I tossed my arm around her and pulled her to my side as I kissed her head.
“It’s one needle, a thousand pricks,” I said.
“I think the less we talk about it between here and when it starts, the better,” she said, cringing.
“I love you both,” I said, kissing each of them. “Should I call Matt and ask him to marry us in our own special way? Because if you put my name on your skin, you’re never getting rid of me. I’m yours forever.”
They both laughed.
“We never want to get rid of you,” Kayden said.
Olivia smiled. “None of us will ever be alone again. Just like you wrote.” She pointed to the text in the sketch.
“Okay, let’s do this. What about Kaylee?” I said as we all stood up.
“My cousin is going to keep her in the bridal suite upstairs for the night. We’ll pick her up at breakfast,” Olivia said. “Now, can we go? I already feel like I’m in a cold sweat.”
I laughed and they led the way to my car as I called Matt and warned him about the very nervous people I’d be bringing in for their first tattoos.
I lay down inthe tattoo chair and handed Matt the drawings. He ran a hand through his dark hair, his own ink covering both of his arms and showing through his white tank top. “I love how simple and sick your drawings are, man,” he said, looking it over. “Where are we putting this one? Are you all getting them in the same place?”
“Yeah, we are,” I said. We’d decided that in the car, though a location had not been selected.
I pulled off my shirt and looked at the ink expanding from one side of my chest to the other and down one side of my ribs. I’d never had a desire to ink my arms; I liked that my chest was my own personal canvas and people only saw it if I wanted them to. It made the personal drawings feel like they stayed personal, like the world didn’t get to see the images I’d chosen and ask me about them.
I looked at Kayden and Olivia who were both sitting in chairs looking tense as hell as they gripped each other’s hands. “Maybe you two shouldn’t watch.”
“No, it’ll help me to see the process,” Kayden said. “If I know what’s going to happen, I’m less likely to become anxious.”
Olivia swallowed thickly. “I might throw up. Do people usually throw up in here?”
Matt turned away from his setup and narrowed his eyes at me. “How nervous is your girl?”
“She cried when she got her flu shot,” Kayden said calmly.
Matt tilted his head, giving me a look of disbelief. “Jace,” he warned, shaking his head.
“What?” Olivia asked, voice tight with fear. “Can I still get one? I really want it! Please. You can keep going if I cry.”
Matt chuckled. “Listen, I keep whiskey back here for people like you. I’d suggest you get started while I work on Jace.” He pulled a bottle out of a cabinet and tossed it to her before pointing to a row of shot glasses on the shelf above her.
Olivia poured herself a shot and downed it before pouring another and sitting down to sip it.
“Did you decide?” Matt asked, looking ready to start.
“Yeah,” I said, locking eyes with Kayden. I pointed to the divot on my left hip, thinking of Kayden’s scar. “Right here. Does that work for you, Liv?”
“Yes, I love that,” she said, squeezing Kayden’s hand again as she finished her second shot.
“Thank you, babe,” Kayden said with an appreciative smile.
Olivia poured herself a third shot as Matt started drawing the tattoo on my hip.
“Uh, Matt, how much of that are we letting her have?” I asked.
“How long till she’s tipsy?” he asked.
“Usually two glasses of wine.”
