Page 43 of Spreading Her Wings

He wasn’t wrong, but when I remembered the conversation from my living room a few nights back, I froze. “Oh god, we’re not jumping out of a plane, right?” The panic in my voice was impossible to hide.

Auston laughed, pulling his truck into a dark parking lot behind an old stone building. “No, we’re not jumping out of a plane. Do you trust me?”

Comfort settled over me at the familiarity of the phrase. “Of course,” I said, my chest fluttering.

“Then relax.” He winked at me, and I gulped. When he opened his door, stepping out into the dark parking lot, I stayed put. “Are you coming?”

I opened the door, sliding off the seat and jumping onto the asphalt beside him. “Where are we?”

“We’re at Metamorpho Ink. You said you wanted to get another tattoo… so let’s go get you that tattoo.”

Suddenly my hands were warm and covered with a thin layer of nervous sweat.I don’t know if I can do this.“Auston, I…”

“You can do this.” His voice didn’t leave room for argument, and when he wrapped his arm around me and led me to the dark back door, my stomach dropped. “Deep breaths, babe. Let’s go get you inked.”

Auston planted a kiss on the side of my temple, spinning me in his arms to face him. “I can do this,” I whispered, and he grinned, pulling me against him into a hug.

“Yes, you can.” His voice was warm against my ear, and I melted against him for a second before he stood up and tuggedon the door. The sounds of buzzing and alternative metal music floated out of the building. “What are you getting done?” Auston asked, raising his voice.

It didn’t take me long to decide what it would be. “A blue butterfly.” He raised an eyebrow, but there wasn’t any judgement on his face. “They’re my favorite.”

His arm was tight around my waist when he pulled me to him. “That’s beautiful.”

“Yo, my man Auston. How’s it going, brother?” The heavily tattooed man with a gray ponytail stepped from around the counter, shaking Auston’s hand and pulling him in for a quick hug and pat on the back.

Auston hugged him back just as enthusiastically, and I stared at the two grown men acting like young girls. “Grayson! Mydude. This is my… this is Katie.” He cringed, shooting me an apologetic glance from the corner of his eye.

“Very nice to meet you, Katie,” Grayson said with a charming lilt. “So we’re going to tattoo you today, hmm? What are we doing?”

I nodded, looking down slightly. “I want a blue butterfly. Right here.” I pointed to the soft spot on my inner wrist.

Grayson pointed to a room off to the side. “Get comfortable, and I’ll be right back.”

I followed Auston into the side room, and he made himself comfortable in the chair as though he’d spent hours in that spot. He probably had. I tilted my head to the side, raising an eyebrow at him.

“We’ve got some time. Come sit with me.” He tugged me over to the chair, and I leaned into it, kicking my feet up and resting my back against his chest. “You’re shaking. Are you nervous?”

He moved his hands slowly up and down my arms, and I swore I could feel his heart beating through his chest. It wascomforting. I was becoming too accustomed to finding solace in Auston’s lap. “Maybe a little nervous.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said quietly against my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me tighter to him. “Doing things that scare us, remember?”

I couldn’t hold back the laughter when the man covered head to toe in tattoos acted like a tattoo was scary. “Right.” My heart fluttered.Things that scare us. I could do this.

Grayson walked into the room. “Woah, woah, don’t fuck your girl in my chair, man!”

Embarrassment flooded me, and I turned to bury my face in Auston’s chest as if it would take me out of the room and away from the situation. “I wasn’t going to, but now that you mention it…” Auston moved his hands to my hips and tugged me against his groin, thrusting his hips forward.

“Auston!” I shrieked. I couldn’t climb out of the chair fast enough, pulling his arms back from me and scrambling to my feet. “I swear, we weren’t going to… I wasn’t… I wouldn’t…”

Grayson and Auston broke out in simultaneous laughter that filled the small room and bounced off the walls. “Relax, sweetheart. I was just joking. Auston and I go way back.”

My cheeks were hot and, without a doubt, had turned bright red. When Auston winked, I hid my face with my hands. Should I leave? I looked at the door, debating how many steps it would take me to reach it and how many it would take Auston to catch up to me. In my head, I could easily get out of the door and down the street before he’d realize it wasn’t worth chasing me, but in reality, if I took off running, he’d be chasing me, and he wouldn’t stop until he caught up.

The man reached out for my arm, and when I turned my wrist in his hand, he held a stencil of a small butterfly against it. “What do you think of this size?”

“It’s a little bigger than I expected,” I said nervously, suddenly feeling shy. It felt silly being worried about the size of the tattoo when both of them were covered on most of their bodies by large pieces. I swallowed.Something that scares us, remember?“Actually, it’s fine.”

Auston raised an eyebrow, an amused glimmer in his eyes. I winked at him, mouthing the wordsI’m not scaredand earning a laugh. He nodded, climbing from the chair and straddling the wooden chair that sat next to it. I was glad he wasn’t going to be far away, not that I needed him to hold my hand. Part of me wanted him to, though.

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