want the same thing, but just Frankie’s name on the loop.”
“Ditto,” Ian said.
Archie chuckled. “C’mon, you guys don’t want to tattoo my name on you forever?”
“Nope,” Jake said. “Frankie’s, yes. I love you guys like brothers, but I don’t need it tatted on me somewhere.”
The second artist joined the first, and they glanced at us with more than a hint of speculation. My ears had to be on fire, but thankfully, my hair covered them, and I didn’t shy away from the looks. The second artist was also older, and he tapped the sketch. “You want to personalize these a little more, you’ve got room in here. We could add something inside the five or even in the loops themselves.”
“Roses,” I decided. “I want roses inside mine. Then I can get them colored in later.” They had come to mean a lot to me, besides being my favorite flower.
The artist was already sketching in an idea.
“Musical notes for you, Ian?”
His eyes flared as he met my graze, and he grinned. “I like that.”
“Tools for Archie,” Coop suggested.
“Eh, I was thinking more this.” Archie held out his phone, and the second artist peered at it.
“We have a book for those,” the guy said before slipping away, when he came back, he flipped it open to the page for Chinese symbols.
“These three,” Archie said. He tapped the ones for love, loyalty, and friendship.
“Me too,” I said abruptly. “I want those instead of the roses.”
“Make that three of us…”
“All of us,” Jake said as Coop nodded. The artists chuckled, but they finished the design. Next, we just had to decide where we wanted them. I went for my shoulder blade. The guys weren’t a fan of me shedding down to my bra, but they were all right there, and the only other people were the artists and they weren’t flirting with me.
If anything, they were solicitous in making sure I was happy with what they sketched out and making minute changes. I loved that he’d added a hint of a heart to the upper curve of the five. It was subtle, but perfect. The guys’ names would be in calligraphy. I was going to have to get a picture of it when I was done.
The guys decided to get theirs in the same place. Which meant it would be prominently on display whenever they were shirtless.
All the moisture in my mouth fled as I settled on the chair and leaned forward to relax. The artist talked me through the steps and explained everything he was going to do. Jake was going at the same time I was, since he wanted to get his first.
Birthday boy always gets his wish.
We stared at each other as they got started. The minute the cool gel hit my back, I tensed a little, but the artist just started rambling on about the different tattoos he’d done over the years and I focused on Jake’s eyes.
It didn’t hurt so bad.
Okay, I lied. It hurt like a bitch. I swore it was like they were literally carving the symbols into my back and not just using a little tiny set of needles. But after a while, the hot pain just kind of all washed together and faded. It helped that Coop was right next to my head and Archie and Ian were also there, both of them watching critically.
All too soon, it was done, and then it was Archie and Ian who were up. Coop waited with us and helped me pull my shirt on after they’d treated it. He also took a picture. It was red and blotchy and inflamed and kind of perfect.
“Guess that’s that,” I told him, as I inspected my name now tatted on Jake’s back. It was about to be tatted on all of them. A possessive thrill skated through me.
“Guess it is,” Jake murmured and then kissed me lightly, murmuring, “Mine.”
“And mine,” Coop said, giving me a wink.
“Stop hogging Frankie,” Archie complained. “Or at least hog her where I can see her. We’re over here bleeding for her.”
Laughter burst out of me, but I grabbed a chair so I could sit between he and Ian, splitting my attention between them. All in all, it took three hours to get it all done. But by early afternoon, with instructions in our pockets and all of us sporting new tattoos, we headed out for the car. It was partially