Read Online Moments in Time 02 - Moment Of Truth by Karen Stivali - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Stivali
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You’d like him.”
“All I know is he’s one lucky bastard to have hooked up with you.”
I couldn’t keep from grinning. Taking compliments still made my face burn hotter than a stove coil, but for the first time in my life, I’d started to let kind words be felt on the inside too. I liked people thinking Tanner’s lucky to have me, even if the truth was that I’m ten times luckier to have him.
Dinner was slow that night leaving me with plenty of time to debate what kind of tattoo I wanted. And where. Where was definitely the harder thing to decide. I didn’t want it anywhere superobvious, but I didn’t want it somewhere it would never be seen either. Tanner would probably be shocked. Would he like it? Think it was stupid? Sexy?
Anticipation built in my stomach, and by the time our shift was over, I was wound like a top.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jason asked. “You can just tag along, not get one. Lots of people bring a friend just for company.”
“I’m doing it.”
Jason gave me a smile I’d never seen from him before. Was he proud of me for making a bold move like this? Appreciative of the show of solidarity, so he wouldn’t have to get it alone? He stayed quiet for most of the boat ride across the bay to Long Island.
The tattoo parlor was a tiny storefront in an old wooden house.
Inside, everything was neat and tidy. The walls were covered with artwork, and rows of design books filled three long shelves and a big coffee table.
“What can I do for you boys?” A woman who couldn’t have been much over thirty looked us up and down. “Y’all gettin’ your girlfriend’s names tattooed on your arms? Or your mama’s birthdates?”
Jason and I both laughed. “Not even close,” he said. “Does Billy still work here? He’s done my others.”
Jason rolled up his sleeve, and the woman whistled with appreciation. “Oh yeah, Billy’s still here. I bet he’d love to add on to what you’ve got goin’ on there. Hey, Billy, you got a repeat out front.”
I don’t know why, but I expected Billy to be some biker-looking huge dude with a bushy beard. He was actually a wiry, nerdy-looking guy, who I’d have guessed was a physics teacher, not a tattoo artist.
“Dude.” He greeted Jason with a hug. “What are we doing?”
As Jason described what he wanted, I caught the spiky-haired blonde eyeing me again. “What about you, sugar britches? You here to watch, or you gettin’ some ink too?”
“Ink. Black. I want a phoenix and a date underneath.”
“Okay.” She nodded in approval. “I like a man who knows what he wants.”
She ran her fingers across a row of thick green binders and pulled one off the shelf. “Flip through these and see if you find what you’re lookin’ for. I can size the designs up and down, but I need to know what you want.”
“Sure.” I flipped through the pages, getting a little discouraged when I reached the halfway mark and nothing had caught my eye. Then there it was. Black scrollwork on the bottom. Sharper lines to the phoenix head up top. And the perfect size to fit from my hipbone to my ribs. I held the book up. “Page twenty-seven, design C.”
“Nice. That’ll look real good on your pale skin.” She ran her finger over the design and took the book. “Where’d you say you’re gonna be wantin’ this?”
I gestured around my right hipbone.
She cringed. “You ever had ink before?”
“No.”
She picked up my wrist and ran her finger over the knobby bone.
“Places like this, where the skin is thin over bone, they hurt like a son of a bitch. You sure you want that? There are other places….”
“I’m sure. I can take it.” In fact that seemed the most fitting way to get it. Suffer a little. You can’t take the Catholic out of the boy. I chuckled, and the blonde woman just shook her head.
“I’ll get you your consent forms while I go make up your template.
That’ll give you enough time in case you change your
“All I know is he’s one lucky bastard to have hooked up with you.”
I couldn’t keep from grinning. Taking compliments still made my face burn hotter than a stove coil, but for the first time in my life, I’d started to let kind words be felt on the inside too. I liked people thinking Tanner’s lucky to have me, even if the truth was that I’m ten times luckier to have him.
Dinner was slow that night leaving me with plenty of time to debate what kind of tattoo I wanted. And where. Where was definitely the harder thing to decide. I didn’t want it anywhere superobvious, but I didn’t want it somewhere it would never be seen either. Tanner would probably be shocked. Would he like it? Think it was stupid? Sexy?
Anticipation built in my stomach, and by the time our shift was over, I was wound like a top.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jason asked. “You can just tag along, not get one. Lots of people bring a friend just for company.”
“I’m doing it.”
Jason gave me a smile I’d never seen from him before. Was he proud of me for making a bold move like this? Appreciative of the show of solidarity, so he wouldn’t have to get it alone? He stayed quiet for most of the boat ride across the bay to Long Island.
The tattoo parlor was a tiny storefront in an old wooden house.
Inside, everything was neat and tidy. The walls were covered with artwork, and rows of design books filled three long shelves and a big coffee table.
“What can I do for you boys?” A woman who couldn’t have been much over thirty looked us up and down. “Y’all gettin’ your girlfriend’s names tattooed on your arms? Or your mama’s birthdates?”
Jason and I both laughed. “Not even close,” he said. “Does Billy still work here? He’s done my others.”
Jason rolled up his sleeve, and the woman whistled with appreciation. “Oh yeah, Billy’s still here. I bet he’d love to add on to what you’ve got goin’ on there. Hey, Billy, you got a repeat out front.”
I don’t know why, but I expected Billy to be some biker-looking huge dude with a bushy beard. He was actually a wiry, nerdy-looking guy, who I’d have guessed was a physics teacher, not a tattoo artist.
“Dude.” He greeted Jason with a hug. “What are we doing?”
As Jason described what he wanted, I caught the spiky-haired blonde eyeing me again. “What about you, sugar britches? You here to watch, or you gettin’ some ink too?”
“Ink. Black. I want a phoenix and a date underneath.”
“Okay.” She nodded in approval. “I like a man who knows what he wants.”
She ran her fingers across a row of thick green binders and pulled one off the shelf. “Flip through these and see if you find what you’re lookin’ for. I can size the designs up and down, but I need to know what you want.”
“Sure.” I flipped through the pages, getting a little discouraged when I reached the halfway mark and nothing had caught my eye. Then there it was. Black scrollwork on the bottom. Sharper lines to the phoenix head up top. And the perfect size to fit from my hipbone to my ribs. I held the book up. “Page twenty-seven, design C.”
“Nice. That’ll look real good on your pale skin.” She ran her finger over the design and took the book. “Where’d you say you’re gonna be wantin’ this?”
I gestured around my right hipbone.
She cringed. “You ever had ink before?”
“No.”
She picked up my wrist and ran her finger over the knobby bone.
“Places like this, where the skin is thin over bone, they hurt like a son of a bitch. You sure you want that? There are other places….”
“I’m sure. I can take it.” In fact that seemed the most fitting way to get it. Suffer a little. You can’t take the Catholic out of the boy. I chuckled, and the blonde woman just shook her head.
“I’ll get you your consent forms while I go make up your template.
That’ll give you enough time in case you change your
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