Page 71 of Lost in the Current of You

The bell jingled above the door as we walked in through the door and the sound of buzzing filled the room. Different art pieces and tattoo designs filled the walls of the dark interior of the reception and my eyes bounced over each one.

Someone called Reece’s name and I turned to see a big burly man with dark eyes, dark brown hair, and a beard shadowing his jaw. Tattoos covered his arms and legs as he rounded the reception desk, leaning against the front of it with a wide smile and arms crossed.

“Sage told me you were coming in. I was wondering when you would have the guts to come see me. Didn’t think it would be this soon when you turned eighteen.”

Reece rolled his eyes. “You know, I’m not a little kid who’s scared of needles anymore.”

The man huffed a laugh. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Reece narrowed his eyes before turning to me and introducing me. “Clint, this is Dakota. She’s also getting a tattoo.”

Clint’s eyes turned to me then, glancing down at mine and Reece’s joined hands before coming back to me, a grin growing on his face. “The more the merrier. Excited?”

I tilted my head, eyes flicking to Reece for a moment. “More nervous than anything.”

Clint waved his hand nonchalantly. “You have nothing to worry about. You’ll barely feel it.” He paused and cocked his head to the side. “Well, depending on where you get it, that is.”

I chuckled. “The less painful the better.”

“Perfect.” He clapped his hands together before rounding the desk again and clicking a few things on the computer. “Do you guys know what you're getting or do you want to look through our design books for inspiration?”

Reece looked at me in question and I smiled as I responded. “I know what I want.”

Reece’s hand squeezed mine before Clint ushered us back into a free chair. I sat in the chair while Reece grabbed a free stool and sat next to me. Clint busied around the area to prepare the station while I looked for reference pictures on my phone.

I kept wiping my hands along my shorts, nerves spiking my heart rate, but I kept my focus on my phone, hoping it wasn’t noticeable every time I dragged my hands along my shorts.

Then I felt the warmth of Reece’s hand skimming over the top of my thigh, squeezing just above my knee, making my eyes bounce to his.

His eyes were inquisitive as they stared into mine. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just nervous.”

He squeezed the top of my thigh again. “I’ll be right here, Kody.” He leaned closer to look over my shoulder. “So what are you thinking?”

“I was thinking of the wave with the moon hanging over it. Avery, Alex, and I talked about getting matching ones one night in Airlie Beach but they refused. Alex even went to the extreme of stating he would be staying away from those ‘buzzing death machines’.” I laughed. “But I want something to remind me of that week.”

He turned to face me, a curious glint in his eye. “I’ll get it with you. I wasn’t even sure what I was getting yet. But I like your idea.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to. This is permanent, remember? I don’t want you to get something you don’t want.”

He smiled at me, reaching up to curve his hand around the back of my head, thumb resting against my cheekbone. “I want this. I want a reminder of that week because it was the best week of my life. The beach, the music, the parties.” His eyes bounced between each of mine, softening with each moment he paused. “You. Coming back into my life like you were always meant to be there.”

My heart skipped and tripped over itself as I leaned into his hand.

Meant to be there. For some reason my brain translated that into ‘always meant to be his’ and I felt all of my heartstrings pull in gravitation to him.

He leaned his forehead against mine. “Let’s do it,” he repeated my words from earlier.

I showed Clint my reference pictures and then he disappeared for a moment to draw it up before coming back with the stencil and showing it to me. It was better than I imagined, with the crescent moon hanging above about a pinky nail in size and a crashing wave underneath. Mountains stood tall next to the wave and beside the moon was a little plane flying over the scene. He even added some stars to the backdrop. It was like he plucked the memory from my brain, of me and Reece sitting on the beach the night he had wandered off. It was the first night I’d seen him truly vulnerable, consumed by something that plagued his mind.

I shook off the memory and grinned at Clint. “This is perfect.”

He smiled. “What I like to hear. Now where would you like it?”

“I think on my hip. On this side,” I said, tapping my right hip, not wanting it to be visible because it would give Mum more reason to be upset with me.

“Okay,” he nodded and situated himself on the stool on the opposite side of where Reece was. “Let me just lay the chair down and then you can relax and lay on your left side facing Reece and we’ll get started.”

---