I flipped through the pages, stopping at a crudely drawn sketch of a silly tattoo I once wanted. I mentioned getting a tattoo for my eighteenth birthday in passing a couple of times to see what Connor would say. He didn’t seem to mind until I showed him the design, then he was adamantly opposed.

I changed the design to something else and got it anyway, thinking it wasn’t a big deal and he’d get over it. It was just a tattoo, nothing too out there as far as I was concerned. The tiny heart was generic enough, although I wanted it black instead of red, just to make it different. The location made it easy to hide. Except from Connor, of course. I thought it was sexy. He didn’t. He was so upset with me when he saw the tattoo on my hip. The argument and tears that followed came with a forced promise not to desecrate my body again. I never expected that kind of reaction from him at the time. How naïve I was.

I fingered the ladder of rings in my ear, another of my acts of rebellion. Connor hated those, too. His intolerance for anything that didn’t conform to socially sanctioned norms was a point of contention between us. From hair color to clothes, he always stayed safely inside the lines, and I always tried to see how much further I could push them. I thought our differences would have made us stronger; we balanced each other out. But in the end I took everything from him.

Trey might have been right about relinquishing what had been given to me in the will. While I wasn’t ready to let go, part of me felt like it never should have been mine in the first place.

My mother assured me that having cold feet was normal in the weeks preceding the wedding. Maybe she was wrong. If I hadn’t been so afraid of losing Connor, I might have confessed my doubts. But I was weak. Connor was gone now, and only I could be held accountable. All I wanted was to avoid all the hoopla that would have resulted if our mothers had been in charge. We never would have gotten on that plane if I hadn’t insisted on a destination wedding. In doing so, I sentenced everyone I loved to death.

I turned to the last page in the book, tracing the delicate lines of the sketch I finished just days before I moved to Chicago. It was a representation of every soul I ripped from this earth, as well as the tattered state of my own. I might never be whole again, but I needed to find a way to release some of the guilt I carried so I could attempt to move forward. I was still stagnating, despite having left behind the unyielding reminders of what I’d lost. I thought leaving would help, but I was still struggling to find balance in Chicago.

Maybe Hayden was right, maybe I needed to give in to the pain. The possibility that it could help put the past behind me made me want to set aside my fears over the feelings Hayden evoked. The potential for some sense of inner peace was too tempting. I was resolved. I would show him the design. I wanted a permanent reminder of everything I had lost because of my cowardice. It was the only way I could see that might allow me to heal.

7

HAYDEN

I hadn’t seen Tenley in days. Well, that was a lie; I had seen her entering and leaving the antiques store on several occasions. But whenever I went through Serendipity under the pretense of buying my fourth coffee of the day from the adjoining café, she was nowhere to be found. There was a pretty good chance she was hiding after our chat in the basement. As Lisa patiently informed me, talking about genital piercings didn’t quite fit with polite conversation. I would be more conscious of discussion topics next time around. On the positive side, Cassie had to duck out early today. That would make it very difficult for Tenley to pull a disappearing act.

It was early evening when my uncle Nate stopped by Inked Armor. He was still in a suit, so he must have come straight from work to get Cassie.

I dropped my pencil and pushed away from my desk. We did the man-hug back-pat thing. Chris and Jamie greeted him with the same enthusiasm as I did. It had been a while since I’d seen Nate. We both worked long hours, and he spent his spare time doting on my aunt. He was whipped, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m glad you stopped in,” I said. “When are we going to start planning that piece you’ve been talking about?”

“Soon? I’m picking Cassie up again tomorrow. I’ll bring some pictures with me and we’ll figure something out.”

“Excellent. I’m holding you to it this time.”

Nate had been going on for a while about getting a tattoo, but he hadn’t committed. I figured if I could get him to bring something in for me to work with, it wouldn’t be hard to persuade him to put it on his skin. Cassie might not be open about it, but she had a thing for ink.

At six o’clock Nate went over to Serendipity to get Cassie. After they left, Tenley took up residence behind the register. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I was between clients and wasn’t expecting anyone for at least another half hour, which gave me time to talk Tenley into bringing her design by later.

“Getting coffee.” Chris called after me, but I waved him off and rushed out of the shop. It was warm for the beginning of October, so I pushed up the sleeves of my shirt, feeling overly hot and nervous. I hadn’t planned this out at all. I tried to tell myself she was just a girl. All I was going to do was invite her over so I could persuade her to let me put some art on her body. What a crock of shit.

The bells above the door jingled my arrival. So much for the surprise angle. She looked up from the book clutched in her hands, then quickly down again. I was off to a fantastic start. The skittish kitten was back. Clearly Lisa was right; I hadn’t been as well behaved as I’d thought when I’d last spoken to her.

I smiled as I approached the desk and made a futile attempt not to check her out. It worked for all of three seconds. I was thankful for the warm weather, because Tenley wore a gray top baring enough skin to make me want to see more. A shiny silvery strap cut a line across her shoulder to disappear under the collar. Tenley was focused on the black bands of ink on my arm. The way she looked at my art made me feel naked. And not in a sexual way. I was used to being stared at. I hadn’t covered my body in ink and invested in facial piercings to blend in with the general population. But this was different. It wasn’t the typical bad-boy eye-fuck. It was something else entirely. It felt like she was trying to decipher the meaning in my art.

I studied her face. Beyond the understated beauty there were dark circles beneath her eyes, as though she wasn’t getting enough sleep. Even exhausted, she was still gorgeous.

Mild unease made her shift in her seat. “Hi, Hayden. You just missed Cassie.”

“I know. I’m here to see you.” I leaned forward, bracing my forearms on the counter. That way she could have a better look at my ink if she wanted to and I could keep checking her out.

Her eyes dropped, then she looked up. “Oh.”

I was positive she had no idea how sexy she was when she did that. I swept the pad of my thumb under the hollow of her eye. “You look tired.”

Touching her made me feel high. Like she was plugged into me or was plugging me in. I wanted to know what it would feel like to have my hands on her. Everywhere. I severed the contact in order to regain control of my brain.

“I have nightmares,” she said. “Bad ones.”

Like there was some other kind? She lined up the books on the counter. Obviously that was the only answer I would get.

“Did you want to go back down to the basement? Sort through the rest of those boxes?” she asked.

“Can you come with me?”

“I have to watch the desk and deal with customers.”

“There’s no one in the store. You could lock up for a bit.”