CHAPTER 9 #2
She made her way into the room and perched on the paper-covered table. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week,” she confessed, her voice falling to a noticeably calmer register as Jette turned around. “Any tips for a first-timer?”
Jette rifled through papers on the counter and sarcastically answered, “Hold still?” Reese narrowed her eyes playfully and chuckled as Jette continued.
“Just take a couple deep breaths and try to relax. And let me know if you need a break. I can start and stop as often as you want.” She tossed a phone into Reese’s lap.
“Feel free to put some music on, if you want,” she offered.
Reese settled on a quiet indie mix and waited.
Jette already had the stencils printed and silently debated the different sizes to herself.
She noticed Reese out of the corner of her eye and brought the stencils over, splaying them on the padded table.
“May I?” she asked respectfully, gesturing to Reese’s arm.
It felt strange seeing Jette acting so formal—almost stiff.
She hadn’t seen this professional side of Jette before.
The tension in Reese’s shoulders seemed to grow heavier by the second.
“Sure,” Reese turned her arm to give Jette better access.
Jette’s dainty fingers slid over the sensitive skin of her bicep and Reese watched goosebumps spread down her arms from the sensation.
Jette’s hands were free from her usual collection of rings and a small rose tattoo on her wrist caught Reese’s attention.
She cleared her throat and asked, “Is that new?” The lines looked crisp.
“Hmm?” The sound came from the back of Jette’s throat as she fiddled with a smaller stencil on Reese’s arm. She moved it almost imperceptibly, finding the perfect placement.
“The uh—your rose tattoo,” Reese specified. Her mind wandered as Jette gently held the crook of her elbow. She was sure Jette could feel her pulse pounding through the delicate skin. It seemed to thunder in her ears.
“Oh, yeah. Carlos added that one a few days ago,” she explained nonchalantly.
“It’s pretty,” Reese complimented. She watched a grin break across Jette’s lips. Her eyes fixated on the movement, taking full advantage of Jette’s distraction to unabashedly study her face up close. The room went quiet, just the music faintly playing in the background.
“Thanks,” she finally said in a raspy voice. The sound reverberated in Reese’s chest. She had never heard Jette’s voice like that.
“Is there any meaning behind it?”
Jette exhaled through her nose sharply, a half-formed laugh.
She shook her head before supplying, “Not really. I liked it, I wanted it, I went and got it.” Her answer came out swift and simple, like she’d never once had a doubt in her mind.
Dark eyes darted to Reese’s as the words came out.
But before Reese could react, Jette asked, “Does that look okay?” Her narrow fingers stretched the paper just millimeters from Reese’s skin.
“Perfect.” Reese could hear the joy in her own voice as she looked down.
Jette smiled but made no effort to drag her dark eyes back to Reese’s.
Instead, she gently pressed the paper to Reese’s arm, smoothing her fingers uniformly to transfer the purple image.
Using her palm, she wrapped her hand around Reese’s arm and waited.
After several seconds, Jette stole a glance at Reese and Reese inadvertently held her breath.
She could feel Jette’s pulse through the frail paper stencil.
It seemed like an eternity before Jette moved her hand, taking care not to smudge the fresh design.
Reese looked down and marveled at it. It was even better than she thought possible and her heart thrummed with excitement.
“Do you like it?” Jette’s deep brown eyes watched closely as Reese nodded.
“I love it,” she sighed. Her fingers itched to touch the design, but she wouldn’t dare to risk ruining it.
“Well okay good, because that was the easy part.” Jette’s eyes sparkled. “I’m gonna get everything set up and then we can get started,” she explained, retreating to the counter. “Can I get you anything? Water or something?”
“Water would be great,” Reese replied. She gratefully accepted a plastic bottle and took a swig.
Jette had replaced her gloves and was now filling a handful of tiny caps with jet black ink.
Reese looked at the padded table with uncertainty.
“How should I…” her voice trailed off. “How do you want me?” She asked abruptly.
The moment the words left her lips, she felt her cheeks flush as the room fell silent.
“I mean, where do you want me to sit?” She stuttered and could tell that Jette was stifling a laugh from the way her shoulders flinched.
