Chapter 26

 

Ava

 

 

ALTHOUGH IT WAS uncomfortable, the needle didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Or Jayce touching me. He did wear gloves, however, so it made it feel less intimate. Regardless, the pain was bearable and within a couple of minutes, I felt totally at ease with him touching me. I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind, but I had to admit, there were a couple of times I found myself enjoying his touch more than I’d ever care to admit. Maybe it was because he wasn’t doing it in a sexual manner. 

As the minutes ticked by into hours, I began learning more about Jayce, and despite my reason for being there, I genuinely started liking the guy. Especially after he began telling me about his younger half-sister, Emily, who was slightly autistic. She’d just turned ten and I could tell from the way he talked about her, that Emily was very special to him.

“She loves to draw and paint,” he told me with a smile in his voice. “She’s damn talented, too.”

“Like her older brother, obviously,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Thanks. She actually drew one of my tattoos,” he said. “Devon inked it.”

I re-opened my eyes. “Really? Can I see it?”

“Sure.” He got up and walked around to stand in front of me. He raised his T-shirt and showed me the tattoo, which was of a smiling frog wearing a crown of jewels. It was actually very cute. I noticed that he had several other tattoos too, most of them depicting something from medieval times. He looked down at the frog, which was near his heart, and smiled fondly. “I just wish I could spend more time with Emily,” he said. “My mother and Gus, her old man, moved to Chicago recently.”

“So, it’s just you out here?”

“I have an older sister, Jackie. She lives in Maplewood with her boyfriend.”

So, he had two sisters. “Why did your mom and Gus move to Iowa?”

“His father died, leaving him a pawn shop. So, they’re out there running it now.”

“So, you hardly ever see her?”

“Well, I usually take a road trip out there once a month. She cries whenever I leave, though.” He sighed. “It breaks my heart every time.”

“I bet. The frog is adorable. How long ago did you get it?” I was impressed with the canvas under the tattoo as well. He was slim and muscular, with an impressive six-pack. Tanned from the sun, I imagined he spent a lot of time shirtless, and that vision was something I could even appreciate.  

“Last year. She’s really into frogs and always loved fairy tales. In fact, when Emily was really little, I used to read her The Frog Prince all the time, which was her favorite.”

“That’s so sweet.”

He smiled sadly. “I try and bring her something related to frogs whenever I get out that way. Last time I brought her a pendant, and she refuses to take it off now.”

I touched my own necklace from Millie. I hardly ever took mine off either. “She sounds like a sweetheart.”

“She is.”

My eyes went to his arms, where there were more tats. I asked him about them. “You’re really into fantasy and medieval stuff, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “Yeah. Pretty obvious, huh?”

“I bet you’re a Game of Thrones fanatic?”

Jayce chuckled. “Yeah. I also loved The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Anything to do with middle-earth or the dark ages, too.”

“So, King Henry, wizards, and knights are your thing?”

He nodded. “I admit it. I’m a nerd at heart.”

I asked, “Do you read a lot?”

“I used to,” he said, sitting down on the stool behind me. “What about you?”

“No, I’m not much of a reader,” I admitted. “Although, I never really gave it much of a chance.”

“I love it. It takes me away for a while. Growing up, I used to wish that I could travel back in time to the middle-ages, although it was the made-up shit that I was intrigued with.”

“Yeah, you’d have been pretty disappointed to learn that there weren’t any dragons or wizards around, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“So, were you into D&D, too?”

“Dungeons and Dragons? Yeah. I really got hooked into online fantasy gaming though. I’d spend hours on my computer, going on quests with other gamers. My mother used to get so pissed off. I eventually stopped when I found something else I liked even more than that.”

“Motorcycle clubs?”

“Girls,” he replied, getting back to work on my hip. “That’s what brought me back into the real world.”

I winced a little, noting that I was beginning to get sore.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I was determined to get the tattoo finished during that session. Especially since I was beginning to really like Jayce, which wasn’t going to help my cause.

The rest of the evening flew by pretty quickly. We stopped only to eat when Jayce ordered a pizza from a place up the road, which turned out to be amazing. Afterward, he went back to work on the tattoo, a comfortable silence settling in around us.

