Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Yeah? I’m always up for a good fire and some marshmallow roasting. We should plan that with the girls this fall.”
“That’s several months away.”
“I know. I need you to pencil me in now, so you don’t have an excuse to not bonfire and marshmallow with me.”
Another small laugh fills the air. “I’ll see what I can do. My social calendar is incredibly busy.”
“Hence the advanced notice,” I remind her. “Favorite holiday?”
“It used to be Thanksgiving because I love all things fall, but after the twins were born, that switched to Christmas. I guess it’s a tie, really. I love watching their eyes on Christmas morning.”
“I can’t wait to see that.” The reply slips out before I can think better of it. Not that I would have filtered it. I told her she was going to get all of me, and that I would never hold back.
“That’s even further away,” she finally replies.
“With that busy social calendar of yours, I need to start early. Pencil me in for that too, will ya?”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to remember all of these dates,” she teases.
“Don’t worry, beautiful, I’ll remind you.” I smile even though she can’t see me. I love being here with her. I love that her first ink is from me, and I love even more that her shoulders are completely relaxed as we get to know one another. I want to know everything.
“My turn to start. Morning person or night owl?”
“I can do both honestly. If I have to choose, I’m going to go with a night owl. Who doesn’t like to sleep in? What about you?”
“Morning. However, that could be because I have two tiny humans who go to bed early and are up bright and early the next day. I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”
“Well, we can fix that. You and the girls can come spend the night or the weekend at my place, and we’ll let you sleep in.”
“I don’t think we’re at the sleepover stage. Especially not with my daughters.”
“Sure, we are. I have a big, empty house just waiting for all of you.”
“Forrest.” I’m not sure if her tone is more warning or disbelief.
“Briar,” I mock. She sighs, and I smile. “Bucket list item.”
“I don’t really know.”
“Come on. There has to be something.”
“You don’t want to hear it.”
“I can assure you, I do. Come on, this is a safe space. We’re getting to know each other better. Tell me.”
She’s quiet. The only sound in the room is the hum of the tattoo gun. I’m giving her time to process, to decide whether she wants to give me another piece of her. Just when I’m about to tell her we can skip this one because she’s obviously uncomfortable, she speaks.
“I want to fall in love.”
My heart stops.
It starts again and thunders so hard against my rib cage, I’m shocked I don’t have a cracked rib. Can she hear the roaring beat above the sound of my tattoo gun? What do I say to that? That I’m all in? That’s what I want to say, but is that the right thing? I don’t want to scare her off. Tonight, this time with her has been nothing short of incredible and I don’t want to ruin any of it.
“Me too,” I finally answer. “Maybe we can work on marking that off our lists together.”
Her quick inhale of breath is the only reply I get. I’ve shocked her. I stay quiet, giving her time to get lost in her thoughts.
As I trace the lines of the stencil, I get excited again about her tattoo. I love the design and the concept, along with the meaning behind it. I’m honored that she trusted me with this. Not that I gave her much choice. I pretty much hijacked her as a client the day I heard her voice at the counter. Either way, she’s here, on my table, and it’s my work that is going to be a part of her for the rest of her life.
“Greatest accomplishment?” she asks, her voice soft.
“Let’s see, I have two actually. So it’s a toss-up.”
“Give me both.”
“First is this place. Everlasting Ink was a dream the guys and I had, and we busted our asses to not only open our shop, but to excel at the artistry. We’ve made a name for ourselves, and we have people from all over visiting our little town to have a piece done by one of us. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but we pulled it off.”
“You should be proud of that. This place is incredible.”
“Thanks.” Hearing her say that has pride filling my chest.
“And the second?”
“Emerson. I love my little sister, and I’m so proud of the woman she is. She didn’t have it easy, and I did what I could, and to see her thriving, not falling to the life our parents lived, that’s—it gets me in my feels every damn time I think about it. She’s married to a man who worships her. She has a great job, good friends, and an adorable little girl. I’m so fucking proud of her, and I’m damn proud that I was able to be her pillar of support and guide her away from how we grew up.”