Page 19 of Ink Me Three Times

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My anonymous mistake.

The one I haven’t been able to forget, no matter how hard I’ve tried.

I’ve spent years building walls around myself. Years of keeping it casual, no strings, no complications. Tattooing has always been my escape, my place to keep things clean and sharp, controlled. I’m good at it. But that night?

I wasn’t in control.

We didn’t even talk much. It was more just a feeling… acraving.

I couldn’t resist her however hard I tried, and truth be told, in that moment, I didn’t want to.

Just her mouth on mine, her body against the cold leather of my chair, in the middle of this shop.

And then she disappeared.

No name. No number.

Just the imprint of her nails on my shoulders and her scent in my lungs.

Now?

Now she’s working for Freddie.

Watching Penny.

In his house.

And the worst part?

He doesn’t even know.

None of them do.

And I don’t know how the hell we’re going to avoid each other.

I grit my teeth and start another sketch. My fifth this morning.

It’s supposed to be a dragon, but the lines won’t cooperate.

I scrap it. Crumple the page. Toss it.

Just as Freddie waves goodbye and slides out the door.

Back toher…

"You’ve been stabbing that pencil like it owes you money," Timothy says, voice lazy from his perch on the front counter. "You good, or is this your new process?"

I don’t look up. "Working."

"Uh huh."

I can hear the grin in his voice.

"Real productive. You’ve started and destroyed, what, six sleeves now? One of ’em looked like a drunk snake."

I flip to a clean page. Try something geometric. Clean. No curves.

He takes a loud bite of his sandwich and keeps going. "So. Ivy."

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