Page 40 of You Found Me in the Dark
God help me. This girl was going to ruin me.
“All right,” I said, clearing my throat. “You ready?”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip.
I sat and turned back to my station, grabbing fresh gloves and finishing the setup. I was trying hard like hell to stay in work mode, to keep my head focused, and stay professional. It was not time to focus on her lips or her exposed skin. It was definitely not time to think about that white bralette that left almost nothing to the imagination. I hadn’t realized that under those hoodies, she was hidingall that. It was hard not to focus on the way she smelled. It had to have been some type of citrus and warm vanilla and some kind of softness that made me want to press my face into her neck and breathe her in. I stepped closer and gently brushed over her skin to sanitize the spot. She inhaled sharply.
“Is this okay?” I asked, voice lower than I intended.
She nodded slowly, but the way she looked at me was like she wasn’t just thinking about the tattoo. Not even close.
“Yeah,” she said, barely above a whisper. “It’s more than okay.”
I swallowed hard and picked up the stencil.
“This is gonna be cold,” I warned, applying the gel and thenthe stencil beneath her collarbone. My knuckles grazed the edge of her chest, and goosebumps rose along her skin. I looked up.
She was already watching me. Her pupils blown black and lips parted like she was holding back a thought she didn’t trust herself to say.
“Wren…” I started, not sure where I was going with it. I just needed to say her name. To anchor myself.
She smirked slightly, head tilted. “Yeah?”
“Do you want to check the placement before I start?”
She smiled the biggest smile, “Nope. I trust you.”
God help me. I sat up straight, exhaled, and flicked the machine on.
“Hold still.”
The buzz filled the room, and I pressed the needle to her skin. She flinched, sucked in a sharp breath, and then relaxed. I kept my eyes on her. I watched for every subtle shift, every flutter of her lashes, the pink rising on her neck. She stared at me like she couldn’t decide whether to kiss me or keep letting me tattoo her.
“You okay?” I asked, voice soft.
She nodded, but this time her voice was rough. “Mhm. Feels kinda nice. I can see why you have so many.”
I couldn’t stop the grin. “Didn’t peg you for a masochist.”
She shrugged, eyes glinting. “Guess you brought it out of me.”
For fuck’s sake. I focused on the ink, watching each line take shape. But all I could feel was her—her warmth, her breath, the pulse under her skin where my fingers rested, steady and sure, even though I felt anything but.
By the time I finished, sweat had gathered at the back of my neck. It wasn’t from the work, but from the effort it tooknotto fall apart.
I shut off the machine, wiped the area clean, and looked up. She was still watching me. Like sheknew. Like shefelt ittoo.
“You did amazing, Little Birdie,” I said quietly, peeling off the back of the Tegaderm and applying it to her skin. I took off my gloves and tossed them in the trash.
“So did you,” she whispered, that lazy, gorgeous grin spreading across her face. “I think you made me fall in love.”
My chest tightened. For some reason, I knew she wasn’t just talking about the tattoo.
And God help me… I didn’t think I was far behind. Her smile still lingered in the space between us. The kind of smile that made it hard to remember where the line between us was. Or if it had ever existed at all.
I was about to say something. Something stupid, probably. Or honest. Something about how I’d wanted this exact moment for longer than I should’ve. How perfect the tattoo looked on her, but not half as perfect as the way she was looking at me.
And then?—
