Page 60 of Nine

The waiter disappears with the menus. Trig’s head falls back against the booth, exposing his neck. I look at his tattoo.

“What does your tattoo mean?”

“Consumed. It’s pretty straight forward.”

“Come on. There has to be a story behind it. Every tattoo has one.”

“That, coming from the girl who has none.”

I toss up my hands.

“I’m still waiting on a story,” I remind him.

He leans forward and rests his elbows on the table.

“My brother used to say this world was built with good intentions, but saturated with so much evil that we’d never see the good if we let life consume us. He’d say, ‘Don’t let life consume you.’ It was his go-to phrase. He said it about a million times to me, and I took his advice. That was, until he died, and then life swallowed me up and forced me to do things I would’ve never done. I was swimming in all the evil he used to mumble about and it was then that I understood exactly what he meant. This tattoo was done in his honor, and to remind me that somewhere out in the world, people with good intentions still exist.”

“That’s darkly beautiful.”

Trig nods. He stares at me, and I know he’s thinking the same thing. We’ve both done things in this life that we didn’t want to. We’ve both made choices that were for the best at the time and both of us were completely and utterly consumed by life.

“Would you be upset if I wanted to get that tattoo?”

Trig looks down at the table. I can’t tell if he’s bothered or not.

“I hope that when you’re with me, you don’t need to be reminded that good still exists. Despite what I’ve done, I’m not a monster.”

I lick my lips. “I used to call you my dark hero. At least, in my head I did. I’d sit there and question if you were good or bad, and then I realized you and me, we aren’t so different. I did things to protect people and you did things to protect people, and we both hurt ourselves in the process. This life has finally given us time to shed our skin, and I see that now.”

He looks around the restaurant.

“This tattoo will have a whole new meaning,” I add.

“I won’t stand in your way if you want it.”

He doesn’t sound convincing, but I’ve already made up my mind. I’m getting it.

The waiter brings our drinks and then our food next. We scarf it down while we make small talk about our favorite desserts, places we’ve always wanted to visit and things we’ve never done.

“You’ve really never had any piercings, beside your ears?” he asks.

“Nope. I’ve wanted them, but being in the business I was, I kept a clean body.”

“What about you?” I question.

“I had my dick pierced once.”

“Really?” My ears perk up.

He chuckles.

“Just messing with you. I’ve never had any piercings either, but look at your face. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“It might be interesting. The barbell sliding around. It could make for a good time. I don’t know.”

He rubs his hands together and gives me an evil smile.

“Care to play a game – loser has to get a piercing of the winner’s choice?”

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