Page 125 of Off Limits

“You’re too good to me,” I say as I snuggle against him.

“And you’re too goodforme. I keep waiting for you to realize that.”

“Lochlyn, you’re an amazing person. I don’t know how you don’t see that. And I’m with you for as long as you’ll have me.”

“I guess it’s forever, then.”

“Forever it is.”

On the evening of my twentieth birthday, Lochlyn takes me to his tattoo artist. I hold his hand tightly, nerves building.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll be right with you.”

“But it’s going to hurt.” The thought makes me feel a little woozy.

“Yeah, it might. But the pain is temporary.”

I take a deep breath as we walk through the door and are waved over to the artist’s seat. Lochlyn pulls a chair over, spinning it so the back is facing me and straddling it, resting his arm across the back, chin on top.

“So, what are we doing today?” Steve, the tattoo artist, has a thick beard and dark green eyes, with hair pulled into a ponytail.

“Can I have something like this?” I hand him a picture of the design I have in mind.

“Yeah, no problem. Where do you want this?”

“Can I have it here?” I point to the area where I plan to get it done.

“No problem. First time?”

I nod nervously, and Steve laughs.

“Well, I’ll make it as painless as possible. Should be pretty quick.”

I inhale deeply and hold it to a count of three before releasing it through my mouth. Lochlyn takes my right hand in his as Steve starts with the stencil. Lochlyn had explained the process to me, and I know that I’ll be waiting in anticipation of pain while the prep work is done.

“Ready?” Steve asks.

With mental force, I tear my eyes away from Lochlyn’s to look at Steve, nodding.

As I hear the needle hum, I glue my eyes back on Lochlyn’s blue and brilliant. He rubs the back of my hand as I try not to wince in pain, bringing it to his lips every few minutes. Every so often, he’ll kiss the promise ring he surprised me with earlier today. It’s two hearts, linked together, like ours. The design is similar to the diamond crusted infinity necklace he gave me for our anniversary.

We sit in silence, the only sound the tattoo needle marking my skin.

It’s over faster than I thought it would be, and while it did hurt, it wasn’t as bad as I’d built it up in my mind.

“Go ahead, take a look,” Steve says as he starts cleaning up.

I pull my left hand to my face, looking at the inside of my wrist. There sits a perfect little skillet.

Lochlyn is suddenly behind me, looking over my shoulder. “Looks good, baby girl. I think your dad would love it.”

“I think so, too.” Lochlyn liked my idea of a frying pan as a memory of Dad. He understands the meaning behind it, the memories of the breakfasts he used to cook and, of course, the store. In a way, I feel like it also represents Lochlyn, because of all the meals he cooks and teaching me how to fend for myself a little. It’s another tribute to Dad as well, since he saw us together long before either one of us did.

I chose the placement, because it’s something I’ll see regularly.

“Lochlyn, you’ll help her keep on top of the care?”

“I got it, Steve.”

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