8. Rib Tattoos Fucking Suck
Rib Tattoos Fucking Suck
Zoe
Five (and a half) Years Ago
Stepping into the shop caused my heart to swell with pride. He’d done it.
I looked around, taking in the artwork on the walls, the cool décor, the retro-style furniture, and then I found him. My heart lurched in my chest. When I told him two years ago that I needed space, I never imagined it would mean so much space, but life got in the way.
He’d left town, gone to the city, to his job, and I got on with running the bar. We shared happy birthday and happy Christmas texts, but I haven’t seen him since that night, since I kissed him.
When Doug told me he was opening his own shop today, I couldn’t stay away any longer. I had to be there. I had to see it — see him.
As his eyes found mine, they lit up, widening and filling with joy as he rushed over and swept me up into his arms, swinging me around as a laugh burst out of me. It was okay. We were okay.
‘You did it,’ I said softly as he put me back on solid ground and beamed with pride.
‘I did.’ Taking my hand, Leo pulled me further into the tattoo shop toward one of the chairs. ‘I missed you, munch.’
‘I missed you too, sugar.’
He leaned in to press his lips to my forehead, and I breathed him in. His warmth, his scent, the calm joy of having him close.
‘You want to be my first?’
I’d like to pretend that him saying that to me, with that ever-present naughty look in his eyes, didn’t do something to me, but I’d be lying. I’d felt it that night at the fair, and it was why I’d kissed him — why I wanted him to kiss me back.
It was a crush on my best friend, something that two years apart had apparently only made worse, and it was something I would ignore until it went away.
‘I would be honored.’
Climbing into the chair, I didn’t care what he added to my growing tattoo collection, trusting that it would be as beautiful as the rest of his work.
This wasn’t the first tattoo I’d be getting from Leo, but it was the very first tattoo in his own shop, and I truly felt the weight of that honor. I’d been letting him tattoo me since he started his apprenticeship at twenty-one.
‘Where do you want it?’ Leo asked in that husky voice of his, and I almost felt the urge to drop my panties there and then.
That flirty smirk on his face...Goddamn. It wasn’t for me, I knew that — it was always there. The only time he hadn’t worn that expression was when Luke was sick and just after he died. I knew that smirk was the reason Leo was getting laid even more than my slutty brother, and as much as I hated that fact when I hadn’t had sex in years and was in an unexplainable, embarrassingly long period of having dreams about him than I could never admit to, I was happy that he was out there living his life — wasn’t I?
I promised Luke that I would live, and I was, or I was trying to, at least. I was working hard. My bar was doing great. I was saving to buy a house and move out of the apartment above the bar, and I could laugh again.
The period of time when I thought I’d never smile again was the worst of my life. Luke was gone, and I couldn’t do a thing to change it. I didn’t want to keep my promise to him, and I didn’t want to live if he wasn’t living right beside me, but my family, Leo, pulled me out of it, and now, I was doing good… ish .
‘Zoe,’ Leo prompted, and I shook my head.
‘Sorry, I zoned out. Um, my ribs, I guess.' I quickly did a mental check of the empty spaces I had left on my body and came up with ribs, renowned for being one of the most painful spots for a tattoo. Well done, Zoe. Leo’s lips morphed into an ‘o’ shape as he sucked in a breath.
‘You sure? Hurts like a bitch.’
I tilted my head and raised one eyebrow. ‘You think I can’t handle it?’
The smirk came back, and he laughed, low and slow, and oh, hell, that sounded good.
‘I’ve tattooed you enough times to know you can handle it, just feel it’s my duty to warn you that rib tattoos suck.’
‘You have one?’ I sassed, still defensive, and he nodded, then lifted up his shirt.
For a moment, I was distracted by the abs under the expanse of tattooed skin, then I froze. Right there, right over his heart, was one beautiful word: Luke .
I swallowed hard and raised my gaze to meet his, then without warning, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, pressing myself into his chest and breathing him in. At this moment, he wasn’t the gorgeous tattoo artist I’d been thinking about at night a little too much. He was Leo, my Leo, our Leo.