“Wherever is most comfortable,” she replied.
“Most people find it easiest to lie down on their back and prop the arm out to the side.” She gestured with her own arm as Reese began to lie down.
The paper rustled noisily as she wiggled into place.
It wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. Jette wheeled her stool closer as Reese stared up at the ceiling, anxious to begin.
She felt exposed waiting on the table. Jette’s voice was gentle as she asked, “Can you slide a little closer to me, please?” Reese obliged and Jette moved the tray over.
She could feel Jette’s breath on her skin as she leaned in to examine Reese’s arm.
Involuntarily, Reese took a shaky breath and Jette set her machine down quietly before asking, “Are you nervous?”
“No,” Reese blurted out quickly. Too quickly. A self-conscious laugh bubbled up her throat. “I—yes,” she corrected herself.
Jette smiled understandingly and leaned back.
“Anything I can do to help?” she asked in a calm voice.
Her hands hovered close to her chest, taking care not to risk contaminating the purple gloves.
Reese shook her head silently, her brain unable to string more than two words together at a time.
“I promise there’s nothing to worry about,” Jette added kindly.
“How badly does it hurt?” The words came out all at once. That aspect of the situation hadn’t occurred to her until this very moment and Reese fought the way her stomach tensed uncomfortably.
“Don’t you play roller derby?” Jette teased, her face lighting up while Reese made a show of rolling her eyes. “I just mean that you might have a different pain tolerance than most people,” Jette admitted breathlessly. “But it’s still a needle dragging through your skin, so, you know—”
“You’re so not doing a great job of selling me on this,” Reese chuckled. Jette’s warm eyes met hers and she instantly felt at ease despite the nerves that fluttered in her chest just moments before.
She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “I’m not here to convince you to get a tattoo. You asked me for one, remember?” Reese nodded, returning the small smile. Jette continued, “Sometimes it hurts to get what you want.” She shrugged, never removing her gaze from Reese’s features.
“I—okay—you’re right,” Reese began. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Well, that’s the first time a woman’s told me that,” Jette let out a breathy chuckle as she reached for the tray again, a faint flush settling on her cheeks. “You’ll let me know if you need a break, yeah?” Reese nodded the tiniest bit as she chewed her lip.
The machine hummed to life in Jette’s small but steady hands.
She leaned in and rested her elbow against Reese’s ribs, steadying herself as she settled into a comfortable position.
Reese held her breath in anticipation as Jette spread her fingers over Reese’s bicep, pulling the skin taut before dragging the needle in a single deliberately slow stroke.
Reese’s eyes tensed at first, then slowly relaxed after a few moments.
The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought it would be.
If anything, the anticipation had been the worst of it.
The music faded in and out, though Reese could barely hear it over the grating sound of the machine.
She felt her muscles gradually soften as she stared at the ceiling.
She had no way of telling how long she sat there, holding as still as possible.
Intermittently, Jette would shift against her, but she always kept an elbow against her ribs or a forearm anchored across her shoulder.
Every so often, her prominent eyebrows would come together in deep concentration.
Reese realized she could look at Jette’s features for hours and still notice new details.
Brazenly, she stared as Jette skillfully pulled the needle back and forth.
Her gaze drifted from the tiny wisps of hair that fluttered around her temples, over to the long and dark lashes that framed her deep brown eyes.
She studied the slight curve of her nose and the pronounced cupid's bow just above her lips. Reese was surprised to notice that she wasn’t wearing lipstick.
Her full lips were a stunning rosy shade of pink.
Jette’s lips parted as she concentrated, and Reese couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Her breathing hitched as she impulsively imagined leaning towards them.
“You okay?” Jette interrupted her vivid daydream.
She pulled away and stretched her neck, breaking her concentration for the first time since they began.
Reese held still. Her ribs felt cold where Jette’s arm had been resting.
Reese nodded but kept her eyes glued to the ceiling.
“I could feel you tense up,” Jette admitted.
“Oh, yeah. That last part was a little painful,” Reese lied. To be honest, she couldn’t remember feeling the needle at all for the better part of the last hour.