Opposites Attract

by Michelle M. Pillow

  ‘Oh,’ Susan groaned. ‘His wife couldn’t make it?’

  Ethan laughed as Ted turned the corner. ‘Veronica doesn’t cook.’

  ‘Tornado Tattoo.’ Alexis read the giant heart with wings sign as Ted pulled into the long parking lot in front of a brick building. ‘Hey, isn’t that what’s on your jacket?’

  ‘Yeah, Adam sent me the jacket for Christmas.’ Ethan opened the car door.

  Alexis looked out the window. An airbrushed mask stared out from the front window of the shop. A big, scary-looking guy stood by an old-fashioned black motorcycle. The man had short brown hair and giant holes in his ears as if he’d been shot in the lobe. Instantly, she assumed it was Adam by the black T-shirt he wore with the shop’s name on it. Her fingers shook as she reached for the door handle. They couldn’t possibly be staying with him. This had to be a mistake.

  ‘Adam,’ Ethan called to the big guy, confirming her fears. He held out his hand. ‘Hey, man, great to see you.’

  Alexis couldn’t hear what was said, but watched the men banter back and forth. Ted and Susan opened their doors and got out. Alexis was slower to follow.

  ‘This your bike?’ Ethan asked the big, scary tattoo artist. He motioned to the black motorcycle.

  ‘Yeah, just got it back from the mechanic last week,’ Adam answered. His voice was deep and he spoke loud, as if used to talking to crowds of people.

  ‘It’s an old Triumph?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Adam said. ‘Sure is. A seventy-eight. I traded a back piece for it. I just had it chopped, raked, stretched. Looks a lot better than when I got it, that’s for sure. I see you still have the Lincoln. I remember when you hauled me down to Oklahoma to get that thing. It’s looking good. A lot better than the pile of rust it was.’

  ‘Ah, it wasn’t that bad. Oh, hey, I want you to meet some friends of mine.’ Ethan turned around and pointed at each person as he said their name. ‘Ted, Susan, Alexis.’

  ‘Hey, man, thanks for letting us crash,’ Ted said, shaking Adam’s hand.

  ‘Not a problem. Glad to have ya. We just remodelled our attic and basement, so we have plenty of room,’ Adam said.

  Inside, the shop was huge. Adam informed them that it was the biggest in Kansas. It was nothing like Alexis expected. She’d imagined something dark, like an underground torture chamber.

  The walls were covered with flash. Ethan told her that the sheets of artwork were to help people pick tattoos, much like the designs in his computer. Alexis could see four enormous fish tanks – one with bright saltwater fish, one with large piranhas and two with freshwater fish. Where there wasn’t flash, the walls had been spray-painted with designs. A familiar buzzing sounded in the back, but she couldn’t see who was tattooing.

  ‘Is that your wife?’ Alexis asked, wondering what sort of woman would marry a tattoo artist. She was probably just as big as he was and twice as frightening.

  Adam laughed. ‘No, that’s my apprentice, Raulf. Veronica doesn’t tattoo. She takes care of the boring paperwork stuff I don’t want to do.’

  ‘She works here then?’ Alexis asked, still curious.

  ‘Sometimes. That is if she’s not home on the computer writing.’ He laughed. ‘Crap, that reminds me. I have to go find those receipts. If I misplaced them again she’ll most likely threaten to divorce me. You know, behind every tattoo artist is a woman getting ready to hit him over the back of the head. Truth is, if she didn’t keep up the paperwork this place would’ve closed the first year.’

  The phone rang and Adam excused himself. Susan had wandered off with Ted to look at designs. Ethan motioned to a lime-green couch in the front waiting area. ‘So, what you think?’

  Alexis sat down by him. ‘It’s not what I pictured at all.’

  ‘Let me guess. You pictured a small little rat’s nest filled with cigarette smoke and guns and drugs and big, bad bikers in black leather?’ Ethan laughed.

  ‘Well, yeah,’ Alexis said. ‘That’s how it is in the movies.’

  Ethan’s hand lifted briefly to touch her cheek, stroking her with his thumb. ‘You really shouldn’t believe everything you see in movies. This is a legitimate business. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to fight the constant stereotyping.’

  ‘I know what you mean,’ Alexis said. ‘People look at me and see a spoiled little rich girl who’s had everything handed to her.’

