Chapter 61 Piper
SIXTY-ONE
Piper
It was spring, and Grayden was finally ready to open his tattoo studio.
At least, he would be ready tomorrow. Today was a special preview just for me. I felt like a very lucky girl. That was how Grayden made me feel every day.
But I’d been looking forward to seeing his mural for over two months now. The man had been so secretive about it.
I parked in front of Grayden’s place and got out. It had completely transformed in the last several months. Fresh new paint in a vibrant green. Repairs to the roof. A new stone walkway, which led to the porch.
But the most prominent feature of all was the wooden sign hanging from the eaves of the porch.
Roses & Thorns Tattoo Studio. All in hand-painted lettering. My man definitely had some talented hands.
As I walked up the steps, the door opened, and Grayden stepped outside with a gorgeous smile on his face. I loved how much he smiled now. It wasn’t a rare occurrence anymore.
“You ready to come take a look?” he asked.
“I’ve been ready for ages.”
“You can’t rush art. Or county inspectors.”
“Maybe, but I was starting to wonder what you’ve really been doing in there.”
He took both of my hands. “You just want me sitting around your house while you’re at work? Waiting for you to get home?”
“Preferably naked.”
“That could be a problem, considering all the spare keys you’ve given to our family.”
I giggled, and he leaned in for a kiss.
“You know I’m kidding. You’ve been working your butt off getting this place ready, and I’m so excited for you.” I squeezed his hands. “I love the name. Roses & Thorns. It’s perfect.”
It captured Grayden perfectly. And not just him. Our lives. All the good and bad that this house represented, along with the house across the street.
Our history. Our childhood.
But also, our incredible future that was ready to bloom.
“If you don’t take me inside to see the mural, I might have to push you out of the way.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t get all worked up. We’re going.”
Grayden walked backward, leading me by both of my hands. His tall frame blocked the view through the doorway at first.
But then he stepped aside, and I saw the wall behind the desk. It wasn’t blank anymore. Wasn’t just some rough outlines either, like the last time I’d seen it.
The wall was a riot of color. It looked like the sketches Grayden had shown me of Main Street, but brought to fantastical life. Familiar architecture, but with trees and flowers growing everywhere. Silver Ridge turned wild.
He’d incorporated the name of his studio into the meadow at the bottom, as if the letters were woven from thorny vines and roses.
At the center was Silver Linings Coffee, and standing out front was me.
A painted version of Grayden stood beside me, his arm around me as he looked at me adoringly. And Ollie was just to the right of us, doing a trick on his skateboard with his trademark smile.
I put my hands over my mouth as I went closer, admiring all the details. There were more people, plenty of them recognizable. But so many intricate abstract elements too. As if there was another layer to the painting underneath.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
“What do you think?” Grayden asked quietly behind me.
I spun and threw my arms around his neck. “This place should be a town landmark. You should charge an entrance fee just to let people see it.”
“You don’t think the landlady will be angry that I painted all over the wall?”
I pretended to think. “I hear she takes sexual favors, so as long as you put that hot body of yours to use…”
“I’m really glad I’m not renting from Dixie Haines.”
Dixie was a family friend and one of our local real estate moguls. Who was also nearing eighty years old. I snorted and hid my face against his chest as I laughed.
The last couple of months had not been all smiles and laughter.
It had been pretty brutal, learning the truth about my parentage and about Zach.
While pretty much everyone in town now knew that Bruce Kirby had been my biological father, very few knew Zach had been responsible for his father and sister’s deaths.
What would be the reason to spread such a horrible thing around?
But Dillon had told his mom the entire truth. Just weeks after the day Zach died, Dillon and his mom left Silver Ridge and hadn’t been back. I’d texted with Dillon and spoken to him on the phone several times since then, but we had no plans to see each other just yet. Even though I wanted to.
As Grayden knew well, sometimes it took families time to be ready to reconnect. But whenever Dillon wanted to see me, I would be here.
