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The prospect of moving in together should scare me more than it does, and maybe it would, if it didn’t also feel like the first honest thing I’ve ever done. She’s the one place I feel peace, and I’m the one place she feels alive. We are not soft or simple, we’re complicated and messy and beautiful.
Maybe that’s all love ever was for people like us—something built through karma and corridors, shaped by every cursed thing that happened to us, and every dark winding path we had to survive, until somehow, at the end of both, we chose each other and made a home there.
I’m a busy man, but rarely impulsive. When people see my starched collars and shined shoes, they usually get an idea of what I’m about—and they’re not wrong—but every now and again I enjoy proving that I can do something out of the ordinary.
Which is how I end up in a tattoo chair on a Thursday evening with my suit jacket folded neatly over the back. My dress shirt is pushed up to my elbow while Thor, a man who looks like he’s seen his share of bar fights, leans over my forearm with a tattoo machine. Thor is exactly who you would expect in a place called Black Rabbit: broad shoulders, heavy ink, dark hair. A little pensive, perhaps, but not unfriendly.
“Still good?” he asks without looking up.
“Great,” I nod. The sting is sharp but manageable, nothing I can’t handle. I’ve been through worse.
He finishes a line and wipes the bubbled ink, clearing it before going in for the next.
It’s a classic hand-drawn script that’s clean and crisp enough to look timeless, yet sentimental enough to prove my devotion. There’s a wistful aura in Thor’s style.
“First tattoo?” he asks. No judgment, just small talk.
“Nah, I’ve got a couple small ones that I did in my twenties, but this is my first one in a while . . . How long have you been tattooing?”
He smiles, gaze still fixed on my arm. “Long enough.”
I huff out a laugh, because he really is fitting that stereotype. “I assume you’re only this chatty with your favorite clients.”
His mouth twitches. “You know it.”
“I’ll cherish that.”
“Girlfriend? Wife? Kid?” he asks, wiping again as he sweeps the tail on the second M.
“Wife. It’s our anniversary this weekend.”
“Nice, how long have you been together?”
“Long enough,” I say, parroting his words.
He grins and gets back to work. I let my eyes wander around the shop. It’s old school, that much is obvious. The place has the casual comfort of people who know exactly who they are and have no interest in making themselves more palatable for anyone else. I can respect that.
“She won’t be expecting this, that’s for sure.”
He glances at me briefly, the corner of his mouth quirked up, and a raised brow. “She doesn’t know about it? Ballsy.”
“She’ll call it excessive, which is how I know I did well. I’m aiming for touched, amused, and maybe just a little bit smug that I thought of it before she did.” At least I hope so. “I love making her happy—and getting the credit for it.”
I built this life brick by brick, and work hard to ensure her contentment. From the kitchen of her dreams to the library job she doesn’t need but enjoys. The security of knowing she can work because she wants to, not because she needs to. I give her a life that asks less of her than the world does because if anyone deserves it, it’s her. She’s beautiful, kind, and has a soul that’s caring and empathetic. I plan on giving this woman everything she deserves.
“Are you married?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Doing the bachelor thing.”
I chuckle. He’s gotta be as old as I am. “At your age?”
Thor raises a brow. “How old do you think I am?”
“Man, I don’t know. You look like you could be anywhere between thirty and fifty if I’m being honest.” He’s a handsome guy, but his face holds lines like he’s been through something that aged him, probably early on.
That gets a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before . . . works great to widen the dating pool.”
By the time he swaps needles and starts to shade in the thick downstrokes of the calligraphy letters, we’ve fallen into a companionable silence. I’ve decided Thor is exactly what he seems—stoic, skilled, disinterested in anything that doesn’t affect him.
