Page 71 of The Fake Out

Was I upset that Blaise hadn’t told me he got back to town?

No.

I wasn’t right?

“Oh, we had practice right after we got off the jet. Blaise and Riley were still in the weight room when I took off, but I think they had plans to watch game tape with Cap for the rest of the day.”

“Oh, right.”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“I saw the work you did on Benny and Blaise, so I’m excited,” Logan said with a grin.

I showed him the stencil. “Okay, you said you wanted a more traditional black and grey piece. What do you think?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

“You sure?”

I loved doing flower tattoos, but when I got the call Logan wanted to get a rose tattoo done, I had some questions. Not that it was weird for men to want flower tattoos, I did them all the time, but this was his first tattoo.

“It’s for my sister,” he explained.

“Oh?”

“She died.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged and took his shirt off. Geez, were all these hockey boys made of pure muscle? I could appreciate the male physique, but seeing him shirtless didn’t affect me quite as much as when Blaise had his shirt off. Logan looked lanky, but underneath he was lean and athletic, different from Blaise, who had muscles as big as my head.

I put the stencil on his arm and made him look in the mirror to make sure the placement was good. “Remember to breathe, okay? And let me know if you need a break,” I said as I turned on my tattoo machine and dipped it into the ink.

He nodded and gritted his teeth. I tried to distract him while I worked, and that seemed to help for a bit.

“Tell me about your sister,” I said.

“Her name was Rose.”

Ah, now the tattoo choice made sense.

“If you don’t mind me asking…” I trailed off as I moved the machine across his skin, etching the flower on his pale white skin.

“It was a car crash,” he hissed. I motioned for Liv, and she came over with a bottle of water for him and asked if he wanted to hold her hand.

“Am I that pathetic?” he asked with a laugh.

I shook my head. “You saw the cherry blossom I did on Benny’s chest, right?”

He nodded and pretended the needle wasn’t hurting. Tattoos hurt. Anyone who told you differently was a liar.

“Pretty sure he nearly broke Rox’s hand. That chick takes tattoos like a champ.”

That got a smile out of him, and Liv offered her hand again. “I think I’m good,” he said.

She smiled at him, her dimples popping out. “Let me know if you need anything, and remember to breathe.”

I wiped at his skin and went back in, working through the petals of the flower.