“What are you getting?” I grab one of the thick books stacked on the table and flip through it.
“My guitar,” he says without opening his eyes.
I know he’s exhausted. They’ve been practicing a lot more lately. When he’s not at Travis’s, he’s at his uncle’s garage, and if he’s not there, he’s with me.
I let him rest while we wait, and a few minutes later, a burly man appears from one of the rooms. He has broad shoulders and a long, auburn beard. His arms are thick and covered in tattoos. He looks like a scary Viking, but he greets us with a warm smile.
Penn climbs on the black cushioned table inside the room and lies on his stomach, pulling his jeans up enough to expose his right calf. The man gets to work, cleaning up his station while I shift awkwardly on my feet.
“Sit down, Barbie,” Penn says, using his foot to kick a rolling chair my way.
“She next?” the man he called Jason asks.
Penn glances at me, arching a brow. I don’t get a chance to respond before the receptionist girl comes strolling in. She’s wearing red skinny jeans and a cropped Nirvana shirt. Her arms are decorated in colorful ink, and the tips of her dark hair are dyed pink.
“Are you finally getting the guitar?” she asks.
He peeks one eye open to look at her, then closes it. I ignore the way my stomach drops from her question. She knew what he was getting? How often does he come here and talk to her?
“Yeah,” he says.
“It’s going to look so good there.” She leans over, making a show of checking out his calf. It’s a nice calf, thick and muscular,but she’s being a little over the top. I mean, does she not see me sitting right here?
When she trails one of her black painted nails across his leg, my heart rate spikes, and I sit up straighter.
The weird sensation from minutes ago returns. Yep—jealousy.Dammit.
I clear my throat, and she jerks her hand back, eyes narrowing on me, and wearing the same frown as before. I give her a tight smile in return. I hope she knows it’s fake. I’ve never been good with confrontation, and I’m not sure how much sway I have in this thing Penn and I are doing. He said he doesn’t want to share me, and I certainly don’t want to share him.
“I’m sorry,” she says, absolutely not sorry at all by the tone of her voice. “You are?”
Penn lifts his head, eyes bouncing between the two of us, assessing the situation. “Ashtyn, that’s Olivia. My girl.”
I don’t miss the shocked expression on her face, but I don’t get to enjoy it, too taken aback by him calling me his girl. My heart is fluttering, trying to escape from my chest and fly right to him.
“Oh, I didn’t realize. You never mentioned her before.” She giggles.
“Yeah. So, if you could…not touch him. That would be great.” I don’t realize the words are coming from me until I meet Penn’s surprised blue eyes.
She steps back, her face red. “Right. Sorry.” She casts Penn one more glance, but his focus is solely on me. His damn smug smirk covering his full lips. She scurries from the room just as the tattoo artist comes over and wipes Penn’s calf down with an antibacterial wipe.
“Any changes to the design?” Jason asks.
“Nah.”
He relaxes, closing his eyes again. I watch, fascinated with the whole process. The artist places the stencil over his calf, covering the entire area. I roll closer, getting a better peek. It’s a guitar just like his, down to the embroidered detail on the strap, something I didn’t notice until I started watching him practice at Travis’s.
I smile sadly, my heart hurting for him. I know that specific guitar is special because it’s the one his dad bought him. He has others, but I know that one is his favorite.
“Want to check the placement and size first?” Jason asks.
Penn glances at me. I expect him to get up and go to the tall mirror in the corner, but instead, he asks me, “How’s it look, Barbie?”
“Uh, I don’t have any expertise in this area.”
“I trust you. Does it look good?”
I swallow, moving closer to get a better view. I drink in every detail, making sure nothing is off, then meet his eyes. “It’s perfect.”
