Ink Me More

by Jude Ouvrard

  The wood floor creaked behind me and I turned around knowing who it would be. His hair was a mess as he smiled at me.

  “It feels so weird to be here.” His honesty was nice, but to me, this didn’t feel weird at all. It felt right.

  “Is that good or bad?”

  “Good. It’s very good.” His mouth opened as if to say something else, but he didn’t, so I went back to cooking after waiting for a few seconds.

  What was I supposed to say to him? Our shared intimacy was now more than just casual moments.

  “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “I am.” Miles’ voice came from right behind me. Throaty and deep, it gave me chills at the back of my neck.

  Why does he affect me so much? Is it possible I’m over John already? Maybe…

  It was still too soon to tell, though. Curious, I snuck a small peek over at him. Gosh, he’d moved closer and now stood one or two inches behind me.

  “You’re kind of sweet with my t-shirt on.”

  I let go of the pan and spatula and turned around to face him.

  “There is every reason in the world for things to be weird between us, but let’s not let it be, okay?”

  All I could do was smile because he’d left me speechless.

  “You not only look sweet, you smell sweet. Kinda like strawberries. I bet you taste sweet, too.” He pointed at the small bowl filled with Starbursts, and asked, “Can I have one?”

  “Just one.” The words stuck in my throat and came out a little garbled.

  Miles leaned toward the counter, locking me in between. Dealing with this tension so soon in the day was a challenge. Miles was an attractive man, and that he stood there shirtless wasn’t helping. He grabbed a candy and unwrapped it, then I watched with fascination while his lips closed over my favorite addiction.

  “I’d like to take you on a date tonight, Wildfire.”

  My answering smile couldn’t be bigger, or happier for that matter. “Absolutely. I would love to, Cowboy.”

  His thumb moved from my jawline down to my chin. “I know you just got out of a relationship, so know I’m not forcing you into anything.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “Now, about those eggs. What have you got in there? They smell fantastic. When do we eat?”

  “Sorry it’s not fancier, just eggs with Swiss cheese, cheddar, and shallots. They used to serve something like this at the restaurant I worked at in Boston.” Should I mention it doesn’t look as good as the restaurant’s? I smiled at my own little secret and hoped it would be edible.

  Leaning in toward me, Miles caused my breathing to stop for a quick moment when he kissed the tip of my nose. Then he pulled away to take a seat at my small table. The way he looked around the apartment made me self-conscious. Almost everything I owned was an eclectic collection of hand-me-downs and discards. “Sorry about the apartment, I haven’t had time to make it feel like home yet.”

  “No worries. I think it’s alright.”

  “So, which area do you live in? Is it far from here?”

  Miles shook his head. “I live in a hotel room at the moment. Just got here recently and haven’t figured out what to do next.”

  After placing both plates on the table, I got us each a glass of fresh orange juice. One of the awful things about being hungover has to be the insatiable thirst it leaves a person with.

  “Thank you, Val.”

  “My pleasure. So, how long are you planning on staying here?” What if he’s only passing through? My heart couldn’t take another trampling right now.

  “I think I’m back for good, but I’ll also have to visit Montana from time to time to check on my grandparents. They live on a ranch there, and are getting too old to care for it. After they put me through vet school, I spent years helping them—working with the horses, cows, and other animals—but I had to do something for myself, you know?”

  Veterinarian? We hadn’t even spent twenty-four hours together and already, I felt something deep down. John hadn’t preoccupied my mind. In fact, I hadn’t thought about him at all. “So, what did you do?” I had to know. He couldn’t stop there.

  “You know how I sing, right? Well, I went from town to town, looking for gigs here and there. It was fun while it lasted but the time has come to stay in one place for a while.”

  “So you came here, to Seattle, of all places?”

  He took a bite of his eggs and a groan came from deep within him. “This is really good.”

  “Thanks. What are you going to do here? I mean, do you have a job lined up or something?”

