“Okay,” I said with a smile. A sad, but genuine one. I had been eager to get this tattoo. I’d been saving for it for a while.
Cole handed me his phone, and I took a moment to look at the sketch.
“Damn,” I mumbled. “This is amazing.”
“What do you think about the vines on the cage?”
“Yeah, looks better than I had imagined.”
“Are you still thinking right forearm?”
“I wanted to start another sleeve, I think. I’m not sure.”
“It’s definitely got potential for a whole piece. And the forearm should be big enough to get the details that you want.”
I nodded and caught Enoch shifting in my peripheral.
“You wanna see, Enoch?”
Enoch nodded and crossed the room to stand behind the couch. I could feel his presence as he leaned over my shoulder to view the screen.
“Sorry, this is for a tattoo?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yeah,” Cole nodded with a smile. “Did all of Emory’s except the script on her forearm.”
I looked up over my shoulder at Enoch, whose gaze had landed on my covered arms. I hadn’t changed out of his black long-sleeved shirt from last night.
“Wow, how many tattoos do you have?”
Enoch seemed curious and I usually didn’t mind having my tattoos on display, but with the road rash and the scar buried beneath the ink, I wasn’t eager to feel that exposed. Of course, Cole knew about the scar, although he never really questioned me about it, just gave me a look like he knew it wasn’t from an accident with the half-truth I’d sold all my friends about coming from an abusive family.
“Uh,” I paused to clear my throat. “Just a sleeve. On my left arm. But it looks like shit right now with all the scabs from crashing my bike—”
“Is anything deep? Do you think you’ll need touchup work?” Cole interrupted.
I shook my head. “No, I think it’ll be fine.”
Enoch and Cole both nodded.
“Is that like a crow or…?”
“It’s a raven.”
“And it’s eating…a heart?”
I nodded, feeling majorly uncomfortable explaining this.
He hummed in thought for a moment before straightening up. “Well, I can’t wait to see it once it’s done.”
“So, does this mean you’re not coming on the boat today?” Cole asked, glancing at Enoch before focusing on me.
“What?” I mumbled with confusion.
“That’s right, you’ve been AWOL in the group chat all week. We’re out on Lottie’s parents’ boat for the Fourth celebration.”
I curled my fingers around the hem of my shirt as a distraction from the guilty feelings in my chest.
“I didn’t mean to ignore everyone. I’ve just been busy is all.”