  ‘People look at me and see an uneducated hack that’s too lazy to get a real job,’ Ethan said.

  ‘But that’s not who we are, is it?’ Alexis’s voice lowered to a whisper. She leaned closer. ‘You’re not a hack. You’re a true artist.’

  ‘And you’re not a spoiled little rich girl,’ Ethan said, leaning closer. He pressed his forehead to hers. The tips of their noses touched. She could feel his breath against her lips. ‘At least, not any more.’

  Alexis smiled. He was right. She had changed and she knew he was partly the reason for it.

  Someone cleared their throat. Ethan instantly pulled away. Adam joined them, sitting across from them on a bright-orange couch. Alexis quickly looked around the shop to make sure Susan and Ted hadn’t seen them. She’d been centimetres away from kissing Ethan. What had gotten into her?

  ‘We were just talking about tattoo stereotypes,’ Ethan said.

  ‘Uh-huh, sure you were.’ Adam laughed. Alexis started to relax around him. The man might look scary, but he didn’t act it. He opened his mouth to say more but the door chime went off and a group of young teenage girls walked in. Instead, he called, ‘Can I help ya?’

  ‘Um, yeah,’ one girl said after glancing at her three friends. She stepped forwards, the unofficial spokesperson for the group. Swallowing nervously, she said, ‘We’d like our belly buttons pierced.’

  ‘Everyone over eighteen?’ Adam asked.

  ‘Yes,’ the girl answered, nodding.

  ‘Not a problem. Right this way and we’ll get started on the paperwork.’ Adam stood back up, bantering good naturedly with the girls as he had them fill out release forms. Afterwards, he gave them care instructions. Alexis craned her neck, watching the whole process curiously. Susan and Ted joined them.

  ‘Do you think we can watch?’ Susan asked.

  ‘Have to ask Adam, it’s his shop,’ Ethan said. Alexis looked at him. He was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. She wondered what he was thinking.

  Alexis and Susan turned back to watch Adam work. The girls spoke ninety miles a minute and giggled in nervous excitement.

  ‘Is this going to hurt?’

  ‘Oh, look at this purple ring! I love purple.’

  ‘How long did you say until we can change it?’

  ‘Should we get matching rings?’

  ‘Did you say this was going to hurt?’

  Alexis had no idea how Adam kept up with their bombardment of questions, all the while maintaining a smile on his face. OK, so maybe the guy only looked big and scary. He was actually quite nice.

  Susan waited until Adam finished helping the girls pick out rings from the long jewellery case. ‘Do you mind if we watch?’

  Adam glanced at the girls. ‘Up to them.’

  ‘Do you care if we watch?’ Susan asked the girls, smiling hopefully.

  They all shook their heads in denial, saying at once, ‘No, that’s fine.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘I don’t care.’

  ‘Do you have anything done?’

  The girls started giggling before Susan could answer. Alexis stood, following them to the back. They stopped before the low partition, keeping back from the piercing area, but still able to see it. Adam pulled on his gloves. She couldn’t see his station as he set up his area.

  Alexis felt Ethan behind her. They were at the back of the group. His hand skimmed the back of her arm in a light caress. She turned to look at him and he gazed deep into her eyes.

  ‘Ow!’

  Alexis jumped in surprise, turning back around. The piercing was done.


  ‘That was fast,’ Susan said. ‘Did you see that?’

  ‘No,’ Alexis said. ‘I wasn’t looking.’

  The second girl lay down. Alexis felt another brush along the back of her arm. She turned to Ethan and mouthed, ‘What?’

  He smiled. Her stomach tightened. He looked so cute, and so very kissable.

  ‘Mm,’ the girl getting pierced moaned. ‘Ah!’

  Alexis frowned. She’d missed that one as well. She turned around to see, waiting while the third lay down. Adam was pulling on a fresh set of latex gloves. The two with piercings admired their stomachs in the mirror, swaying back and forth as they toyed with the gemstone barbells, all the while dotting at the piercings with a paper towel to stop the bleeding.

  Waiting for Ethan to touch her again, Alexis turned her head to the side. He didn’t reach for her. She turned around to look at him.

  ‘What?’ he mouthed, grinning.

  This time Alexis ignored the girls as the third one received her piercing. Ethan looked at her mouth. Time seemed to stand still as she stared at him. Licking her lips, she wanted to kiss him.

