Rowdy flipped me off but grinned in good humor. My friends loved Shaw, loved that she made me tone all my crazy down and became an easier guy to live with and be around. It was almost a year in and while I still wasn’t the easiest person in the world to get along with I was making real strides in at least being a more tolerable human being. “That could be the very best piece I’ve ever seen you do. Are you going to put it in your portfolio when it’s done?”

The piece was a very intricate, very colorful day of the dead inspired grim reaper. The face on the woman was beautiful and tragic and she held onto an exact replica of the heart I had initially drawn on Shaw’s palm all those months ago. Shaw had insisted on two things in the design, she wanted the sacred heart represented and she wanted it to resemble the grim reaper on my side. I never would have thought Shaw was going to get as interested in body modification as I was, but after only a month of us being an official couple she had asked me to draw her a bunch of tiny snowflakes in different colors of blue, gray and white. When I asked her why she said my eyes reminded her of winter and she wanted something to keep with her for always that reminded her of me so she now had a snow storm that started behind her left ear and trailed across the back of her neck to base of her right shoulder. It was one of my favorite places on her body to traced over with my tongue and loved not only that she got something that reminded her of me but that I was the one to put it on her. A couple of months after that she wanted me to draw her up a horseshoe with Remy’s name in it so she was also rocking a memorial tattoo for my brother that made me feel good every time I saw it on her inner arm when she hugged me or we held hands. The piece I was working on today was a hundred times bigger and more detailed that either of those, it made a statement and I had to admit I loved it, loved the design, loved that she trusted me enough to permanently alter her and loved that I was the one that was going to see it every day when she got into bed beside me.

I ran the paper towel I was using to wipe away excess ink and blood off of her over her hip and cleaned her up. I gave her a light tap on the ass and snapped off my gloves. “That’s up to Shaw. If she wants it in there I will, if not it’s cool.” I flexed my fingers as she swung her legs around the table so I could slime tattoo goo all over her and wrap her up so she didn’t ooze blood and ink all over the place until I could get her home. The hand that had her name inked across the knuckles folded up and brushed against her cheek as I snuck a kiss. As a professional tattoo artist I knew all the mojo and all the warnings about tattooing a significant’s name anywhere on your body but I didn’t care. I liked looking down and seeing her name there, liked when I held my hands next to each other our names were side by side forever on my skin. I had also had Nash ink a perfect little replica of Casper the Friendly Ghost behind my left ear so that I had something that reminded me of her in the same place she had something that reminded her of me. It was kind of cheesy but she thought it was sweet and the way she had showed her appreciation was enough to keep me smiling for days so who gave a fuck.

“It’s beautiful. Thanks love.”

“So are you.” I kissed her again as she hopped of the table carful to keep all the good stuff covered up as she went into the bathroom to get dressed. She trailed a finger across the bald side of my head where I had it shaved. The mohawk was back at alternating intervals and she hadn’t been lying, she never cared what my hair looked like and long she could get hands in it our around it she didn’t care what style it was or what color I picked for the month.

Rowdy shook his head and gave me a sour look. “You are one lucky bastard Archer.”

I laughed and started to clean my station up. “I know it.”

Things weren’t always perfect. We were still two very different people on two very different paths but we always managed to take time and work it out. The trial against Davenport had been hard because I hated watching her have to relive it all and there was just too much influence for him to get as harsh a sentence as he deserved but she stayed strong and even when her parents had encouraged her to just drop the charges and let Davenport’s dad deal with him she had pressed forwards and done the right thing and Gabe was getting punished just not as harshly as any of us would have liked. Her parents weren’t any kind of fan of our relationship but once it was clear that Shaw and I were a package deal or they weren’t welcome anywhere near her they had relented slightly. Personally I think it was guilt from the attack and their general shitty parenting that kept them paying her tuition and begrudgingly accepting me in her life but I didn’t care because I was there to protect her from them so whatever the reason as long as they behaved it was all good or at least good enough.

Things with my folks were better, not perfect but better. My mom and I had reached an understanding, we were never going to have the close relationship she shared with Remy but we at least could talk now and I had even gone along to a couple of her therapy appointments so I had a better understanding of how she was wired. Much to my surprise we were far more alike than I had ever imagined. Shaw and I made it a point to go back home every Sunday for brunch again but now I was an active participant and it was one of my favorite times of the week. Unfortunately Rome was the Archer brother being difficult now. He still refused to talk to mom and dad and he only thawed toward Shaw when I let it be known that if he didn’t I was going to beat his ass when he came home in a couple months. Things were rocky on that front, he felt lied to and betrayed but I had faith that if I could see the light than my brother who was already a way better man than I was would come around eventually.