  With his mouth full, he took a sip of the orange juice. “I’ve got options. I’m a country singer and a veterinarian, so I should be able to find work in a nice clinic, pending recertifying my license for the state of Washington, of course, or I can keep pursuing my singing career.”

  Miles was not only cute, but smart and driven—and a man full of surprises.

  “I’ve got to go down to the tattoo shop later and show some sketches to Levi and Kyle. I’m a graphic designer and trying to find my way through it all. As you already know, I work at the club most nights. For now, it’s enough, but I don’t see myself doing that long term. It’s exhausting.”

  In the past few days I’d worked on a few drawings I wanted to show the guys, some ideas for future tattoos.

  “What about the tattoos?”

  I lifted my t-shirt sleeve up to my shoulder. “I did the design on this one myself. The artist adjusted it to make sure it would fit my arm. It was a great experiment.”

  Miles reached out to let each of his fingers dance over my inked skin, trying to comprehend the meaning. I had never explained or discussed my ink with anyone. Boston took me to a dark place where I’d felt lonesome more often than not. The design marked on my skin encapsulated so many things I’d missed from home.

  “You’re beautiful, and I must say I’m glad to see how well you’re doing.”

  I furrowed my brow, wondering why he kept worrying about me. “One day, you’re going to have to tell me why you feel so protective of me.” I paused, waiting to see his reaction. “Not today or tomorrow, of course. But someday.”

  He agreed with a nod while trying to hide the sadness behind his eyes, but I saw it. I saw right through him. Something dark resided in him.

  “Can I do something?”

  Miles’ words seduced me like he’d sung them, so I hushed my head and waited to see what he had in mind.

  The chair screeched on the floor when he stood up. Closing the distance between us, he offered me his hand, which I accepted right away. With a delicate pull, I was flush to him as he wrapped his arms around me.

  “What have you done to me, Val? I’ve never felt this way before.”

  “Me neither,” I muttered.

  Astounding me, he caressed my thighs in a gentle way, followed by my waist. My breathing quickened by the second in anticipation of what he would do next. His fingers ran over my belly button and upward, to underneath my armpits. A short second later, the lone fabric covering my body, his t-shirt, was gone.

  “I had to get it back, tattoo girl.” He grinned once he had his t-shirt back on, but my eyes were too focused on his to care. Miles kept his eyes on mine… never staring at me, or my body, while I stood in the middle of my kitchen naked. Tipping my chin higher, his lips met with mine. He kissed me without my asking. And then he left.

  What about an, I’ll see you later? No matter, since I could still feel his lips on mine.

  Oh, gosh, I was in trouble already.

  VAL

  At least ten minutes must’ve passed while I stared at the door Miles had closed behind him.

  What is happening to me? A surge of strong feelings rushed over me, leaving me confused. In my mind, I tried hard to understand where the attraction to Miles had come from. This wasn’t a rebound romance—because I didn’t intend to let him go. It surprised me I’d let him leave a few minutes ago. Gosh, I missed him already. I
n that precise moment, I understood what Nix had meant about Levi. Sometimes things are impossible to put into words, so we just have to accept our feelings and deal with it.

  I was floating on cloud nine, and so not ready to land. Would I ever be?

  For the first time since leaving Boston, my heart didn’t ache anymore. In fact, it had started to blossom again. Miles was the reason for that; that’s what he did to me. I’d bloomed, or at least I had on the inside. Every touch from him sent a torrent of heat through my body. The chemistry made me fell out of control. Yeah, it was that crazy. Being with John hadn’t been anything close to this intense in a while; that flame had died a long time ago. Now Miles had rekindled it, I had to hold on to it.

  Miles, I said in my mind. Though I knew little about him, I had a feeling I had all the time in the world to get to know him.

  After a little while, I came out of my Miles-induced daze and jumped in the shower. I had to show my doodles to Levi and Kyle in the hope of getting some feedback. In the coming month, I planned to add more ink to my skin. Living so close to a tattoo shop might not be such a good idea after all.

