27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

MILO

"Wait," I gasp, clenching my eyes closed and flinching away.

The buzz of the tattoo machine stops, and I peek one eye open to see an indulgent smile on Piston's face.

I blow out a breath and try to shake the tension out of my body. "Sorry, I just got scared it was going to hurt."

"It's a rapidly moving needle shoving ink deep into the pores of your skin. Of course it's going to hurt," Jag says.

I flinch again.

"Not helping, man," Piston mutters.

I glance around at the full shop. The sign on the door was flipped to Closed forty minutes ago, but apparently hanging around to watch me lose my tattoo virginity is enough of a draw for all the guys to give up their Friday night for it.

Brick is perched on the railing only a few feet away, swinging his feet and watching us with interest. He rolls his eyes and smirks. "Please, those needles are teeny tiny."

"Well, I'm not letting you put a twelve gauge through my dick. Thanks." I shudder at the thought.

"It's a ten gauge." He winks, then laughs.

Hero flinches and Tex takes the cowboy hat off his head to cover his crotch.

"Okay, focus," I command myself, letting out another slow breath and doing a little wiggle in my seat to try to dispel my nerves. "It won't be that bad."

"Baby," Piston says softly, squeezing my bicep gently, the machine still silently poised in his other hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"It'll sting, but I promise to be gentle. And if you need any breaks, you just say the word, okay?"

I nod. "Okay."

He presses a kiss to my lips and my nerves finally do melt away. Duh, of course I trust Piston to make my first time as painless as possible. He's certainly done it before. He's taken care of me since the night we met and there isn't a doubt in my mind that I want his ink all over me. I want him embedded in my skin where he'll never wash off.

"Do it," I say firmly, bracing myself. I hold my breath, and the needle makes contact with my skin. As soon as it does, I bark out a laugh and jerk. Luckily, he's ready for it, already pulling the needle away from my skin before I can make him fuck up. "That's it? The kittens' claws hurt worse than that."

"Yeah, they do." Arrow holds up his bandaged hand and Lewis smirks and shakes his head.

"I told you you were getting them too riled up."

"They were having fun," Arrow says defensively.

I sink into the feeling of the needle dragging across my skin. It actually feels a lot like a cat scratch. The guys banter and tease each other while I watch in fascination. The deep furrow of concentration on Piston's face is fucking adorable, and it feels like magic watching him create artwork on my skin from nothing.

I can be Puppy forever if it means fitting in with this group of teasing, lovable loudmouths. And, as promised, Piston added to the piece to make it custom, giving the shaggy puppy a collar with a heart-shaped tag and an axolotl that looks just like Quincy on its head. He also promised to leave room on my bicep to add three cats later.

Brick yawns loudly and hops down off the railing.

"This has been fun, but I've gotta get home before cur—" He cuts himself off and doesn't offer an explanation for the unfinished sentence.

"Hey, hold up," Hero calls as the piercer tries to make a quick escape. For a second, I don't think he's going to stop, but he does with his hand on the door, looking over his shoulder with a nervous kind of defiance on his face. "Is everything okay with you?"

He huffs out a laugh. "I'm fine. No damsels in distress over here."

Hero frowns. "But if there were, you'd tell us?"

Brick cocks his head and looks around at all the guys, all of their attention fixed on him. It's a lot to have all these intense dudes staring. I definitely sympathize with the poor guy.

"Sure, yeah, whatever," he mumbles unconvincingly. "Don't worry about me. I handle my own shit just fine." He pushes through the door without waiting for anyone to respond.

"Are we going to get involved in whatever that is?" Jag asks.

Arrow chuckles. "Like you have to ask."

There's laughter and a murmur of agreement from everyone else. I hope whoever takes over my position at the front desk is ready to deal with this crew. Thoughts and prayers.

"You're going to be the most badass, inked-up vet tech of all time," Jag declares.

"It's one tattoo, and we'll see if this new job is even going to stick."

"It will," my dad says confidently. "And if it doesn't, you'll be the most badass, tattooed, whatever-you-decide-next."

"And it's never just one tattoo," Lewis says wisely, pulling off his own shirt so Arrow can get back to work on the garden he's been slowly inking onto Lewis's back.

A warm feeling fills my chest, and Piston looks up from his work for just a second, his eyes meeting mine with all the same love and affection that's swirling through me. For these meddling assholes he considers family, for me, for this life and career he's carved out for himself.

Maybe it should be intimidating to try to find my place in all that, but he makes it easy. He makes me feel like I belong here, with him, figuring out our future together one step at a time.

As long as we're together, I'm ready for anything.

The End