“Want to know what I was just thinking?” I ask him.
“Always,” he’s quick to reply as he takes one of the last bites of his ice cream cone.
Taking a bite of my own cone, I try to buy myself some time as I second guess whether or not I want to share my crazy idea out loud. “What if after celebrating with ice cream we did something a little wild?”
That catches his attention. “And what do you have in mind?”
Taking a deep breath, I decide to just blurt it out. “Let’s get tattoos to memorialize this moment.”
His chin shoots back in surprise and his eyes search mine for truth. “You’re serious?”
“Yes. I’ve been dying to get one but I was hesitant about what I’d want to mark myself permanently with. I’ve always thought of getting a rose tattoo to memorialize my mom, but now it feels like that would be a good symbolism of our relationship too.”
“Would we get matching ones?” he asks, taking the last bite of his cone before licking a bit of ice cream from his fingers.
A shiver runs down my spine at the sight. “We could. Or you could get something different. Up to you,” I tell him, twisting my fingers through his hair.
A dazed smile turns his mouth up. “I’d like to get a rose to symbolize mywife.”
My cheeks heat as those pesky songbirds flock in my stomach from the way he calls me his wife—so possessive, so proud, so damn solidified in his decision.
“Maybe I’ll get your name tattooed on my forehead too so everyone knows who I belong to.” I scrunch up my nose at his teasing and he throws his head back in laughter.
“You’re something else,” I tell him, shaking my head at his antics.
“Where are you going to get your tattoo, my little Thorn?” he asks, tugging at my waist to pull me in tighter to his chest.
Pulling my hand from his hair, I pull my own hair back to show him where I’m thinking. “I was thinking right here behind my ear.”
“Won’t your dad see that?”
“I’ll just keep my hair down for the next month.” I shrug. “Besides, I’ve gotten pretty good at covering the hickeys you’re always leaving on me. And I’m already sad I have to forego wearing my beautiful wedding ring for the next month, so what’s one more thing to hide?” Looking down at my left hand, I sigh in content as I stare at the black hexagon center stone with a halo of black diamonds set on a gold band. “It’s so brilliant. You couldn’t have picked a more perfect ring for me, J.”
I glance down where his left hand rests on my thigh and smile. “Yours is perfect too. I love the black tungsten with the gold inlay.”
“Thanks, I think I did a pretty good job aside from getting your ring size wrong. Who has fingers this small?” he asks, holding up my hand. “I told the lady at the ring store that you had really small fingers so she thought a size five would be best, but it’s practically falling off.”
“It is not,” I correct him. “She was close, I think I’m like a size four, maybe four and a quarter for my left ring finger.”
“Well, at least I have some time to get it resized over the next month while we’re keeping our marriage under wraps,” he points out.
“That’s a good way to look at it. I can’t wait for when I get to wear my ring everyday. Once I get it back, I’m never taking it off.”
“God, I love you,” he murmurs, bringing my hand to his lips and placing a kiss over my ring.
“I love you too.”
“So, were you serious about the tattoo thing? Because if you were, I think I might be able to ask my cousin if he can squeeze us in today.”
“Wait, you have a cousin who is a tattoo artist?”
“I do. He’s saving up to open his own parlor. For now, he’s a traveling tattoo artist. I mean, he’s licensed and everything, he just doesn’t have a storefront yet.”
“I was serious. If he could do it, would you want to?” I ask him.
“I’ll text him now,” Jax tells me, grabbing his phone out of my purse because he said his suit pants were a bit too tailored after his recent growth spurt to hold his phone in his pocket. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t busted them open yet.
With a dazzling smirk on his face, Jax looks up from his phone. “Let’s go get marked, baby.”
