“It was an honor to be a part of.” Lex smiled sadly, rubbing her hand over his back affectionately. “I hope your boys love being able to see their buddy whenever they see your arm now.”
“They’re going to love it.” Jack agreed, pulling lex in for a big hug and holding onto her for a minute.
It was beautiful to witness the exchange of such a gift between artist and canvas. The weight of being responsible for something so powerful mystified me.
I hated to interrupt the moment between them, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not getting pictures of the piece in complete detail, to share with the world in honor of both K-9 Arlo and Lex’s talents.
“Do you mind if I document this?” I held my camera up, fully prepared to capture the tattoo today unlike yesterday, and Jack proudly stuck his arm out for me.
“How do you want me?”
“Just like that.” I nodded to the beautiful backdrop behind him as Lex adjusted the lighting for me in the room.
It photographed amazingly, and as I worked, Lex watched over my shoulder, approving, and recommending different angles and shots until we were both confident we got them all. “Thank you so much, again Lex.”
“I wouldn’t have had it any other way, Jack. Come back whenever you want more.” She patted his shoulder as he headed out.
“You know me, every couple of months I darken your doorstep.” He joked, saluting us once as he left.
With him gone, the room instantly felt smaller and sadder, like the weight of the day and the meaning behind it was heavier to burden without Jack’s charismatic presence there to buffer it. He was the one grieving, yet he had joked and lightened the mood for us, as though our feelings were important.
Lex collapsed into the black wing-back chair I sat in all day and sighed, and I knew she felt it too. “I’m not really sure what to do with myself now.” She admitted before looking up at me where I stood by the wall. “It seems wrong to just go on with my day, even if it is already evening.”
Jack had been a trooper, sitting through nearly eight hours of tattooing with only one brief lunch break and a few stretch breaks, more for Lex’s well being than his own.
And Lex, dang. The endurance and stamina to tattoo that long was extraordinary and magical to watch.
“Do you have any other appointments today?” I sincerely hoped she wasn’t booked for anything else; she deserved a break.
“God no,” She scoffed and then stood up and started stretching her body out, bending over to touch her toes and then folding her arms over her chest. “I knew even if I physically could tattoo after that, which I can’t, I wouldn’t want to mentally. I think clearing a whole day for Arlo was the only way to handle his tribute.”
“I agree.” I warmed at her tenderness for an animal she never met. Her exterior was hard, yet her personality was soft and thoughtful whenever she showed me a piece. “How about you let me buy you dinner?” I asked, not even processing my words before they were out of my mouth. “You hardly ate anything all day, and it’s the least I can do for your hospitality today.” She watched me with that penetrating stare, making me wonder if I once again overstepped the boundaries of this professional arrangement like I had last night when I asked her about her relationship status with her client. “You can say no!” I hurried on, “I just thought maybe—”
“I’d love to.” She cut me off, taking pity on me as I started rambling and back peddling so fast, I was sure to land on my ass. “But not because I feel you owe me anything. But mostly because I’m starving and if I don’t eat soon, I’ll turn into a wild, angry monster.” Her eyes widened dramatically as she curled her lip up and pretended to show me her claws.
I giggled at her animation and felt a little more confident about my invitation. I turned around to grab my things. “We can’t have that. There’s this fantastic Mexican place down the street if you’re up for some tacos?” When I faced her again, there was that predatory look in her eyes that instantly sucked all the air from the room like it had last night when we were alone.
Then her red lips curled up again into a grin that made my knees weak. “I love tacos.”
Something about the way she said the word, made me think she wasn’t talking about food anymore, but instead of embarrassing myself by asking for her to clarify, I swallowed down a gulp of anticipation and silently nodded for her to grab her things and lead the way out of the shop.
She meant food, right?
What on earth else could she be talking about?
I thought watching Lex tattoo was a sight to behold with her movements and grace, but it didn’t hold a candle to watching her eat. She was one of those people who ate with their entire soul.
She closed her eyes and groaned when she took the first bite and danced in her seat on the high-top chair where we sat against the wall in the back corner of the busy place. Not an inch of red lipstick was out of place as she ate her first taco either.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Sorry.” She smirked, holding her napkin over her mouth as she chewed. “I was starving.”
“No.” I blinked, focusing on my own untouched food, “I love it.” I picked up my own shredded chicken and guacamole taco and took a bite. She was right, the food was damn good and deserved to be praised after a long day. “Gosh, I have to come here more often.”
“How’d you find it?” She looked around before taking a sip of her margarita. It was an old industrial space made to look like a trendy garage, with big overhead glass garage doors that opened up to let the two environments inside and out mingle while patrons visited. “I didn’t know it was even here.”
“Knox found it by total accident one day.” I grinned at the memory. “He was meeting Dallin for something after work one night and stopped in here for a drink before.” I shrugged, “He came back the next night because of how good the food was.”
“And Knox is—” She paused, raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“My boyfriend.” I blushed because I was so absolutely in love with him, that I couldn’t help but go full schoolgirl anytime I talked about him. Even if we’d been together going on ten years.
“One of two—” She left the ending open and grinned at me. “I need to hear that story.”
I opened my mouth to talk about Knox and Brody, but for some reason, talking about them with Lex made me feel slightly guilty. I felt as if I had been caught with my hand in the hypothetical cookie jar, and I knew I was going to get in trouble.
So I blew it off as best as I could, “Knox, Brody and I were all best friends in high school and eventually we kind of morphed into a new dynamic and haven’t looked back since.”
“I didn’t mean to pry.” She straightened up, wiping her hands on her napkin. “If anyone in the world knows what it’s like to be unconventional,” She waved her hand over her appearance, “It’s me. So I should have thought better about digging into it. I’m sorry.”
“No!” I sighed and smiled at her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I guess I haven’t always gotten the warmest responses from people finding out I’m in a polyamorous relationship. Often people think I’m a sister wife in a weird cult and even after they find out I’m the luckiest girl in the world who is loved by two men equally with zero competition or love triangles included, I’m left feeling icky from it all. So I’m naturally reserved, but I don’t need to be with you. Because I know you’d never make me feel odd for it.”
“You’re not odd for finding love, no matter the label.” She asserted, taking a sip of her drink.
“What about you?” I asked, toeing that line of weird comfort I’d felt in her presence. “Are you in a relationship? Or two?” I joked, trying to lighten the conversation.
