Page 38 of Elijah

“Hi Scarlett,” I added. “How are you?”

Scarlett grinned and placed a hand on her stomach. “I’m great thanks.”

I narrowed my eyes at where her hand was placed, but she just shrugged and looked over her shoulder. My gaze followed hers to see Isaac approaching.

“Hi guys,” he said, holding out a hand. “Been a while.”

“Yeah,” Sam replied. “Eli is always working and as we always agreed to have them done together, I’ve had to wait.”

“Well I’m ready for you Eli. Scar, can you check if Topper is ready for Sam?” He leaned into his girlfriend and kissed her cheek. “You okay?”

She nodded and stroked his cheek before picking up the reception phone.

“So, we still going with the fox on the shoulder blade?” Isaac asked.

“Yeah, but a slight change of plan.” Isaac furrowed his brow. “Can you cover up the heart on my chest?”

Isaac blew out a breath and Sam chuckled.

“Yep, that’s what I thought,” my brother said.

“Are you sure?” Isaac asked, grabbing the back of his neck. “That’s an amazing tatt, Dex will be pissed you’re covering up some of his work.”

I sighed, in total agreement with Isaac. Dex Michaels was a world-renowned tattoo artist and had his own very small group of customers when he opened up Heaven & Ink, preferring to let all the other guys do the inking. I’d been lucky enough to be one of that elite group after I’d won a competition he was running, to have a tattoo done by him. It was supposed to be a one off, but Dex and I hit it off and ended up going for a few beers and he kept me on as a client, until a couple of years ago when he handed everything over to Isaac, and Isaac it had to be said, was almost as good as his step-father.

“Yeah I know,” I replied. “But I guess it’s time I moved on.”

The lump in my throat was huge, as I thought about what I was going to do. I knew it was time, but it was my tribute to the woman who would always be in my soul. It didn’t matter that we weren’t together any more, we had been everything to each other for all the formative years of our lives. But for one drunken night, we’d still be together, I knew it in my bones. The problem was, time had moved on and now I also had to.

Isaac nodded. “Okay, whatever you want, but it’s a fucking beautiful tattoo.”

“I agree,” Sam added. “I think he should keep it.”

“Well, I’ve made my mind up, so let’s go.”

Isaac gave me a sad smile and then led the way to his studio.

* * *

As I came out of Isaac’s studio and approached the reception desk, I blew out a breath of relief. I’d made a decision and that was final. It didn’t make it any easier and like an idiot I’d almost broken down while I’d been in the chair. Poor Isaac wasn’t sure what to do or say, except pat me on the back and mutter some comforting platitudes.

“All done?” Scarlett asked, tapping away on her computer. “Isaac’s just putting your bill on.”

“No problem.” I looked toward the studios and saw Sam approaching. I gave him a chin lift.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“Yeah all good.” I looked down at my wallet, opening it up to get out my card.

“He manage it okay?”

I nodded and Sam patted my shoulder blade, making me take a half step forward.

“Must have been hard. You sure you made the right decision?”

“Yeah. How did yours go?” I asked as I handed Scarlett my card.

He’d been getting a St Christopher on his back.