Page 77 of Inked Heart
Two Weeks Later
There’s a moment in every relationship where things stop feeling theoretical.Where it shifts frommaybetothis is actually happening.For me, that moment happens the first time Quinn walks into House of Ink holding my hand.
I probably should have warned her what that would look like.Not because the crew is mean but because they’re the opposite.
They’re loud and curious and absolutely, utterly incapable of subtlety.
“You ready?”I ask as we stand outside the shop.
Quinn glances up at the familiar sign hanging above the door and the painted mural across the brick wall.The buzz of tattoo machines is faintly audible through the glass.
“I’ve been here before,” she says.
“Not like this.”
She raises an eyebrow.“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re walking in as my girl.”The words hang in the air between us.My girl.
Quinn’s lips curve slightly.“I like the sound of that.”
“Me, too.”
I hesitate for half a second before opening the door because I know exactly what’s waiting on the other side.Chaos.Sure enough, the moment we step inside Skye spots us.
Her eyes drop immediately to our hands and then her face lights up like someone just handed her the greatest gossip of her life.
“Oh, my God!”she exclaims clapping her hands.
I sigh.“Here we go.”
Skye practically launches herself across the shop floor.“Fucking finally!”
Quinn laughs.“What?”
“You two!”Skye gestures wildly between us.“Finally!”
Luke looks up from his booth.“What?”
Skye points dramatically.“They’re holding hands.”
Luke squints.“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Alistair leans back in his chair.“Took you long enough.”
Quinn glances at me.“You didn’t warn me about this.”
“I tried.”I’m trying to hold in my laugh and hide my smile, but I am failing miserably.
Laine steps out of the back room just in time to hear the commotion.“What’s going on?”
Skye throws her hands in the air.“Damien and Quinn are dating!”
The shop goes quiet for half a second before Laine grins.“Knew it.”
I groan.“You all are enjoying this way too much.”
“Absolutely,” Luke says.
