“You calling me a whirlwind too?”
“Fucking right, Tiny. You blew in here and turned everything upside down in only a few minutes.”
“Huh.” I look around at the tidy apartment. It wasn’t a total mess when I first arrived, but it was obvious that a single guy lived here. “I guess I did.”
“Go get ready, we’re going out.”
“Oh? Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I smile at him, loving the cheeky glint in his eye before rushing to my room to do as I’m told.
“What are we doing here?” I ask when I climb off his bike outside of Rebel Ink.
It’s in darkness, the usual bright pink light no longer illuminated like the other times I’ve been here.
“Thought it was the perfect time to get some teaching in.”
“You’ve got a client today?”
“Nope. The studio is closed, and I just so happen to know that the flat above is also empty right now and for the next few hours.” He winks.
“What are you suggesting exactly?”
“Come on.” He laces his fingers through mine and we run across the road together so he can let us inside.
I look around as he fumbles with his key. I’m still feeling a little uneasy after learning that Jodie was attacked. I know it’s crazy, I know I’m safe now, but I just can’t shift the fear.
“Everything okay?” Spike asks when he glances at me.
“Yeah, just being nosey.”
I follow him through. He doesn’t turn any lights on until we get back to his room.
Just like yesterday, my eyes land on all his artwork. I’m just as in awe now as I was the first time I saw it all.
“You’re really talented, you know that?”
He doesn’t respond. Instead he starts moving stuff around behind me.
“Did you always want to do this?”
“Pretty much, yeah. As a kid, all I used to do was draw. It used to drive my grandad crazy because I’d stick them to all the walls. Then I went to uni, got my art degree. I had a job all lined up before… all that happened,” he says, referencing what he told me earlier. “I screwed it up, though. I started drinking heavily. I fucked everything up, really.
“Once I sorted myself out I managed to get a job, but I didn’t really love it. I was worried that everything I’d spent my life doing was for nothing. I moved around a bit, and tried to find my place in the industry. I knew I had the skills, it was just a reminder of everything I now wasn’t going to have. Tattooing was part of a dream that had been long shattered. I didn’t really know how I felt about it all.
“But then I found this place, and everything in my life started to make sense once again. Zach, D and Titch pulled me into their little dysfunctional family, and as far as my career is concerned, I’ve never looked back.”
“Do you still miss her?” I spin around so I can see the look in his eyes as he answers.
“Yes and no. I don’t think I miss her as such. I miss the life, the security, safety and contentment of knowing she’d always be there. That makes me sound like a right pussy, doesn’t it?”
I step up to him, taking his hands in mine. “Not at all. It makes you human.”
“Have you forgiven her?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s been ten years. Over time, I’ve realised that if she wasn’t happy then she was right to do something about it. I would have hated for her to feel trapped. I’d lived my entire life with just my grandad. I think I was just desperate for a normal life.”
“What happened to your parents?”
“Okay,” he says with a laugh, pulling me into his arms and wrapping them around my waist. “I think question time is over for now.”
He drops his lips to the top of my head before releasing me once more.
“So what now?” I watch as he steps away from me and starts undoing his jeans. “Spike?” I ask curiously.
“Lesson time.”
“You’re not going to let me…” I trail off, because other than him demanding I get on my knees—not that I’d complain—I can’t think of another reason why he’d drop his trousers in here.
“Ready to lay down your first ink, Tiny?”
My chin drops as he hops up on the chair.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Nope. Deadly serious. Now, grab the stool. You’ll probably need to raise it up and get over here.”
“Oh my God,” I breathe, my hands already starting to tremble with the thought of putting something permanent on his skin.
“You look like you’re about to faint,” he says with a laugh.
“I think I might.”
“It’s fine. Just relax. Plus, if it’s shit, I’ll just get one of the guys to go over it with something better.”
“Hey,” I argue, not happy with him covering up my art. “You’ll wear it with honour, even if it’s shit.”
“We’ll see.” He winks.
“So what do you want?”
He reveals a folded piece of paper and hands it over for me to see. The second I open it, I gasp.
“You stole this?” I ask, pretending to be offended that he ripped one of my designs from my notepad.
“I prefer the term borrowed. You can glue it back in later if you like.”
“I love this,” I say, running my fingertip over the ink staining the page.
“Me too. It’s why you’re about to redraw it on me.”
“Spike, I can’t...”
“You won’t know unless you try. Anyway, you can start on my arse, that way if you fuck it up, I don’t have to look at it.”
I splutter a laugh but when I look up at him, I see he’s serious.
“I guess you’d better turn over then. You can talk me through it.”
He smiles at me before turning the chair into a bed, flipping over and lowering his boxers so I get the fine sight of his arse in front of me.
“Aww, your arse is a virgin. I get to be your first.” I don’t think about the words
