Page 36 of X's and O's

But Boyd was adamant. “She’s my whole world. Even if she doesn’t love me anymore, doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop loving her.”

Dax still didn’t seem convinced, but I got where Boyd was coming from.

Turning the paper around in his fingers so he could study it from all angles, Dax let out a hum of approval. “This is really good. Who drew it?”

Boyd hooked a thumb in my direction. “Levi did.”

Dax’s head snapped up. “No shit? You draw? You never told me that.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t when I knew you. Took it up on the inside. Did a lot of online classes. Found I kinda liked it.”

“And that you’re fucking good.”

Embarrassment raced up the back of my neck at his praise. It was a lot, coming from a guy with more artistic experience in his little finger than I had in my entire body.

Dax held up the design, focusing on Boyd again. “You want to do this now? My appointment cancelled, so I got time.”

Boyd nodded, and Dax pointed at the table.

“Get on up there, and I’ll get a stencil of this printed.”He glanced back over at Boyd, who’d whipped off his shirt and was settling on the table. Dax sighed. “Let me guess, you want this over your heart?”

Neither of us were surprised when Boyd agreed.

Dax prepped everything he needed for the tattoo, and I wandered around the shop. While the outside of the shop hadn’t changed much since I’d last been here, the inside had. There were now multiple tables so more than one artist could work at a time. The walls were covered with new art, some in Dax’s trademark style, but others mixed in too. I studied each piece like I was in a gallery. Because really, I was. Maybe not the kind the snobs in Providence went to, but I was mesmerized anyway.

I barely even noticed the buzz of the tattoo gun, or Boyd complaining about the pain before Dax had barely even started.

I moved around the room, eventually getting back to the front desk, also covered in artwork and various other bits of equipment. A random assortment of things had been stashed behind, like someone had recently done a bit of spring cleaning. A bike, a bag of clothes, a framed mirror that had seen better days. A tattoo gun sat on the corner of the desk in a plain white box with no lid, the kind you got takeout fish and chips in. “For Sale” was written in black Sharpie across the front of the box.

I picked it up. “What’s this about?”

“Huh?” Dax paused and glanced over. “Oh, that. I got a new kit last week, and I already know I’m never going back to that one. All that shit back there is for sale. The bike and all the rest. Was gonna sell it online or something but haven’t gotten around to listing it yet. Just been busy, but I figured people had a better chance of seeing itin here than in my house.” He drew a couple more lines of my design across Boyd’s skin before he glanced up again. “You interested in the tattoo stuff?”

I shrugged, unwilling to admit exactly how interested I was. “Maybe. How much you want for it?”

“Whatever. Hundred?”

I didn’t even know why I’d asked. I didn’t have a cent to my name. “Maybe some other time.”

Dax went back to work, and I flipped through a display book with hundreds of small designs. But one of the first pages was full of different kinds of flowers, and of course, my eye immediately snagged on the violet.

After that, I barely saw the rest of the pages. They were a blur of lines and shapes, because all I could think about was the violet I’d drawn and how it was now scrunched up in the bottom of a trash can.

My gaze drifted back to the tattoo machine Dax had for sale.

I wished I had the cash for it.

“I think I’m going to pass out,” Boyd complained. “I had no idea how much this would hurt.”

I chuckled under my breath.

“Why don’t you take it?” Dax asked.

I glanced over at him, realizing he was watching me.

He nodded at the machine. “Try it out for a while. See if you like it. If you do, you can pay me for it later.”

I didn’t want to take charity. But if it was a loan, and I could pay him later… “Seriously?”