31. JOSH
JOSH
April emerged from the side of the building, she had tucked her hair up into a loose bun and had her headphones on. Her oversized duffel was slung across her body. I was lost in her, already aching to have her alone. This wasn’t helping me calm the raging hormones already sending blood to my cock.
We passed by a tattoo shop, April stopped and stared in the window as a woman in her twenties, with a group of girls, flinched when the tattoo artist started on a sensitive spot on the backside of her upper arm.
A friend supportively gripped her hand, while another hovered nearby.
“Anything interest you?” April jumped at the sound of my voice.
“Uh, no,” she replied unconvincingly.
My brow lifted, as if to call bullshit. But April was still staring after the women. Sensing there was a bit more, I stepped closer, and noticed how she absently touched a small spot on her wrist.
“Wanna get one?” I half joked.
April’s cheeks flamed. “Sort of. I’ve always wanted one.”
“Why haven’t you?”
She let out a long breath, staring at the girls instead of me, when she answered, “My mom.”
“Your mom?” I repeated, like it was absurd. A grown woman was worried about her mom. “It’s not like you’re a teenager or need your parents’ permission.”
“You’ve met her?” She snorted.
“True. Your mom is intense.”
“Yup. She’d made it very clear how she felt about it when I first floated the idea past her on my twenty-first birthday. She told me she would never forgive me.”
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know her that well. Besides, I’d asked what the big deal was and you know what her stupid-ass answer was?” She hesitated, almost as if she didn’t want to say it out loud.
“No, but I’m curious.”
“She told me that if I ever got married and that’s what she saw in the wedding photos, she would light them on fire.”
“Wait, what?”
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“A little.” I grimaced, not knowing how to respond. Seriously, a wedding photo? It seemed a little extreme to me.
“What’s even more ridiculous is that I’ve used that as an excuse not to get one!
It’s not even like I have a boyfriend, or a prospective one, let alone marriage.
And yet, it’s all that rings throughout my head anytime I stop and stare through the window, debating on doing it or not. Ultimately, I chicken out.”
“I think you should get one,” I whispered to her.
“But I can’t,” she stuttered.
“Of course, you can.”
Her face lit up, but only for a split moment, before a shadow of doubt crossed her features.
“I mean, I don’t wanna make her mad. I’m barely on good grounds with her as it is.”
I took her hand in mine, making a decision, hoping she wouldn’t be super mad at me.
“What are you doing?” she asked, as I pulled her toward the store.
“Checking things out.”
She started to tug backwards, pulling away from me. I gripped her tighter. “Would you stop? It’s just to see what they have.”
“They have tattoos,” she deadpanned, and yet, she stopped tugging away from me. She wanted this, and now, I wanted nothing more than to give it to her.
As we entered the door, a small chime rang out into the room, snapping the group of girls’ heads at us. April quickly ducked behind me, which made me chuckle. I brought her over to the wall and leafed through one of the books to see if anything interested her.
A thick guy with a handlebar moustache and more tattoos than I could count came over. “Can I help you?”
“Sure can.” I grinned widely. “My girlfriend wants to get her first tattoo.”
“Oh man, that’s a special occasion. I’d love to help with that. I’m Drew.”
April spun, glaring at me. She sputtered and mumbled things that made no sense. She wasn’t able to formulate a full sentence, which was a first for her. The burly man pointed at two large books in the corner.
“There’s some designs in there you might like.” His eyes raked over her and he let out a smirk. “Bet you’re a flower or butterflies type of girl.”
She rolled her eyes. Mine followed. I may not know too much, but even I knew that wasn’t even in the same ballpark.
“Gimme a few. I’m just about done.” He nodded to the girl squad in the corner.
My attention returned to April as she flipped through the book with curiosity.
Her eyes skimming the designs that ranged from simplistic, to intricate, with details so tiny, I wondered how they were able to keep their hand steady.
Wrapping my arms around her, my chin rested on her shoulder as I pointed out a few that were cute enough, but April was just meh about them all.
“What exactly are you wanting?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth.
“I dunno.” She let out a long sigh. “Something that makes me want it permanently etched on my body.” She glanced around the shop until her eyes found a mirror, then went wide, and her face broke into a giant grin. “I’ve got it.”
Her excitement was contagious. She lifted her team sweater from her bag. My eyebrows drew together in confusion. Just then, the girls all came over to the desk, chatting animatedly, and admiring their matching mini-tattoos. He rang them up and turned his attention to us. “Decided yet?”
“Yes!” She grinned, holding up her sweater. “Can you draw this?” She pointed at the team logo of a tornado.
“Just like that or change it up a bit?”
“As close as you can get it to be.”
He studied the logo and pulled out some paper. “Gimme five to get something down.”
She squealed in excitement, making me laugh. After he walked away, April was bouncing on her toes, anxiously awaiting her drawing.
My eyes raked over her delicate, creamy skin. “Where is it going?”
She stopped bouncing side to side. “No idea.” She glanced down at herself. “Where is a decent spot that isn’t a tramp stamp or overly noticeable?”
Snort-chuckling, I coughed. “Tramp stamp? Pretty sure no one’s called it that in at least a decade.”
“You knew exactly what I was referring to, so I’d say it still applies.”
Fair enough. “Shoulder blade?”
She glanced over her shoulder. As if she was trying to envision it. “Maybe.”
“Ankle?” she said thoughtfully.
Grimacing, I shook my head. “On bone? That’s painful.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
I moved closer to her and lowered my head to above her ear. “Inside of your thigh?”
She gasped.
“What? I doubt your mother would see it there.”
She laughed. “I’d freaking hope not.”
My hand found its warmth against her arm. Slowly, my fingers trickled down her arm to her wrist. Pulling it up, I delicately pointed to the side of it. “Here?”
Her breath had stilled. Her eyes left mine, moving to the spot on her wrist, under her watchband.
“I love it.” She breathed out heavily. My fingers locked on the spot, gently rubbing a circle around it.
“How’s this?” Drew’s booming voice startled us.
April tore her eyes away from her wrist and to the page with the simple Twister drawing that resembled an upside down spring and grinned. “Perfect.”
April fidgeted in the chair while the guy prepped everything. I grabbed her hand to ease some of her anxiety. She smiled sheepishly at me. It was a big moment and I was so fucking excited for her.
“That obvious, eh?”
“I mean, you’re trembling enough you could vibrate right off the chair.” I chuckled. “Besides, what better way to end our trip in Philly?”
She flushed, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the idea of her getting a tat or the way we spent the entire weekend in bed when we weren’t at the ballpark. But either way, I’d take that happy look she was sporting any day of the week.
Drew came over and started the machine. The sound of it was loud and startled April.
“It’s okay. It won’t hurt much.” He smiled genuinely at her.
The needle pinched along her soft skin, instantly marking it an angry pink.
April sucked her lip between her teeth and hissed.
After a few minutes, she relaxed enough to let go from her crushing grip.
The entire thing took all of thirty minutes and she was officially inked. And I was entirely turned on.