  ‘Last one,’ Adam announced.

  Alexis forced herself to turn back. This would probably be the only time she’d see something like this. She hated to think of what her mother would say if she found out she was even in a place like this, having impure thoughts about Ethan. Adam took a needle and pierced the girl’s navel. Alexis cringed. Adam threaded a curved barbell into the hollow needle and ran it back through.

  ‘It’s in there like swimwear,’ Adam announced, pulling off his gloves.

  Susan turned around, her mouth agape. To Alexis, she whispered, ‘Do you see that? He just made like two hundred and fifty dollars in ten minutes.’

  After the girls left, they called in a pizza order to the shop. No one was in the mood for takeout, but that was all the town had for delivery. Once they’d eaten, Adam closed the shop and they went a block away to his house. It looked like a modest middle-class home from the outside, but Adam and Veronica had completely remodelled the inside. Veronica wasn’t much for decorating beyond the basics, but there was a simplicity about the house that seemed to fit the couple nicely.

  Veronica was pretty with long auburn hair and bright-green eyes. She was nothing that Alexis had expected. In fact, she couldn’t see a single piercing or tattoo on the woman. By the looks of her pale skin, she never went out of the house. Adam laughingly said it was because she was lazy. Veronica claimed it was because she was a writer, to which he replied it was because she just didn’t want to change out of her pyjama pants. Apparently, it was practically the only thing she wore. They bantered back and forth, but the couple were unmistakably in love.

  Ethan wasn’t lying when he said Adam had a lot of DVDs. Alexis had never seen so many movies in one place. The man also had the big-screen TVs to go with it. Not just one, but three. The dark wood furniture was understated and went well with the blue-grey walls and Impressionist paintings. They were by no means as rich as Alexis had once been, but it was clear they made a pretty good living in the tattoo business. It made Alexis continue to look at Ethan in a new light. Maybe there was something to his career choice after all. Adam and Veronica seemed to be doing all right with it.

  ‘So, you and Ethan, huh?’ Veronica said when she and Alexis were alone in the kitchen. Veronica wandered about aimlessly, looking for food. She opened a cupboard only to shut it, coming away empty handed. She then moved to the refrigerator, opened it and then closed it without taking anything out.

  ‘What about us?’ Alexis asked, feigning ignorance. She watched Veronica go back to the cupboard only to sigh heavily when she didn’t see anything she wanted.

  ‘OK, you’re in denial yet,’ Veronica said, shrugging.

  Alexis furrowed her brow. Denial about what? OK, creative type or no, the woman was definitely a little weird.

  ‘So.’ Alexis searched her mind for conversation. ‘How’d you and your husband meet?’

  ‘In a bar. I was head waitress. He was the DJ. We both needed roommates so we moved in together,’ Veronica said. ‘I tried to deny liking him. I couldn’t believe all the tattoos he had. I’d never seen anything like it. Mm, but they grew on me. I barely even notice them any more.’

  ‘Do you have tattoos?’ Alexis asked.

  Veronica laughed. ‘A couple, but it’s his thing. I have mine.’

  ‘And it doesn’t bother you what people think?’ Alexis lowered her voice and stepped further into the kitchen.

  ‘Maybe a little at first, but I’ve never really been one to worry about what other people think. There are too many idiots out there with opinions. You can’t please them all. Besides, what’s to be embarrassed about? Adam’s a good man. I love him. We have a wonderful life together. We have a beautiful family. The shop makes money. My bills are paid. And anytime I want something, I just have to mention it to him and he somehow manages to trade a tattoo for it.’

  ‘Like what?’ Alexis bit her lip. Veronica did seem happy.

  ‘Well, I offhandedly mentioned I wanted to learn to play guitar and by the end of the week he’d found one for me. Apparently, it’s a very nice one, or so I’m told.’ Veronica grinned. ‘It’s collecting dust in my bedroom. I never even took a lesson.’

  ‘Is there a reason why you won’t drive?’ Ethan asked, crawling next to Alexis. She looked so beautiful lying on the sofa bed. The soft light from the bathroom caressed her skin. He’d just gotten out of the shower. They were sharing the basement guest room. Susan and Ted had the attic.