  As I ran down the stairs with my pile of sketches, I hoped both of them would be in the shop. After the party we’d had last night, it wasn’t an impossible stretch one of them might have stayed home.

  The door unlocked and I walked inside. Both of them looked up at me with tired eyes bearing dark circles under them. Large cups of coffee were sitting before them. They didn’t look good.

  “You guys look like zombies. Do you want a piece of my brain or something?” I joked.

  “Don’t be so loud, Val. We’re both hungover and being here is a fucking nightmare,” Kyle whispered.

  I nodded and walked toward them. “Well, guys, I have something to show you for my next tattoo, and I want your advice.” My volume was the same Kyle had used, quiet.

  “Can’t we do this another day?” Levi begged.

  When I chuckled, they both winced. “I’m afraid today’s the day.”

  After dropping the papers in front of them, they both sighed and started looking over my scribbles. Their silence almost killed me. Kyle nudged Levi with his elbow, and Levi groaned in response. Must be some unspoken language they had.

  “I think we have a problem, Val.”

  The way he was avoiding looking at me, I was sure Levi thought they sucked. I’d thought they were good. At least, they were all right.

  “How do you like working at the club, sweet Val?”

  Why is he asking about the club?

  Kyle lifted his eyes to meet Levi’s as he asked me, “Well?”

  “I like it. The money comes in handy.”

  “Yeah, no shit.” Levi laughed and they both looked at each other before nodding. “Welcome to Ink Me, Val. You’re going to be our first apprentice.”

  What?

  “What do you mean by apprentice? Those are for my next tattoo.” They weren’t making sense. Were they still drunk?

  Kyle laughed out loud, and then Levi joined him while I watched them, not understanding what joke I’d missed. After several seconds of nonstop laughter, they both ended up holding onto their pained heads.

  “Look, Val. It’s pretty fucking simple. We’re usually booked solid, and you have amazing drawing skills. We’ll teach you everything we know.”

  It was my turn to laugh. I laughed so loud I was sure the people in the building across the street heard me. “I’m no tattoo artist. I don’t know anything about it, and besides, I hate needles.”

  “That’s why we’re here. Besides, this is a different needle. It has nothing to do with vaccines or IVs.”

  “Give us twenty-four hours to get you settled; we’ll take baby steps. Tomorrow, you’ll own your first tattoo gun.”

  “Do I get any say in this?”

  In unison, they answered with a resolute, “No.”

  I couldn’t hold back, and started laughing again. The whole situation made me nervous. When getting my ink done back in Boston, the idea of tattooing had crossed my mind, but I do not deal well with blood.

  “What if I can’t deal with the blood?”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Kyle supplied like there would be no issue whatsoever.

  Drifting my sight around the shop, I took it in like I’d never been in here before. This could be a life changer. I once saw a show on TV where an apprentice learned on oranges and pigskin. It had disgusted me, so was this really something I wanted to do? I had no clue, but I was willing to try it.

  “What about those? Any comments?” I pointed at my drawings.

  Levi took the pile in his hands and sifted through them. “I would make some changes, but only by preference. Your skills are there. It’s fucking flawless.”

  “Yeah, flawless. So, tomorrow, be here early, but not too early?”

  I left the shop in a haze of uncertainty. Me? A tattoo artist? I couldn’t wait to tell the girls and Miles. Wait, Miles was a veterinarian. Would he mind dating a tattoo artist? The best thing to do was talk to him about it.

  Walking through Pioneer Square, butterflies danced in my stomach. Miles’ fingers were entwined with mine, yet I was about to lose my mind. In a good way, though. Dinner had gone well. He’d opened doors and helped with my chair, and he’d made sure I had everything I wanted throughout the meal, which made our time together so precious. I’d told him I didn’t want some fancy restaurant. I’d wanted something simple and sweet, and that’s what we’d had.

  My phone started buzzing inside my small purse, and I ignored it because I was busy.

  “Maybe you should take it,” Miles suggested, and I sighed, released his hand, and then started digging in my purse to find the phone.

