Sweet Surrender [18+]

t w e n t y - o n e

"Josh, you don't have to get one," Lauren reassured, pulling her arm from her right bra strap and covering her lacy black bra with her shirt.

Sitting on a black leather dental-like reclining chair, with her knees pulled to her chest, she watched a visibly nervous Josh sitting in a similar chair across from her.

After having brunch with Josh's family in the morning and saying goodbye before they headed toward the airport, Josh, Mikey, and Aaron were still hyped from yesterday's victory and convinced Lauren to wander around the downtown area before heading back to the hotel.

With their flight home departing in the late evening, they had plenty of time to check out the city, but five minutes into the walk, Mikey immediately made a beeline toward a tattoo parlor that was opening its doors for business.

Fortunately, according to the owner, Joey, the only scheduled appointments were in the late afternoon, allowing him and two other artists to welcome the unexpected walk-ins. While Mikey and Lauren immediately knew exactly what they wanted and began working with the artists on the specific designs, Josh and Aaron paged through a book of samples, unsure if they were ready to commit to the permanent ink.

As Lauren worked with Cameron, a heavily tattooed artist in his late twenties with nose and brow piercings, on a white-petaled rose designed for her shoulder, Josh found a simple design – a solid black band circling the upper part of a forearm – he admired.

"Are you OK?" Lauren asked, watching Josh take several deep breaths as his tattoo artist, Keith, prepped his left forearm.

"Yeah," he replied, resting his head against the headrest. "I just thought you'd be the one to give me my first tattoo."

That simple, awkward declaration touched more than her heart – it touched her soul. He not only supported her dream; he wanted to be part of it.

Aw, could I love this man any more? she thought, lowering her head to hide her pinkened cheeks, but something gnawed at her about his intentions.

As Cameron prepped her shoulder for a detailed outline of her rose, Lauren's eyes wandered around the spacious and clean establishment that sat between a local sandwich shop and nail salon.

When she and the guys walked through the front door, Lauren assumed a staff member normally stood behind the black wood counter to greet customers. Beyond the counter against the left wall, three identical work areas were set up with black reclining chairs and space for the expensive machines stored in the back during non-business hours.

The floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding the front door provided natural light to shine through, and framed tattoo designs hung from the walls that weren't covered by panel mirrors that ran across the length of three walls. A round wood table covered with photo albums with four matching chairs sat in the middle of the room.

"What do you think?" Cameron asked, holding a mirror by her shoulder for her to study the purple-blue stencil transfer that would be traced with white ink.

Lauren smiled widely at the design perfectly placed on her left shoulder and felt excitement fill her body in anticipation of her second tattoo.

"I love it," she replied happily, pursing her lips together to keep herself from squealing with joy.

As Cameron prepped his equipment, Josh's artist slowly peeled away the transfer paper from Josh's upper forearm to reveal two purple-blue wraparound bands a few centimeters apart, representing the two undefeated seasons.

"Why is the second band above the thin one significantly wider?" Lauren asked as his artist started prepping his own equipment.

"Because the second undefeated season means more to me," Josh answered simply, staring into her sparkling green eyes.