Page 15 of Crown Jewels
“It was moved?”
“Yeah, it got moved,” he snapped back at me. “What’s the problem. People get sick, shit happens not everyone lives on a perfect schedule.”
That was a tad defensive. “Geez, I was just asking.”
“Sorry,” Vahn sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “It’s been a rough day.”
Vahn Kessler apologized? Wow, it really must’ve been a rough day. “Anything I can help with?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s just graduating year bullshit.”
He didn’t sound too sure about that, but I could just be reading too much into it. Final year at college was stressful. And while Vahn didn’t take many things seriously, he did take school seriously. He was a cinematic arts major, and never missed a class. His dedication to his education was the only thing I admired about him. Well, almost the only thing.
When Vahn dropped down on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair, I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming over the tribal lines crawling up his bicep. They almost looked like feathers on a wing.
Was there a purpose behind it? It was a large tattoo spanning from his waist to his shoulder. That was what I stared at last night to avoid looking further down. At parts I had no business seeing.
“When is this fucking day going to end.” Vahn grumbled, flopped back on the couch, and closed his eyes.
Despite his obvious frustration, my mind was still on the lines inked in his skin. Something that size would’ve taken hours to get done. I couldn’t see him picking it just because. If I could figure out why Vahn chose that tattoo, then maybe I could figure out what my favorite flower was.
“Why did you get that?” I hadn’t intended on asking him anything, the words just came out.
“Get what?”
It was too late to go back now. Besides, what was the worst thing he could say? Fuck off? Stop looking at me? I’d heard it all before. That would leave me exactly where I was. So, I really had nothing to lose.
“The tattoo.” I explained. “Why did you get it?”
His shoulders lifted in a dismissive shrug. “Why does anyone get a tattoo.”
Okay, that was a fair answer. People got tattoos for all kinds of reasons. I had the worst rose ever drawn on my ankle because my friend when I was sixteen wanted to try tattooing, and I didn’t want to let her down.
“But why did you get that one in particular?” I clarified.
Vahn’s navy eyes popped open as he lifted his head off the couch. “Why are you so interested in my tattoo?”
“I’m not interested.” I said snuggling back into the recliner. “I was curious. Don’t answer if you don’t want to. I don’t care.”
I’ll just go back to hopelessly figuring out flowers.
After a few minutes of silence Vahn answered, “It was my mom’s design.”
His mom’s?
My eyes snapped back to his. “You mom does tattoos?”
“Yeah, she has a parlor back in Florida.”
Ashen Springs, Florida was where Vahn was from, and that was about all I knew about him. He never talked about his past or his family. I wasn’t sure if he had one. At first I found it odd, but didn’t question it.
If anybody understood not wanting to relive painful family memories, it was me. But now that he opened the door, I had so many questions.
“What does your dad do?”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about my father.”
Okay, his father was a sore subject. I could work with that. “What’s your mom like?”