  ‘I can’t,’ Alexis admitted. ‘I haven’t been behind the wheel since I was sixteen in Drivers Ed class.’

  ‘Maybe I’ll re-teach you sometime,’ Ethan said. ‘After we get to California.’

  ‘You think we’ll still be friends in California?’

  ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Then I think we will, definitely,’ Ethan said.

  ‘You know,’ Alexis said, ‘you owe me a foot massage.’

  Ethan laughed. ‘You’re going to try and cash that in, are you?’

  She nodded enthusiastically.

  ‘How about I give you a full body massage instead?’ Ethan didn’t wait for her to answer. He ran his hand over her hip, slowly digging his fingers under her camisole. He slowly worked her shirt up, exposing her breasts. Her nipples were already hard.

  Alexis lay back, parting her lips as he kissed her. He made love to her slowly, caressing her body as he undressed her. His hands went to her waist and he pushed the lacy shorts off her hips, revealing the narrow thatch of hair between her thighs.

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ Ethan said.

  ‘You enjoy looking?’ Without waiting to hear his answer, Alexis pushed him onto his back. Ethan groaned softly, trying to stay quiet. Giggling, she stripped him of his boxer shorts. When he was naked, she straddled his hard stomach and reached for her breasts.

  Backing her butt against his cock, she let the erection settle between her cheeks. She rocked her body against his hard stomach and let him feel how hot she was for him, how ready. Each gentle movement slid her wet sex along his firm muscles. She ran her palms over his chest, down his stomach and back up to his arms. As she leaned over, her nipples grazed him. He opened his mouth and made a move for her, stretching his tongue out to lick at her breast. She pulled back and he missed.

  ‘Alexis,’ he groaned. It was pure torment, but he liked the torture. He touched her wherever he could reach, enjoying the look of their hands on her body. Her fingers twined with his as she guided his palms to her breasts. ‘I’ve thought about making love to you all day.’

  ‘Me too,’ she said. ‘I didn’t ever think the car ride would end.’

  Before Ethan could answer, Alexis lifted her body up and impaled herself on his shaft. He moaned at the tight fit. Her fingers gripped into his shoulders, clawing him as she used his body for leverage. She wiggled her hips back and forth as she thrust u
p and down. He’d spent the day in the car dreaming of this very thing, of all the ways he wanted to make love to her. It was nice knowing she was as frantic as he.

  Ethan watched as she rode him at her own hard pace, reaching between her thighs to stimulate the tender bud hidden there. He bit his tongue to keep from groaning, not wanting to wake the household. It was strikingly erotic the way her hair fell over her shoulders. The way the light danced on her breasts. He pushed his hips up into her, giving it his all. She was wild, beautiful.

  She scratched his chest. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. He could feel she was close to coming. Ethan held back, forcing his eyes to stay open so he could watch her climax. Her movements became frantic, jerking wildly against his hand as she met with release. Ethan could hold back no longer, as he released himself. Alexis rubbed her hips in shallow circles riding out her climax.

  Weakly, she fell against him, breathing heavily. Suddenly, Ethan tensed, pulling her body off of him. ‘Oh, shit.’

  Alexis pulled back. ‘What?’

  ‘Condom.’ Ethan shook his head. ‘We forgot to use a condom. Damn, I’m sorry, Alexis. I’ve never forgotten something that important before, I swear. It was just you were looking so cute and . . .’

  Alexis took a deep breath. ‘When’s the last time you’ve been tested?’

  ‘No, I’m good there. I’m worried more about getting you pregnant,’ Ethan said.

  ‘Don’t be, I get the birth-control shot at my mother’s insistence.’ Alexis gave a short laugh, moving to cuddle into Ethan’s arms.

  Ethan had a few choice words for Alexis’s mother. He kept them to himself.

  ‘She says she’s too young to be a grandmother,’ Alexis said. ‘And I just had my check-up so we’re fine. I mean, we shouldn’t slip up again, but it’s a little too late to worry about it now.’

  They lay in silence for a long time, just holding each other.

  12

  Their time in Kansas was almost surreal and went by quickly. Adam took time off from his shop while they were there. Both he and Veronica were gracious hosts. They stayed for two days. Ethan made love to Alexis every chance he got. It had become a game of sorts, finding ways to kiss and touch without getting caught by the others. They made love each night several times and even once in his car when they were out running ‘errands’.