She looked me over slowly, starting at my feet and when her eyes met mine, she said, "We do couples, if you're interested.”

Kent snickered and moved for the tattoo chair.

I blushed and then shook my head. "Oh, no...no, I'm pretty vanilla...sorry..." I didn’t follow them. "Blood and stuff, I can't." I sat down in the waiting area and picked up a magazine.

"You know where we are if you change your mind." The tat lady winked at me and took a seat behind the desk again. The guy Matt came out of the back and surprisingly he did look like Kent in a way. The old Kent.

Soon I heard the needle start up and watched what I could see from the waiting room which was Kent's non-tattoo arm and his leg. They were resting casually. He didn’t grunt or squeeze the arm of the chair too tightly. I wanted to get up and have a look but I was afraid of the blood.

About an hour and ten magazines later Kent stood from the chair. "Not too bad,” he said as he examined it.

I couldn't wait to get this over with so I bolted back there and sat down in the chair before the warmth disappeared. "My turn!"

Kent grinned down at me. "Want me to hang out? Or you want me to wait over there?"

"Here, just don't let me see your bloody wrist." I closed my eyes and turned my head away from his raw wrist.

Kent chuckled as he looked at the artist. "Can your girlfriend wrap it up for me?"

Matt looked up at Kent. "Yeah, the wife can take care of you. I'll wait on ya before I start on your girl."

I looked over and watched as Kent started out of the room and then stopped. "She's not my girl."

Matt's beautiful eyes raked over my body. I felt warmth pool in my belly. "Shame."

Kent pretended he didn't hear it and went to get his wrist wrapped up.

When Matt put the tracing on my arm, I screamed and jumped. He grinned at me, "Sorry, doll. I didn't start yet...relax..."

I nodded slowly. "I'm trying..." It wasn’t as easy as he made it sound.

Kent returned with a bandaged wrist and took a chair, pulling it over next to me. "The needle hasn't even started yet! Come on. Give me your hand."

"Maybe Matt should hold my hand. He reminds me of high school you, back when you were nice and geeky.“ I stared at Matt, fascinated.

Kent smirked as Matt laughed. "You're a mess, doll." Matt started the needle up.

I squealed and shut my eyes tight. "Oh my god!"

I felt an arm around my shoulder and assumed it was Kent's. "I got you, Elly. Just look at me. Open your eyes and look at me and think about things from the past. Anything that doesn't deal with right now."