes. I’m a little too busy to rebel against the law these days, or have any kind of fun, actually.”

“You sure about that, Ava?” Madison asks with a smirk. “You’re definitely not too busy to ride on the back of that sexy man’s motorcycle or fall asleep at his house.”

My uncle looks up at me through the mirror with a surprised look. “No shit,” he says with a crooked smile. “You and Colton break up?”

I glare over at Madison and point the scissors at her. “You . . . shut up. I’m not afraid to use these.” I look at my uncle through the mirror. “And yes. Well sort of. We’re on a break, but I’m telling his ass tomorrow at dinner, and yes, I’m fine with it. It’s been coming for a while.”

I get ready to talk again, but Madison’s big mouth interrupts me. “You’re looking exceptionally well in that uniform today, Officer. Have you been working out in the nude or anything? I promise not to picture it.” She winks.

He chuckles. “I’m guessing you’re not staying out of trouble,” he says to her. “Not that mouth of yours at least.”

She leans over my desk. “Never, Officer.”

“Seriously, Madison,” I say irritated now. “He’s my damn uncle. That’s just weird, and creepy as shit.”

“He’s your young and very attractive uncle,” she corrects. “How old are you now, Officer Knight?”

He pulls out his wallet and starts digging through it. “Thirty-three.” He tosses me a few bills. “Here . . . You ladies buy some good dinner on me. Anything to keep you girls busy and out of trouble.”

“No, thanks.” I shove his money back at him as he stands up, but he just gives it to Madison instead, knowing that she’ll take it with no problem.

Holding his hand up, Mark pulls out his phone and quickly answers it in a professional tone. “What’s up, Liam? I’m just about to leave my niece’s salon.” He pauses and listens for a second. “Shit. Yeah, I’ll be on my way there. No, I will handle it alone.”

“Is everything alright?” I ask as he puts his phone away and steals a quick glance in the mirror to check out his hair.

“Yeah . . .” He lets out a frustrated breath. “Just some bar fight that I need to go deal with. Nothing new. I get this call at least once a week.”

My heart sinks and the first thing I can think of is Royal’s bar and wonder if something happened there. “And they’re sending you there alone? Is it bad?”

He lifts a brow and starts backing away toward the door with a grin. “Someone’s got to do it. I can handle it. That’s why I’m the cool uncle. You girls be good.”

With that, he turns and rushes out the door, jogging over to his car. Madison leans over her chair and shamelessly watches as he climbs inside and pulls out in a hurry.

She spins around in her chair to face me. “Damn . . . please tell me how your uncle gets hotter each time I see him? Did he get a new tattoo too?”

I nod my head. “Yeah, he did. Now stop thinking about fucking my uncle. Not happening.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Well your aunt isn’t around anymore. I’m sure he gets lonely.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t,” I admit. “He’s a young—and from what you say—attractive officer. I’m sure he does fine.”

“A girl can dream,” she sighs.

I try to focus on cleaning up my station, but all I can seem to think about is Royal, and that has me wondering if my uncle is headed to Savage & Ink.

“Hey.”

“Yeah.

“Do you think the fight my uncle is going to break up is at Royal’s bar?”

Madison bites her lip and smiles. “Damn, I hope not. I’d like to be there when all that sexiness went down. Just saying . . .”

A part of me wants to text Royal and find out, but I decide against it after his distant attitude this morning. Maybe it’s best if I just forget about him altogether.

Good fucking luck, Avalon. Looks like you’re going to need it . . .

KICKING MY FOOT BEHIND ME, I rest it on the side of the brick building, fighting off thoughts of last night.

Olivia’s birthday is always the hardest for me. It kills me every single time that I have to go to our spot alone, but the thing that scared me more than anything was the fact that having Avalon with me eased just a small bit of that pain that was crushing my damn heart.