Page 88 of Tanner's Forever

Tattoos.

Running on nothing but adrenaline and impulse, I head straight inside. A big muscly guy with a handlebar mustache and a cobweb tattoo on his neck comes out to greet me. He looks me up and down because I’m still half soaked.

“You okay, Miss?” He asks, looking a bit worried.

“I’m great. I’m here to get a tattoo.”

“Do you know what you want?”

I nod, and he takes me back to one of the rooms. I explain to him what I want to get and where I want it, and he gives me a price.

“Sounds good to me,” I tell him.

With every stab of the tattoo gun on my wrist, I feel like I’m letting go of another thing I’ve held onto for far too long. For too long, I have been made a victim, but no more.

As the word comes into view on my wrist, tears sting my eyes once again.

Enough.

The word has so many meanings for me now.

Enough of the bullshit that I’ve endured.

Enough of letting my past get in the way of happiness.

And most of all, I am enough.

The tattoo artist, who I learned is named Jim, sees my emotions and hands me a tissue. “Do you need to take a break?”

“No, I’m fine,” I tell him.

There’s a kindness in his eyes like he understands the deeper meaning behind this tattoo. He gets back to work but says, “It’ll be alright, darlin’. It always is.”

When it’s finished, I tip him $100 and give him a hug. I don’t know this man from Adam, but I appreciate his kind words.

As I’m leaving the shop, I’m not watching where I’m going, and I run smack dab into Tanner’s mom.

What are the fucking odds?

“Oh, Tammy, I’m so sorry,” I tell her.

“Geez, Erin. Are you in a hurry?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m surprised you’re not with my son,” she says with a hint of sarcasm.

Thatdon’t give a damnattitude still courses through my veins, and I have absolutely no control over what my mouth does at the moment, so I say, “Tammy, look, you may hate me. You may think I’m not good enough for your son, and that’s fine. But let me tell you something—I just threatened to take my ex back to court if he didn’t get out of my business with Tanner. I am just about tired of people fucking with us, and I know you’re his mother, so I’m going to try to say this as nicely as I can. I will do anything for your son. He has pulled me out of such a dark place, and I will never be able to repay him for that. But you better believe I’m going to try. You can hate me. You can try to push me away all you want, but I’m not going anywhere. So, you better get used to it.”

I wish I had a microphone to drop as I walk away. That would really come in handy tonight.

As I get back into my car, I realize that I’m making a whole lot of assumptions about Tanner and me sticking together through it all, but as far as I know, he’s still not thrilled with me. What if he doesn’t want to make it work? What if he’s done with all the drama?

Not wanting to wait a minute more to find some answers, I drive to his house.

Chapter Thirty-three

Tanner

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