But the rest of our family had been amazing. Teller had taken another break from Ayla’s tour to come see me and spend quality time with Ollie. Ayla had even made a quick trip here over a weekend.
That had really been something. The Landrys and the O’Neals and all their significant others, together for the first time. Just like Grace had been dreaming of.
Even Danny had been there. Which was even more astounding, given all the hard looks my brother gave him.
It would be a very long time before Teller, Grace, and our other family members were ready to trust Danny. Heck, I didn’t fully trust him yet. I had way too much experience with him for that.
But he’d braved their disapproval and sat with Ollie, who’d been ecstatic to have his dad there with the rest of us. Danny was making a real effort. Even if he was still pretty surly about it.
He was also still recovering from his wounds, as well as dealing with a bankruptcy and renting a cheap apartment on the edge of town. And true to his word, Grayden had been the one to go over and help Danny those first few weeks after he left the hospital.
If you heard Danny tell it, you’d think having Grayden as his nurse was the worst punishment the world could devise.
But from Grayden, I’d heard the word karma thrown around several times.
Danny didn’t deserve Grayden. Sometimes I wondered if I deserved him, because Grayden was the best man I’d ever known. Every day, my feelings for him grew.
He was everything I’d never believed I could have.
And I was finally ready to tell him so.
“You’re still up for your first tattoo today?” Grayden asked, giving me another soft peck on the mouth. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to! Definitely.”
“Okay.” He grinned. “I’ve got the room all set for you. Did you decide on a design?”
I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and unfolded it.
Before, I’d had no idea what kind of design I’d want permanently inked on my skin. Seemed like I’d been waiting for a sign, and now, I had it.
“This is what I was thinking.” I handed him the paper. “A heart, but better than the one I drew here. I’d love if you draw one for me? With vines and flowers, like your mural. If that’s okay.”
“Absolutely. I’d love to do that for you.” He hadn’t taken his eyes from the paper. “And these names on the sides?”
On either side of the heart, following the curves, I’d written the names Oliver and Grayden in my messy script. “Maybe you can fancy up the font too?” I asked. “This is just my best attempt.”
His brown-and-gold eyes lifted to meet my gaze. “You sure you want my name there? Absent tattoo removal, that’s going to be there forever.”
“I know. That’s the idea. You’re already in my heart forever. I love you.”
Happy tears filled my eyes. It was the first time I’d told him, even though I’d felt it for a while. Grayden had been so patient with me.
He cupped my face with his hands. “I love you too, sweetheart. With my whole heart and soul.”
We kissed for a while longer, but then Grayden got down to business. He put on his glasses and sat down at the desk, where he sketched my tattoo free-hand. It was exactly what I’d asked for.
Then he put the design into his computer and printed it on some kind of tattoo printer thing.
Grayden showed me to a back room. In fact, the room that used to be my bedroom. Of course, it had been transformed as much as the rest of the house.
“Have a seat.”
I told Grayden I wanted the tattoo near my right shoulder blade. He transferred his design to my skin and showed me in the mirror.
I already loved it.
He wore his glasses as he worked, his handsome face a mask of concentration. I’d worried the needle would hurt, but the rhythmic pulsing of it actually lulled me into calm. More than anything, I trusted Grayden. I knew I was completely safe in his hands.
But as he kept working on inking his design into my skin, my calm state of mind gradually turned to a constant state of arousal. I loved that he was marking me. Putting his name into my skin along with his beautiful design.
I was so hot for my man right now.
When he finished, he showed me the final result in the mirror. I met his gaze in the reflection. “Is it weird that I’m insanely turned on?” I asked.
His mouth shifted into a slow grin. “Not that weird. How about I bandage you up, and we can do something about it?”
“Keep your glasses on?”
“That can be arranged.”
“You’re so sexy. I can’t wait. I need you right now.”
“Settle down,” he murmured in my ear. “You need to be patient for my cock. Such a wicked girl.”
I bit my lip and looked at him over my shoulder. “Too much?”
“Never. You’re my wild girl, and I don’t ever want to tame you. Just want to stay right here by your side. Forever.”