Page 87 of The Penalty Shot (Totally Pucked 5)

“Nice to meet you. I’ve been tattooing your boyfriend for over ten years now. Most of the work on him is mine,” he says proudly. “I hear you’re interested in getting your first tattoo?”

My stomach flutters with an eruption of nerves.Am I ready?

The last few months of my life have been a period of change. Of growth. Of channeling the new me. Becoming a version of myself that I love, and am proud to be.

“I am.”

Asher and I both take care of the paperwork while Rocko finishes up with his last client. I’m going to get Alex’s birthday on my wrist because it was the most important day of my life.

The day my life changed forever.

“You ready?” Rocko asks.

My head whips to Asher, and apparently, he reads the nervous expression on my face because he laughs, then picks my hand up and places his lips against my knuckles.“You’ve got this, Killer. I’ll hold your hand the entire time. I promise.”

I exhale, handing Rocko the paperwork, and then rise to follow him to his station. I sit in the black patent-leather chair, as he goes to work on creating the roman numeral stencil while he and Asher talk hockey.

Just as he said, he never lets go of my hand. His thumb makes absentminded circles along my skin, and I can’t help but gaze at him. His strong jaw covered in two-day old scruff, just the right amount that I love to feel against my thighs, his long, dark lashes framing his chocolate eyes. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself, just to remind myself that he’s real.

That he’s mine.

But then, he does something so amazing that has my heart pattering unevenly in my chest, assuring me in ways that only he can.

Without a doubt, choosing Asher Hart was the best decision I ever made.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Rocko says, smiling widely, placing his gloves on.

This is it. I can’t back out now. As he begins to prep my skin, cleaning the area and making sure it’s sterile to work on, I take deep, even breaths, reminding myself that this moment is just another moment of freedom.

Another moment that I’ve earned. A moment that I deserve.

A mantra that I tell myself over and over when I feel myself falling back into that mindset. Healing isn’t linear, and some days are easier than others. Growth is painful. It’s messy and complicated. So now, I take back my life. Starting with moments like these.

I hold my breath when he turns on his machine, the buzzing filling my ears, causing me to tense.

“Breathe, baby, you’ve got this. Deep, even breaths,” Asher murmurs in my ear, stroking the sensitive skin along the column of my neck.

Immediately, my body relaxes, sinking further into his touch, to the point that when Rocko first presses the tattoo gun into my wrist, it barely stings. A small prick followed by an incessant stinging as he drags the gun over my skin, inking the numbers.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

Rocko laughs. “You say that until you’ve got to sit under a gun for twelve hours for a back piece. Ask your man about that.”

“Wasn’t that bad,” Asher retorts, wincing as if it actually was that bad and thinking about it makes him shift in his seat.

“I think just this one will be good.” I laugh.

An hour passes while he works on the tattoo, starting with the line work and then filling in the date, until he’s done, and my pale skin glares angrily at him. Alex’s birthday in black roman numerals across the small of my wrist.

“Rocko, it’s perfect,” I whisper in awe. I can’t believe Iactuallydid it. “Thank you, so much.”

“It’s nothing, beautiful. Let’s get you wrapped up and go over your aftercare. Although, I’m sure Asher’s got enough of them to tell you what needs to be done.” He winks. A few minutes later, my wrist is wrapped in clear wrap, and throbbing in sync with my heart.

It feels sore now, but nowhere near the pain that I thought it would be.

“My turn,” Asher mutters, unbuttoning his shirt. He makes quick work of the button-down, leaving him bare from the waist up. “No looking till he’s done. It’s bad luck.”

I sit back down in the chair I only just vacated, and watch as Asher lies back on the table. He turns his head towards me and offers me a wink.

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