Ian Hale grew up in a house where emotion was a weakness and perfection was the expectation. With a strict military father, an anxious mother, and a golden-boy brother who could do no wrong, Ian learned early to keep his guard up, hide anything soft, and assume people would judge him before they ever bothered to know him. Art was the only thing that ever gave him breathing room, and it eventually led him to become one of the best tattoo artists in the city—whether he admits that or not.

His career skyrocketed, but everything else crashed. Mira, the girlfriend he planned to share an apartment with, left in a spectacular meltdown of jealousy and manipulation, leaving him stuck in a lease with a roommate he never wanted. To make matters worse, he’s got a stalker client—Chelsea—who pops into the shop uninvited and brings deranged handmade gifts that make his skin crawl. Between her, Mira’s lingering shadow, and a booking list that never ends, Ian’s patience is a stretched, fraying wire.

Now he’s a tall, tattooed storm cloud living with someone who annoys him simply by existing. He picks fights for sport, lashes out before he feels anything real, and hides every flicker of vulnerability behind sarcasm and attitude. But beneath the armor—buried under childhood expectations, failed relationships, and too many people wanting pieces of him—is a fiercely loyal man who doesn’t know what to do with someone who stays. And that terrifies him more than anything.