Shaw came out of the bathroom pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. Cora turned from the front desk to scowl at her. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me for that asshole. I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Ahh I’m going to miss you too girl but I’m never there and I’m sick and tired of having my stuff in two different places.” Shaw was moving in with me and Nash this weekend. We had put it off even though she was there five to six nights a week because I didn’t want to burden Nash. It was my best friend that finally told her over breakfast one morning that if she agreed to do most of the cooking then she was welcome to just move in. We were both grateful because I liked our place, it was super convenient for work and I really didn’t want to move or ask Nash to leave. The three of us got along great and Nash was gone enough nights that we never really got on each other’s nerves. The girls were bummed she was going and I knew she was really going to miss Ayden and Cora, but they hung out enough and declared every Thursday girl night that I wasn’t worried at all about her regretting her decision.

Cora screwed up her face looking like an angry Tinker Bell. “I just hate the idea of moving a stranger in. You and Ayden were like the perfect roommates ever and after what happened to you I don’t trust some random stranger off the street to move in.”

Shaw sat in the chair I had vacated to clean up and I hid a grin as she sneakily ran her fingers up the inside of my thigh. Nash looked up from the owl he was working on and looked back and forth between me and Rowdy. “Isn’t Jet coming back from tour soon?”

“Yeah. So what?” Artifice had hit the big time, booking a slot on Metalfest and tapped Jet’s band Enmity be on the opening stage for them. He had been gone for over six months and while he was on the road the girl he had been shaking up with had hooked up with some ex con so Jet was out on his ass but we all just figured he would crash with Rowdy or one of the other guys in the band.

“You can rent the room out to him.” Nash said it like it was perfectly reasonable. “He’s cool with Ayden and he’s always on tour our whatever anyway. I bet he would be a good fit.”

Shaw and I shared a raised eyebrow look. Jet was cool with Ayden, in fact they had developed an independent friendship outside of the rest of us that often left us all questioning how close the country girl and the metal boy were. They were close but so opposite it was hard to understand how they ever had anything to talk about, if anyone asked me Jet moving under the same roof as the dark haired beauty was just asking for trouble, or a really good time depending on how you looked at it. I cleared my throat and reached out for Shaw’s hand.

“My older brother will be back in a few months too. He’s gonna need a place to crash until he figures out what he’s doing. That might be another option you want to consider.” Cora nodded and turned back to whatever it was she was messing with on the computer. “You ready to go home?”

I loved asking her that. I loved that she knew I loved asking her that. She smiled at me and gingerly reached up to give me a quick peck. I knew her side had to be hurting her. Four hours of getting drilled was a lot and she normally sat like a champ, still as stone. I was going to put her in a hot shower and make her feel all better.

“Yep.”

We walked out of the shop hand in hand and headed toward the Victorian. She liked to run her thumb back and forth across her name on my knuckles and it never failed to make me smile.

“Do you want to put me in your portfolio Rule?”

I wasn’t expecting that question so I looked at her in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. You put all your really big pieces in there, I just didn’t know why you would want to leave this one out.”

I wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her to me so I could kiss the top of her head. “Because those are work. I put them on people and then they go out into the world where they are hopefully appreciated and loved by other people. Anything I do for you, anything between us isn’t work and it’s for you and I to appreciate. When I work on you I do it knowing what I put on you will be with us forever. Like I said if you want it in there I’ll be happy to put it in, but if not then I’ll be happy to be the one to admire all my handiwork every day.”

She stared at me in silence for a second and then burst out laughing. “You give the most backasswards compliments in the world but that was lovely and you’re absolutely right. The only person that I really want to see it is you.”

I growled and tugged on her hair. “That thing covers half your butt cheek. I better be the only one looking at it Casper.”

Her green eyes glowed in a way that only I could make them. “I do love you Rule Archer.”

Every time she said it I had an easier time telling her, “I love you back” and that’s all it was. I didn’t have to question, didn’t have to worry, didn’t have to fall into the tunnel of darkness because whatever Shaw felt for me I just gave it to her back and knew that was enough. I didn’t have to try, I just did and every single day I did it better than the day before.

“So what about Jet or Rome going to live with Cora and Ayd?”

She snuggled into my side as we approached the Victorian.

“I can’t wait to see how that plays out.”

I snorted. “That’s what everyone said about us.”