  This seemed an almost impossible mission. Once I found the elusive phone, my parents’ number flashed on the screen.

  “Hi.”

  “Valerie, how are you? I haven’t heard from you in few days.”

  “I’m good, Mom. Between working at the club and trying to have a social life, I don’t have much time.” By social life, I meant spending most of my time with Miles, of course.

  “We’d like you to come home tomorrow night for dinner. Would that be okay?”

  Before answering her question, I looked to Miles and hesitated about asking him to come along. Would this be too soon? “Hold on a second, please, Mom.”

  Miles sensed the question coming; his head was tipped to the side as he watched me carefully. “What’s up?”

  “Would you like to have dinner with me and my family tomorrow night?”

  His jaw fell a little, but he soon readjusted and replaced his look of anxiety with a smile. “I would love to.”

  “Mom, make it two. My friend’s coming.” Was he my friend? What were we anyway? Mom stayed silent for a couple seconds, and I thought the line had gone dead.

  “Okay, Valerie. Be here at six on the dot.” She hung up, and I felt the excitement of my parents meeting Miles at once.

  “Are you sure you want to come?” I asked him again. Everything seemed to be going so fast between us.

  “Only if you want me to.” His fingers found mine again and the distance between us disappeared.

  “That’s not what I meant. I want you to come, but if, for some reason, you think it’s too soon, tell me.” The last thing I wanted was to put unnecessary pressure on him, but the small smile on his lips made my heart beat again. It brought me to life.

  “You’re the one who just ended a long relationship, Val. If one of us needs time, it’s you, not me. So, let me ask you, do you want me to go with you or not?”

  “Yes, I want you to come.” Pressing my lips on his smile, I kissed him. It felt like a declaration of some sort. “I haven’t talked to John since I got here. We’re over and done.”

  He chuckled. “I’m sorry, but that makes me very happy.”

  “You’re terrible, cowboy.” We kissed again, and then I asked, “Are you ready to head to my place?”

  “Al
ready? I thought we were having fun. I didn’t know I was that boring,” he joked. “Yes, let’s go to your place.”

  Standing in front of Ink Me, my whole conversation with Levi and Kyle came back to me and I realized I hadn’t told Miles yet. The news scared me while it made me nervous, too. “There’s something I have to tell you, Miles.”

  “Why do I not like the sound of your voice right now?”

  I avoided his eyes by keeping mine glued to the Ink Me logo on the front window. “You know I’m a good friend with the owners of this shop, right?”

  “You mentioned them before, yes. Why? What happened?”

  “Since I happen to be good with a pen, they are taking me on as an apprentice… as of tomorrow.” I gulped. Why does what he thinks make me so nervous? Because I care, okay? I care.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw him moving closer to me. The back of his fingers brushed against my cheek.

  “Val, what’s the matter?” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “Did they do something to you?”

  Levi and Kyle would never do anything to me. “No, nothing like that. But what if I become a tattoo artist? What will you think of me?” I eyed him and waited for a reaction. When he frowned, I could tell he wanted to say something by the way his mouth fell. The seconds passed while I couldn’t breathe.

  “I’m not here to judge you, Val. You do what you need to do to be happy.” Leaning toward me, he kissed my temple. “Why are you so tense?”

  “Because… I’m–I’m afraid it won’t be good enough for you.” Miles started to cut me off. “Let me finish. I know it sounds terrible now, but just wait a minute, please.” He nodded. “When I was younger I wanted to be an art teacher, but my parents pushed me to do something else. Something that would drive my talent farther and give me the promise of a better future. My mom has been a teacher for the last twenty-five years and it’s not as easy as it sounds. They didn’t want that for me.” My throat was hurting, and I could feel the emotions building. “I picked graphic design because I could work from home and build my own brand, you know? Be myself, my own boss. When Kyle and Levi suggested I could be part of their team… well, I never saw that coming and I sort of like the idea, but I’m also worried that whatever this is we have now, in the long run, you might get tired of me and my tattoos.” By the time I’d finished speaking, I was out of breath.