“Makes sense,” Gabriel said, as if he was justifying it on Jake’s behalf. “I mean, you haven’t been here all that long, right?”
Long enough, Jake thought, but he didn’t want to say that. He shrugged instead.
“Whoa—careful!” The machine stopped again. “I don’t want to hurt you or mess this up.”
“Sorry,” Jake said.
“So, what’s your sister like?” Gabriel asked over the drone of the machine. “Is she really going to freak out if she sees you’ve been inked?”
“Yeah, probably,” Jake said. “She’s seven years older than I am and she kind of raised me. Sometimes it’s like she thinks I’m her kid, not her brother.”
“That’s cool, though, that you guys are close,” Gabriel said. The machine thrummed.
“Yeah, we’re pretty close,” Jake said. He wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to him if Alice hadn’t
