Relinquishing Liberty (32 page)

Me on the other hand, I was more nervous about how Shayne would react when he saw the tattoo I had in mind. I never mentioned anything about getting one, and I was worried that the moment he laid his eyes on it, he would flip shit and send me packing before I even moved in.

We found a place on the other side of town, and it looked like your typical hole-in-the-wall tattoo shop, but the name is what sold me on the place: Lady Luck Tattoos. Well we were going to need all the luck we could get today, so this place would have to do.

When Maddie and I walked in, I grabbed her hand and gave it a firm squeeze; a silent plea for her to bite the bullet and to stop being so damn nervous. I released her hand so I could check out the walls that were covered in a vast array of artwork and photos taken of previous happy customers showing off their freshly inked skin. To say they were absolutely breathtaking didn’t fully express just how good they really were. Based on the pictures alone, I knew these artists were experts in their craft, and I felt a little more at ease with my decision to come here.

I heard someone come up behind me, and I was expecting it to be Maddie, not this bald monstrosity that bore a striking resemblance to Sloth from
The Goonies
. I yelped and threw my hand over my mouth. My gaze flashed over to Maddie standing a few feet behind him, with her eyes bugging out and this look on her face that said she was ready to run right out of there. Oh no, I was not going to let that happen again. So help me God, that bitch was getting a tattoo today!

“Can I help you, ladies?”

Ohmigod he even sounded like Sloth! Now I had to bite my tongue and choke back a laugh before I cleared my throat.

“Uh, yeah. We both want to get tattoos.”

“Huh.” He rubbed his chin as his eyes scanned us from head to toe. “Well I guess you are in the right place then.” I know Maddie and I probably didn’t look like his typical customers, but come on. It wasn’t like we walked in wearing fucking pearls and granny panties. What’s that saying about judging a book by its cover? Oh yeah…
don’t
!

“Well, step on over to my station, and we can talk about what you ladies are thinking about getting.”

I turned to follow him, but Maddie’s feet remained glued to the floor. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I walked back and pushed her forward until she was seated on the padded table in front of Sloth—I mean Charlie. His name was Charlie. Shit, I really I hoped I didn’t let that slip. He looked back and raised an eyebrow at us.

“So what would you like to get, beautiful?”

And that was all it took for Maddie’s demeanor to do a complete one-eighty. Pay that girl one little compliment, and she sees fucking hearts and rainbows. At least she wasn’t trembling like a frightened kitten anymore. Rather, she was giggling flirtatiously and twirling her hair around her finger while she described her tattoo idea to Sloth—dammit,
Charlie
!

After Maddie was done describing every last minuscule detail of her tattoo, all I had to do was show
Charlie
the picture I had saved in my phone and told him I wanted the initials “ST” incorporated into it.

“All right, just give me a few minutes to sketch these and get everything set up. You’re up first, beautiful, so get ready.” He winked at Maddie before leaving us alone for a few minutes. Maddie had a dreamy smile on her face as she watched him walk away and leaned over the table, clearly checking out his ass. Seriously? Hell must have frozen over if she found Sloth attractive. Okay, that really was the last time.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie.
I had to repeat the mantra until it stuck.

Maddie finally returned her attention to me after he slipped into the back room. “So, now that I at least know his initials, when do I get to meet ‘ST’? You’ve been hiding him for almost two months, Liberty. I have to at least approve of him before you get married and start popping out babies!”

“Jesus, Maddie, don’t get ahead of yourself. Nobody said anything about getting married and having babies, at least not for a while. He did mention something about a party Memorial Day weekend. I guess it’s like a block party, but all of the cottages on the beach participate. He said I could invite whomever I wanted. You and Brett should come.”

“Sounds like fun. I’m down. Maybe I can find myself a hottie.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I have no doubt that she would find a hot guy. I’ve seen some of Shayne’s neighbors, and although they don’t come close to Shayne, they are definitely nice to look at.

Charlie came back to show Maddie the sketch of the tattoo, and she just nodded in approval and kept on talking. She already had her shirt lifted high enough to expose her ribs on the right side of her body, and he pressed the transfer paper against her skin, leaving a purple outline of the tattoo. When I heard the buzz of the tattoo gun, I was expecting Maddie to fly off the table and bolt for the door, but wouldn’t you know it, that girl didn’t move a muscle. She didn’t even flinch. Even I was nervous for her, but she just kept on talking like nothing was going on around her.

I watched as the needle made contact with her skin, and she winced for a moment but then her face softened. I guess keeping her distracted was all she needed because, before we knew it, he was already finished.

“Want to take a look, beautiful?”

“Huh?” She looked down as he wiped the excess ink off her skin. “You’re done? What the hell, I didn’t even feel anything.”

“Well I guess your friend did a good job of keeping your mind off of the pain.” He winked at me.

She stood up and walked over to the full-length mirror to admire his artwork. The words danced over her ribs with tiny music notes floating around them. I think Maddie and I were both in awe over how amazing it looked on her. She turned to face Charlie and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Thank you.” She pulled back and her eyes glistened with tears. I was so proud of her for finally going through with it, and I think she was, too.

“You’re welcome, beautiful. All right, your turn, little lady.”

He crooked his finger at me, and I hopped up on the table. He brought over an armrest for me to lay my wrist flat against. The tattoo design came out perfect. Exactly how I pictured it. After pressing it firmly on my skin, leaving the purple stencil behind, he got right to it. It really didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. I guess I would describe it like someone scratching the surface of my skin really hard, except it left behind a beautiful “scar”. After a while my endorphins kicked in, and it was actually quite relaxing. I could see why people say these become so addicting. Now why would I want to bother free-falling from the sky when I could get an adrenaline rush right here?