‘He would be so fucking proud of you. You know that, right?’
I felt his lips press against my head, heard the sound of his kiss as he squeezed me a little tighter, then the shove against my shoulders as he pushed me away.
‘Stop trying to get out of it and get in the chair.’ He winked, and I did as I was told.
Well, he was right. Rib tattoos fucking suck…
‘Jesus.’ I winced as I swear the needle hit bone, and he laughed.
‘I told you.’
‘Do not gloat.’
‘I’m not gloating. Believe me, I got way less than you’re getting, and I cried like a baby. Doug got way more than either of us. I had to stop the sitting, and he took a month to come back.’
I laughed at that — the competitiveness between my siblings and me was an endless source of both joy and frustration.
‘You’re almost done.’
I looked down to meet his gaze as he looked up my body, my bare skin sensitive under his touch, and my stupid brain connected with my neglected pussy and gave me the most unwelcome images of him looking up at me from between my legs. I swallowed as I squirmed under the intensity of the thought and the look in his eyes.
‘You can take it.’
Oh, sweet Jesus.
I turned my eyes up to the ceiling and breathed deeply as the drone of the machine warned me of the pain to come. The pain was good. The pain was a distraction.
He was beautiful. I always knew that. Seeing the four of them together, Luke, Leo, Doug, and Nick, I felt bad for the other guys our age, as they didn’t stand a chance. Even with Doug and Leo three years younger and Doug and Luke in relationships, girls fell at the feet of all four of them. So, I knew he must be hot, but I didn’t see him that way because he was family. He was Doug’s best friend, so was always around, and he was Luke’s cousin and more like a brother to him, so he was literally family once Luke and I got married.
I tried to distract myself from the pain by trying to pinpoint exactly when it happened, when it changed, because by the time I kissed him after the fair, I think things already had.
We’d become so close after Luke died. The promise he had made to my husband became clear in the way he showed up for me. He’d promised to be there, to look out for me. I didn’t need him to confirm it. I know that was why he was there the way he was, but we got close for real.
We hung out, had pizza and movie nights, went shopping, bowling, and played laser tag. He worked a couple of shifts at the bar just to keep me company and tattooed me a bunch. When he hung out with Doug alone, I felt the pangs of jealousy that I knew were irrational. He was Doug’s best friend, of course they wanted to hang out, but now, looking back, I wondered: was I jealous that I wasn’t included, or was I jealous that his nights with my brother usually resulted in him getting laid?
Oh shit. I thought it was the latter. Maybe this thing had been going on longer than I realized. I thought back — when did that start pissing me off?
‘Quit showing off.’
My brother’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see him approaching.
‘She’s taking it like a champ, brother,’ Leo commented, and I realized I hadn’t noticed the pain in a while.
Doug’s presence here brought a guilty feeling that didn’t sit right. He had never once complained or commented about my closeness with Leo, but I’d seen him looking at us. I’d caught his scrutinizing gaze if we laughed at a private joke or danced a little closer than he thought appropriate. I knew he was just looking out for us both, but the fact that I had fantasized a lot about my brother’s best friend had me feeling like if he stared too long, he would know.
‘The shop looks fuckin’ incredible, man.’ Doug said, beaming, and my stomach twisted with pride in both of them. I loved how they cared for each other.
‘You can finish this another time if y’all want to hang out,’ I said, trying to sit up, but Leo spread his large hand across my stomach to hold me there. Fuck, fuck … I was in trouble. I avoided Doug’s eyes, not wanting him to see that I was very, very hot for his best friend.
‘Don’t even think about it, munch.’
Rolling my eyes, I lay still as Doug laughed and continued exploring the shop, and Leo got back to work.
‘I love it.’
As I stood admiring the beautiful chandelier lotus tattoo on my ribs, Leo stood behind me, and my eyes met his. There was something there I hadn’t seen before, something that made my breath catch in my throat and my pulse quicken.
‘It symbolizes new beginnings,’ he said huskily, and I finally exhaled.
New beginnings. It was time to start over, and I was terrified of what that meant.