“Kanicola,” she blurts.
My jaw drops as I admire her absolute stupidity, while Knox looks at her like he’s wondering if she’s okay.
“Y-you want a can of cola?”
It takes everything I have not to break into hysterics.
“I’m sorry. She’s a little slow,” I tell Knox and turn to Viola. “Your name, sweetie. He wants to know your name.”
“I’m Ellis,” she practically shouts, and my God her lying needs work.
Out of all the names she could have picked, and she picks one that sounds like we snatched her from the closest nursing home. Even Knox has to hold back from laughing as he takes the phone into the other room.
“Give me a minute to get a stencil made and I’ll be right back,” he says.
I nod and he disappears, pulling out his own phone before he walks through the door.
Turning to Viola, I break into hysterical laughter. “Way to go, Ellis. And Kanicola? What the hell was that?”
“Fuck you. My brain mixed the three names together.” she grumbles. “And you’re the one that stole my name, you bitch.”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly use my own.”
She rolls her eyes and flips me off as I’m still chuckling at her name choice. Even Nico whispers something about calling her that from now on, though if the threat she throws back at him holds any weight, I doubt he’ll actually do it.
A few minutes later, Knox sticks his head out the door, holding his own cell to his ear. “Hey, do you guys mind if my fiancée comes and hangs out?"
We all look around at each other, but none of us seem to care. His smile widens as he speaks into the phone.
“Get your ass down here, Bambi.”
It takes a little bit for Knox to get the stencil created due to the size and the detail of it, but he manages. He comes out holding the transparent paper, a printout of the image, and Viola’s phone. He hands the phone back to me and nods for me to come around the counter and over to his station.
Kage follows closely behind me, but I expected nothing different. Nico and Ellis make themselves at home, lounging on the couch that sits on the wall nearest where I’ll be lying all night. Knox takes everything out and then turns to me.
“All right, whenever you’re ready, you can take your shirt and bra off,” he says.
Kage growls like a goddamn lion ready to rip him to shreds for the mere suggestion. Knox doesn’t frighten easily though as he looks up at him.
“It’s a back piece on her upper back,” he explains. “There is literally no other solution except her taking her clothes off. But she’ll be lying face down.”
“Close your eyes,” Kage demands. “And if you even so much as peek until I say you can open them, I’ll rip your heart straight from your chest.”
“You’d have to beat me to it,” a voice says from behind us.
I turn around expecting to see someone just as tattooed as he is, maybe with a nose or eyebrow piercing and dressed in black, but that’s not at all what I find. The girl has brown hair with a pair of sunglasses pushed up on the crown of her head. The white top she’s wearing looks like something Viola or I would buy, and she’s got a simple pair of blue jeans on.
She’s honestly the complete opposite of what I pictured.
Knox looks at her and smiles as he stands up. “I’ll do you one better, big guy. I’ll leave the room completely.” He walks over and grabs the woman’s hand, pulling her into the back room. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
His fiancée giggles as they disappear, and it’s adorable, until I see Kage’s attention focused solely on me.
“You have to sit topless for the next however many hours as this fucker tattoos your back?” he growls lowly.
I lift one shoulder and tilt my head to the side. “I mean, yeah, but you’ll be here, and so will his fiancée.”
He clearly isn’t happy, but he sighs and comes closer to help me get my shirt off without ruining my wig. Just as I go to pull the shirt up, he stops me.
“Nico, go stand in the corner,” he demands.
Nico scoffs. “What? Seriously? I can’t just close my eyes?”
“Did I fucking stutter?” he shouts. “Go stand in the goddamn corner.”
Like a kid having a temper tantrum, he grumbles to himself as he gets up and marches into the corner. It takes a few moments for me to take the shirt and bra off, and then a few more for me to lie face down on the table and get situated so nothing is showing, but we manage. Kage walks around me in a circle to make sure nothing is visible, and then nods in approval.
“Okay!” I call for Knox. “We’re ready.”
He comes out with his fiancée in tow and smiles. “Great. Guys, this is my friend, Delaney.”
She rolls her eyes and smacks him in the stomach. “You literally have my name inked on your chest with a marriage proposal.”
“Aww!” I coo. “That’s so cute.”
Knox narrows his eyes on her. “Why do you have to make me look sappy at work? I’m supposed to be a badass.”
Delaney gives him an okay look and nods. “Such a badass.”
He pouts for a second but recovers when she kisses his neck. Then he’s right back to being himself. Draping an arm around Delaney and holding her close, he points, starting with Kage.
“This is Kage, Viola, Nico, and Ellis.” Viola is too sucked into her phone to notice as he whispers loud enough for us all to hear. “Ellis is special ed.”
“She’s special, not deaf,” I quip.
Delaney looks over at Viola and smiles, seeming like a sweetheart. “I like your shoes, Ellis.”
But she doesn’t even react, still scrolling on her phone. Knox cocks a brow at me.
“You sure?”
I roll my eyes and look over at Viola. “Ellis?” Still nothing. “Ellis!”
Finally she snaps out of it. “Fuck. What?”
“I said I like your shoes,” Delaney repeats.
Viola looks down at her shoes and then smiles. “Oh, thanks!”
As her attention goes back to her phone, we all share a look of pity. I should feel bad, but with everything she did before we were friends, I feel like it’s karma catching up to her.
THE TATTOO TAKES OVER ten hours, and after the first two, my back goes numb with the exception of a few sensitive spots. I learn all about how Knox met Bambi, as he calls her, and how they fell in love despite being from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Viola and Nico wind up falling asleep on the couch halfway through, but Kage stays awake, watching Knox like a fucking hawk the whole time.
“Okay,” Knox says, shutting off his tattoo gun and putting it down. “Let me just clean you up a bit and then you can take a look.”
I feel a paper towel rub at my back and then I’m given the go-ahead to get up. Kage stands, blocking both Knox and Nico’s view of me as I push myself up and use my T-shirt to cover my chest. I walk over to the mirror and admire my new ink.
The large, black angel wings are a stark contrast to my olive skin, but they’re such a perfect representation of what I’ve been through lately that I know I made the right choice.