At around eleven, Devon left, leaving us alone in the shop.

“How’s it looking?” I asked him several minutes later.

He cleared his throat. “Great. But I’m not going to be able to finish it up tonight.”

“Really?” I replied, disappointed. He’d warned me, though.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to rush it. In fact, I was going to suggest that we stop soon.”

“When do you think we should finish it?”

“That depends on you. We can try doing it tomorrow if you’re in a hurry. Otherwise, I’d wait a couple days.”

I sighed. Looked like I’d be in town longer than I’d been planning. “Tomorrow I’m busy. How about the day after?”

“Saturday? I might be going out of town. Club business,” he said, not looking happy about it. “What about Monday?”

I seriously didn’t want to wait until then, but it looked like I wouldn’t have a choice. Unless, I didn’t have him finish it.

“That’s fine,” I said. “So, just Monday and that’s it?”

“I hope that will be enough time to complete it. I’m sorry to make you come back in.”

“It’s okay,” I replied.

“Let’s get you cleaned and bandaged,” he said.

After cleaning the area, he put a warm towel on the tattoo, which felt soothing. After it cooled, he removed it and asked what I thought of the dragon.

Since I’d been lying down, I hadn’t been able to get a good look at it. Once I was standing and able to see what he’d been up to, I was left speechless.

“You like it?” he asked, studying my face.

“I’m overwhelmed,” I said, staring down at the design in awe. It was even better than the drawing, and as far as I could see, almost completely finished. The only thing missing was Andrew’s name on the sword and some of the color. Other than that, it was incredible.

“We’ll put some ointment on it and bandage it up.”

“Okay.”

He dressed the tattoo and then put on a bandage. As he was finishing up, he explained how to take care of it.

“You’ll want to leave the bandage on for a few hours. You should be able to remove it in the morning, before you take a shower. I recommend taking a quick, cool shower, because your skin will be extra sensitive to the heat. Also, your pores could open up and some of the ink may leak out if the water is too warm. Just be really careful with it.”

“What about soap?”

“Use something that is unscented and hypoallergenic. To dry it, pat your skin gently with a paper towel. I’m going to give you a small tube of moisturizer to apply after it’s completely dry. It’s also unscented and hypoallergenic and one that I like using myself.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll give you an instruction sheet,” he said. “So, you won’t forget any of this.”

“Thank you.”

“You can get dressed now,” he said, handing me my shorts.

“Thanks. So,” I leaned over to put them on, “I imagine you’re used to seeing half-naked women and men coming through here.”

“Pretty much.”

“Perks of the job?”

“I get a lot more guys than women, so it’s not usually a perk,” he replied, scratching his chin with a smile. “Today was definitely an anomaly.”

I smiled. My cell phone went off and I groaned inwardly.

It had to be Millie.

It was late and I hadn’t called her. I loved the woman, but she was far too overprotective.

I picked up my purse and reached inside, muting the ringer. “So, we’ll finish this up on Monday?” I asked, looking back at Jayce.

“Yeah. I should be here around six.”

“Okay, I’ll be here. Let me give you my number, in case something changes. My new number.”

“Sounds good.”

I gave it to him and then pulled out my wallet. “So, how much do I owe you again?”

“Let’s not worry about it until Monday.”

I had to admit, I was surprised he wasn’t collecting on it now. He’d put a lot of hours into it and if I really wanted to, I could walk away and be totally satisfied with the way it was now. But, I wanted Andrew’s name on it. I also wanted to find out more about the club.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” I put my wallet away. “I suppose I’d better get going then.”

He yawned. “It’s late. Let me walk you to your car.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

We walked out of the shop and he accompanied me to my vehicle. The parking lot was completely empty.

“No club gatherings tonight?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Thursdays are usually pretty quiet here. At least lately.”

“I’ve never been in a biker clubhouse before,” I said, looking back at the building. “Or a party.”

He smiled. “That’s probably a good thing.”

“Why?”

“Because you’d probably be claimed by now.”

“Claimed?”

“Someone would want you as their woman. You’re pretty… special.”