Pretty In Ink by Scott Hildreth Read Free Book Online Page A

prepared for the punishment. Without much warning, I dug the needle into her thigh and began to outline the peony I had drawn on her leg.
    “Fuck, that’s tender,” she whined.
    “It’s supposed to be tender,” I said without looking up. “It’s a tattoo.”
    Half way through the outline of the tattoo, the door buzzer caught my attention. Quite shocked that we had both forgot to lock it, I shifted my gaze from Riley’s leg to the front of the shop. As my eyes became focused on the door, a huge arrangement of flowers walked in with a man close behind it.
    “Holy crap,” Riley gasped. “That’s huge.”
    “Uh huh,” I said as I stood from my seat.
    “Stevie?” the man behind the flowers asked.
    “Right here,” I responded with a nod.
    I made every effort to hide my excitement. In my entire life, no one had ever given me flowers. I had no real idea if the way Wilson was acting was typical behavior for him, or if it was because he was trying to impress me. But if this was the way he was always going to be I could sure get accustomed to it pretty quickly.
    “Right there on my tool box,” I said as I tilted my head to the side.
    The size of the arrangement was humongous, and the aroma from the flowers filled the shop immediately.
    “Where do you want the others?” he asked as he glanced around the shop.
    My mouth curled into a huge smile. “You got more, do you?”
    He nodded his head as he continued to survey the shop. I glanced down at Riley and grinned.
    “Just bring ‘em in. We’ll tell you where to put them,” I said.
    After his sixth trip into the shop, the place looked like a florist shop, not a tattoo parlor. As the smell from the flowers became thick in the air, Riley walked from arrangement to arrangement, sniffing each one and plucking the cards from the little plastic sticks that held them in place. I did my best to act uninterested in the details, and stood at my station grinning at the sight of the dozens upon dozens of beautiful flowers.
    In reality, I felt like I was six foot three, and not fractionally shy of five foot, but I didn’t dare say a thing. I didn’t need the verbal repercussion Riley would bring if I opened my mouth. Having someone like Wilson treat me in the manner he was treating me was sure to make even Riley jealous if I did anything to rub it in.
    “This is ridiculous, there’s one word on each card,” Riley huffed as she walked toward me.
    Riley’s shoulders slumped slightly as she handed me the cards. After studying them individually for a moment, I spread them apart in my hands and stared.
    Flowers.
    Girl.
    For.
    Beautiful.
    A.
    Beautiful .
     
    I placed the cards on the seat of my stool and shuffled them around until I solved the puzzle.
    Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.
    Riley glanced down at the cards and inhaled a slow deep breath. After a moment, she sighed and looked up.
    “They’re beautiful. I’m sorry…it’s just. I don’t know….it’s just like a movie or something. You know the romantic comedies where the guy does all the right things? This is crazy. I mean. God, look around. This must have cost a small fortune,” she said as she turned in a half circle and shook her head.
    “A bit much, huh?” I said as I picked up the cards and walked toward my box.
    “I’d say so,” Riley sighed.
    Well, I love it .
    I slid the top drawer open and dropped the cards beside my key fob. As I closed the drawer, the back door opened and Blake walked in.
    “Holy fucking shit it smells good in here,” he said.
    “What’s up, dork?” I said as he walked past.
    He glanced down at Riley’s leg, shifted his eyes toward me, and shrugged his shoulders.
    “I though you two were going to be done before we opened shop?” he asked as he lowered his eyes toward the half-complete outline of Riley’s tattoo.
    “Well, we were, but…” She paused and waved her arms around the shop.
    His eyes widened and he chuckled. “You went and bought flowers