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I nod and bite off the end ofso hard that I tear the cuticle I wipe the blood on oes to a drawer and pulls out a Band-Aid "If Pete co, I’ll never hear the end of it" He tears the bandage open with his teeth and pulls the tabs off it He holds it out like he wants to wrap it aroundhe’s not going to stop My hand is shaking, though, and I hate it He wraps it up, and then he gives ain I sit across from him, and he passes me the paper, where he’s drawn a si toward a shaft of sunlight "Shade that in for me," he says

"I don’t draw," I say, but I sit down across from him

"Everyone kno to color," he says with a snort "Just pick soo outside the lines with purpose" He shrugs "I don’t care"

I pick up a o outside the lines with purpose I srins back and winks

When I’m done, I stare down at it The daisy is colorful and pretty, but withdraith its petals sub toward the shaft of sunlight "This is me, isn’t it?" I ask quietly

"Is it?" he replies, but he doesn’t look up at

"Yeah" It’s ers, his brow arched like he’s amused "Can you put this on me?" I ask I’m almost breathless, I’m so excited

"Do you want some time to think about it?" he asks

"Do you usually ask people that?" I reply

"Only when I think I need to" He still looks ah "Where do you want it?"

"Where do you suggest?" I ask

"Maybe on your shoulder?" he says He slides latex gloves over his fingers and snaps them on his wrists "You don’t think Pete will mind if I do this, do you?" he asks I’lad he asked

"Well, if you were going to put it onit" I laugh at the thought

"Oh, that was going to be next place I suggested" He snaps his latex-covered fingers, but they don’t h bubbles fro colors into tiny little cups "You’re going to have to take that off," he says, and he tugs on the arm of my T-shirt

Uh oh I didn’t think of that He pulls a T-shirt from a cabinet and uses a pair of scissors to cut down the back of it I take it, grateful that he thought of it He turns his back while I pull s open at the back, but I don’t care I leave my bra on He did say my shoulder, after all

"Wow," he breathes, when he walks around behind ht, didn’t you?" He chuckles I look over my shoulder and flush at all the ink that I never did wash off I haven’t been hons," I stuhs, and a grin tugs at my lips "The tramp stamp is pretty creative"

I haven’t even seen that one yet "What does it say?" I look back over o stand in front of it and look over my shoulder I blush like crazy when I see that he’s written, Pete’s girl in a gothic script with squiggly flowers and vines draping down below the waist of an He co to Paul Paul shows hian picks up a pencil and starts to add so to it "Don’t worry," Paul says to me "You’ll love it"

"What is it?" I ask

"Trust me," he says He turns me around, and I sit down on the tattoo table "Ready?" he asks

I nod

He transfers the outline of the design to un starts to run, and I feel it touch my shoulder It’s like an ant bite It doesn’t hurt And when he starts to oes away coan speaks to me I talk to him, careful to look at hi to e He’s pretty witty, actually After we start the second hour, Emily sticks her head behind the curtain

"Are all the one?" Paul asks He looks down at me to check for my reaction, I assume

"Yeah, only one of them wanted a tat," she says She comes around to look at my shoulder I hear her draw in a breath

"Shh," Paul says shushing her

"What?" I ask

"Nothing," she says, but her voice cracks, and she wipes a tear fro?" I ask Now I’oes and wraps her arms around his chest He nods and kisses her forehead "You did a really good job," she says

"Hey, I shaded it," I say

"All done," Paul says And he turns the gun off and lays it down He swipes some lotion across the tattoo and washes it, then pulls me up by my elbows and points me toward the mirror "What do you think?" he asks

He watches my face closely Paul does that a lot You don’t have to speak for hi

I turn my back to the mirror, and I see the work of art he’s created He drew the daisy, and he’s colored it with ht from behind bars That part is exactly what I expected But at the base of the daisy, Maggie lays with her head balanced on the lower petals, just like she used to balance it on lory, and the eyes sparkle, just like hers did A sob builds in my throat "I love it," I croak out "It’s perfect"

Paul reaches for me slowly, careful not to scare with me with his slow movements, and he pulls me to his chest I wrap my arms around hiers and draws me close into him He strokes a hand down the back of ive hian," I say I look in the ain It’s truly perfect

"Next time, we’ll do one without bars," Paul says as he sets me back and looks into my eyes

I nod "Next time," I say For the first ti unlocked

Paul still has his arms wrapped around me when the curtain opens and Pete sticks his head into the area He’s grinning until he sees n so I know there’s so on back here," he says He looks at me closely and scohen he sees me wipe my eyes "What the fk did you do to her?" he asks

He walks forward, and Paul lets ht?" he asks He’s worried, and I both hate and love that he is