Page 29 of Bulletproof
“Of course.” He found a business card from the shop and scrawled his name on it.
When he handed it to her, she stared down at it. “Um, I meant on my shoulder. I want to get it tattooed.”
“That’s righteous!” Travis exclaimed. “That’s so fucking cool. No one’s asked for my name tattooed on their body yet. That must make you feel . . . I can’t even imaginehow that makes you feel.”
Derek had seen countless tattoos of his signature, the band logo, even his likeness tattooed on people’s skin. It was old news to him by now. The way Travis was carrying on though, had him stoked about signing his name for the girl, and he carefully and legibly embossed his signature on the girl’s naked shoulder.
She inspected it along with herfriends, giddy and laughing with excitement. “Thank you! I’ll post a photo on your fan site when it’s done. Promise!”
“Cool.”
“Can I get a quick photo with you? If it’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s never too much trouble, honey.” Derek opened his arms, and she flew into them while her friend snapped the photo.
The door opened, ringing the cowbellabove the frame with a jingle. “Holy fuck! Derek MacAlister!” The guy headed straight for Derek, hand extended outward.
Derek shook the guy’s hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Travis standing off to the side, watching and looking slightly left out of the highlight of recognition. “You know Travis Fontana from Reckless? They’re currently touring with Bulletproof.”
“Yeah. I thought I recognized you.” The fan offered his hand to Travis. “It’s nice to meet you. I can’t believe that both of you are standing here right in front of me!” He fished his phone from his pocket. “Can I get a photo with both of you?”
Travis waited for Derek to answer. “Sure.”
“Cool!” The fan quickly snapped a selfie with them.
Others steppedforward and asked for photos and autographs, until one of the tattoo artists appeared from the back of the shop and hustled Derek and Travis out of the front lobby. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize you were out front until I heard the commotion.”
“No problem. It wasn’t so bad.” Derek leafed through the artist’s portfolio, still undecided on whether he should go with gears on theback of his hand, or a supersized skull he’d been wanting to get on his outer thigh. “What are you getting, Trav?” Derek stilled. Trav. It was the first time he formulated a nickname for his lover, and it made him smile.
“Not sure.” Travis flipped through another portfolio. “Why don’t you pick something for me?”
Derek looked up from the album in his hands. “You want me to pick your tattoo design? That’s risky.” When Travis nodded, Derek got a silly idea. “Why don’t I pick your tattoo and you pick mine? And we don’t get to see either until they’re done.”
Travis let out a laugh. “Seriously?That’s fucking rad. But there’s just one catch.”
“What’s that?”
“We get it on our butt cheeks. That way, if it’s bad, no one has to see it.”
“Are you planning on picking something fucked up for my tattoo?” Derek gave him a crooked smile. “Because you don’t want to go down that road. Payback’s a bitch.”
“No. Nothing fucked up. We pick somethingchoice. No jokes.”
“Alright.” Derek held out his hand and Travis shook it. “You got yourself a deal.”
Derek flipped through the portfolio of designs, looking for inspiration. He wanted something meaningful, something that depicted Travis’ personality, something fitting. He felt Travis’ stare and looked up. “No peeking. Get back to choosing my tattoo.”
“Ialready did.”
“That was too quick. You chose something ridiculous, didn’t you?”
“Nope. I chose something perfect. You’re gonna love it. Trust me.”
Derek took a deep breath, skeptical and nervous about what the hell Travis had chosen. At least it would be on his butt in case it was something embarrassing.
“Stop worrying and choose a tattoo forme,” Travis said. “Just choose something that reminds you of me.”
Derek shut the portfolio and racked his brain. And then an idea hit him. He thought it was perfect. He just hoped Travis would like it and see the connection.