When he was finished, I couldn’t believe that what I was looking at was the same tattoo he had just drawn. With all of the colors and shading, it looked so real that it was practically jumping off of my skin.

“It looks incredible.”

“Well I’m glad you like it. This was a very unique piece. I’ve only done one other tattoo like this.”

“Really?”

He pointed to the photos hanging on the wall around his station. Right smack in the middle of them was a photo of Shayne’s wrist. “You did his tattoo?”

“Yeah. He had quite a story to tell about that one. Something about believing that somewhere out there was his missing puzzle piece, he just hadn’t found it yet. Well, it looks like he’s about to find it, little lady.”

How crazy was it that Shayne and I had chosen the exact same tattoo artist? Now I couldn’t wait to get home and show him. Charlie took a Polaroid picture of my tattoo and stuck it right next to Shayne’s. I smiled seeing them up there…finally together.

He bandaged me up and gave me aftercare instructions. Maddie and I both thanked him again, and this time I had to practically drag her out of there.

When we got back to the apartment, there wasn’t much for me to pack other than clothes. I had bought almost an entire new wardrobe when I got here, thanks to Maddie’s fashion expertise. All that was left to pack were toiletries and a few knick-knacks here and there. The only thing I really needed help with was the second dresser I had purchased after I filled up the one that was already here. Knowing how Brett felt about me moving in with Shayne, there was no way I was asking for his help, and Shayne wouldn’t be home for at least a few more hours. So as a last resort, I had to rely on Travis and Corey to help me.

Lord, help me. I couldn’t have chosen two bigger idiots to move one measly, little dresser. This was supposed to be a simple task that ended up taking almost an hour. After they finally set it in the corner of our room, I thanked them for their “hard work” and sent them on their merry way. I could only handle Tweedledee and Tweedledumb in small doses, and I had reached my quota for the day. Of course getting rid of them wasn’t easy either. Travis was convinced that I had made the wrong choice moving in with Shayne and said I should move into his bedroom instead. I just rolled my eyes at him. It was a valiant effort, but wasted nonetheless.

After literally shoving them out the door, I walked back into the bedroom and decided to put off unpacking. Instead, I collapsed on the bed and passed out the minute my head hit the pillow.

When I opened my eyes, the room was dark other than the light that trickled in from the hallway landing on Shayne’s handsome face beside me.

“Were you watching me sleep?” I wiped my face, hoping there wasn’t a stream of drool trailing down my cheek.

“Yeah. You’ve been sleeping for a while, babe. I was starting to get worried.” He brushed the hair out of my face and gently placed it behind my ear, resting his hand there as he caressed my cheek with his thumb.

“Nothing to worry about; I was just really tired. After my girls’ day with Maddie, and then Corey and Travis helping me bring things over, I was exhausted. I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.”

He lifted my bandaged wrist, tracing his finger ever so slightly over the gauze and pressed a soft kiss right in the center. His gaze drifted up to mine, and I swear he looked like he was about to lose it and break down in tears.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You know you can talk to me if anything is bothering you.”

My eyes settled on the bandage and then it finally dawned on me what Shayne must have thought when he saw it.
Shit, did he really think that I would…that I could…

I leaned over to turn on the lamp next to the bed and began peeling the tape off my wrist, but Shayne stopped me before I could finish.

“That’s not necessary, sweetheart. I don’t need to see it.”

I shook my head. “Yes, you do.”

I peeled the rest of the bandage off and watched his face closely, trying to gauge his reaction to the matching tattoo bearing his initials. The moisture still remained in Shayne’s eyes, but his downcast expression was replaced with that beautiful smile that made me weak in the knees. I couldn’t help but smile right along with him.

“Do you like it?” I lowered my head and chewed my bottom lip, praying that he wouldn’t hate it.

He lifted my chin and pulled my bottom lip from between my teeth, brushing the rough pad of his thumb across it. He leaned forward and captured my mouth with his. “No,” he breathed against my lips. “I love it.”

I pulled back, smacking his arm. “You had me nervous there for a second.”

“Sorry, sweetheart.” He laughed. “What made you decide to get that? You never said anything about getting a tattoo.”

“Well after talking to
our
tattoo artist, it seems that we had the same idea when we got them.”

“You went to see Charlie? I should’ve known. He did an awesome job.” He lightly traced over the puzzle piece that looked like it was cut straight out of Shayne’s wrist and placed on top of mine. The only difference was that mine was adorned with Shayne’s initials.

“And you’re absolutely right, sweetheart.” He pressed another kiss over the puzzle piece. “You are, without a doubt, my missing puzzle piece. I knew it the moment you fell into my arms.”

“Really?” I don’t know why I was so surprised that he was struck with the same feelings when we were unexpectedly thrown into each other’s lives. Something passed between us that day on the beach, and I knew that my life would forever change from that moment forward.

“Liberty, you fill a part of me that no one else has ever been able to fill. A part of me that I didn’t realize was empty until I met you.” He lifted my hand and settled it over the left side of his chest, just over his heart and held it there with both of his hands. “You fell into my life when I least expected it, but when I needed you the most, and since then I’ve learned what it’s like to feel whole again…to feel…alive.”

Now it was my turn to get all teary-eyed. Shayne released my hand from his chest so he could wipe away the salty droplets that were now trickling down my face.

“Don’t cry, my beautiful girl. I hate to see you sad.”

“I’m not s-sad.” I choked out through my sobs. “I j-just love you so m-much. I didn’t know it was p-possible to love someone this m-much.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. More than I could ever put into words. But are you sure about the tattoo? I mean, it’s kind of permanent in case you haven’t noticed.”