Page 78 of Break

“Afternoon, sweetpea. We getting a tattoo today?” I move over to her side. Another side effect of her having kissed Max; she’s been way more comfortable around all of us. It’s like crossing that line has given her confidence she didn’t realize she was missing.

With her usual soft voice, she grins at me. “I’d like to at least go look and see what it’s all about. I thought of an idea but I don’t know if it’d be silly, or maybe Ethan’s artist will suggest something different.”

“What do you think you’d like to get?”

There’s that damnable blush again. “I’d rather keep it to myself right now if that’s okay?”

Pretending to be upset, I mock glare at her. “Fine. Keep your secrets.” I’m sure whatever she wants will be perfect, but I can wait to see it when it’s all finished. “Do you at least know where on your body you’d like to get it?”

Bouncing her head side to side as she thinks about it, she says, “I was thinking either on my upper back, or here.” She points at the underside of her forearm. “I’m debating if I should get it where I could hide it, if need be, but I also want to be able to see it, you know?”

Ethan is talking on his phone, most likely setting up an appointment with Gray. Max tells her, “The great thing about tattoos is that you don’t have to limit yourself. If you decide on one spot and decide later you want one in the other place, you can always go back.”

“They’re addictive,” Ethan informs her as he hangs up his phone.

“That was quick. What’d she say?” I really hope Gray can see her today. Not that I want Mina to regret it, but she seems really confident about doing it right now.

Ethan locks eyes on Mina. “She gets done in an hour, but she said she’d stay later for you. You don’t have to decide anything today, but talking with her may help your decision.”

“I’d like to go, if that’s okay?” Mina looks between us excitedly.

Clapping my hands together loudly, I give her an apologetic look when she jumps. “Let’s get crackin’ then.”

She looks surprised. “Did you all want to go? I don’t want to interrupt any plans you may have.”

“We’re all going,” Max tells her, grabbing his keys from the hook.

Again, I act affronted, making her giggle. “Umm, yes? Hell yes, we’re all going. It’s your first damn tattoo. Who would want to miss that?”

Ethan stands up, shaking his head at me. “Let’s get going. With traffic, it may take a bit longer to get there than normal.”

Blowing out a nervous breath, Mina wrings her hands together, saying more to herself, “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Holy cow.”

“Holy cow is right.” Holding my hand out to her, she trails her fingertips along my palm before gripping my hand tightly. I hold back the shudder that races through my body at her touch and grip her firmly. “Spur-of-the-moment shit tends to be the most fun. We’ll run distraction while she’s tattooing you if you decide to get it tonight.”

Laughing, she follows me outside. “Much appreciated.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Forty-five minutes later, we’re in the reception area of Anarchy and Vice Ink, where Gray is finishing up with her last client. Mina has gone quiet on us, but not from nerves. She’s walking around the room, looking over photos of featured tattoos and design ideas all over the wall.

I watch her as she moves from photo to photo, trying to gauge what style she’s most interested in. Ethan and Max are talking softly about one of the cases they’re working on, but my attention is solely on our girl. She’s completely lost in thought, her eyes scanning picture after picture with a furrowed brow. Though she keeps going back to a series of birds displayed in the corner.

“Hey, Mina?” I call out to her, gesturing towards the bird tattoo. “Is that the one you’re thinking of?”

She jumps a little, surprised that I’d been watching her. She looks guilty as she refuses to answer me, but she admits with a small smile forming on her lips, “I want to wait until I talk with Gray first before I decide anything.”

I’m itching to know what’s going on in her head. Thankfully, the woman in question finally comes out, greeting us all warmly. “Hey guys,” she says, then nods at Ethan. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Ethan. When do I get you in my chair again?” She walks over to him and picks up his arm, turning it over to analyze his ink. “You’ve got a few spots fading that I could touch up if you’re not looking for anything new yet.”

I’ve never met Gray before, but I’m surprised to see what she looks like. She’s quite a few inches taller than Mina, probably around 5’8” without the heeled knee-high boots, with blue-black hair pulled back in a long, tight ponytail. Her arms and chest are covered in only black tattoos, no color to be seen anywhere, and from what I can see of the skin underneath them, she’s sporting a golden tan. Gray is a beautiful woman, but I don’t think she holds a candle to Mina. I’m probably biased, though.

Mina’s eyes ping-pong back and forth between the two of them, clearly unsure how well they know each other.Or how she should feel about Gray’s warm reception.

Oh, sweet girl, you have nothing to worry about.

“We’ll see. This is Mina, the woman I called you about.” He holds his hand out to her, beckoning her closer. She hesitates a moment, but Ethan doesn’t back down, waiting her out. Her first couple of steps are slow, but then she hurries over to him and hangs on to him in a death grip. He pulls her down into the empty seat next to him without letting her go.

I have to give Gray some credit. I’m sure artists aren’t thrilled about having a nervous client on their table, but it’s obvious she can tell that Mina has some hang-ups. Squatting down, Gray gives Mina a welcoming smile, softening her features. “Hi Mina, I’m Gray.” She holds out her left hand so that Mina doesn’t have to release her hold on Ethan, and with a tremble in her arm, Mina uses her free hand to clasp Gray’s.

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