I nod and mess around on Netflix until I put something on. Jurassic Park is an old favorite of mine, something my dad used to watch with me because he loved it and he’d make me swear not to tell my mom about it. I haven’t been able to watch it since he died but… sitting around at the clubhouse with Tomi, eating takeout and drinking a little whiskey, this is kind of my safe place now.
I can’t believe that is even possible but here I am.
“Stop with that face, Angel.”
I smile at him and kneel on the bed to fix the pillows, to make a nice little cocoon for us both. He watches me carefully and when we’re finally tucked up together I pull off the last plaster from my heart.
“My name isn’t Angel. Not really. My dad used to call me that so when Derrick made the ID I asked him to use that name.”
Tomi’s chest rumbles under my ear and he moves the empty plate to the floor, flicking the lamp off and leaving us in the dark. “It suits you.”
I think it’s precisely because he doesn’t ask me what my name is that I tell him, even though he heard my mom call out to me I want him to hear it from me.. “It’s Jazmin. Jazmin Vaughn. I… don’t want to go back to being called that.”
He nods and strokes back my hair, his fingers trailing over my shoulder. “Nothing has to change, sweetness.”
I fall asleep on him before the movie ends and I don’t have my nightmares, as if the steady thump of his heart beneath my ear is enough to keep my demons at bay.
I never want anything to change.
When we leave that night, the bikers all tip their heads at me or clap Tomi on the back as we pass but none of the girls try to talk to me. It’s not exactly a bad thing but they all stare at me with hatred. I ignore it.
It’s not like it’s new.
“I’m about to gouge some eyeballs the fuck out,” Tomi growls and I squeeze his hand a little.
“Please don’t. I’m fine.”
There’s a scrape of boots on the carpet behind us and then Rue says, “Fine never means fine. Tomi, you better lay down the law before it bites you in the ass. Shoulda done it months ago.”
I glance back at him with a smile and he smirks back, the type he gives Tomi and Trink all the time.
The type he gives his family.
“Fuck them. We’ll meet you back at the house tomorrow morning. We have something to do tonight.”
The tattoo shop is sleek and clean, lots of black marble surfaces and gothic art on the walls. I feel extremely uncomfortable even walking in but Tomi is as relaxed as ever. I guess with all of his tattoos he's spent a lot of time here before, and when I thread my fingers through his he gives them a squeeze.
"What the fuck are you doing here? I didn't think there was an inch of you left to tattoo."
I peer around Tomi to look at where the voice has come from only to find the tattoo artist standing a few feet away from us and snapping off a pair of black gloves.
I gulp.
He's huge. Like, freaking huge and his body is even more densely covered than Tomi's. His eyes are... weird, too intense for his face and the smile on his face makes me feel super uncomfortable.
"My old lady needs a patch and I need her name on me. Clear your evening."
The tattoo guy laughs and when Tomi doesn't join him he finally notices me standing behind him. "You're serious? Fuck. I didn't think I'd see the day. 'Struck or just the regular sort of romance."
Am I the only one who didn't know about this curse?
Doesn't matter, Tomi answers, "'Struck. Just know that if you try your usual brand of shit I’ll happily deal with the club's consequences to put a bullet in you."
Okay.
Now I’m scared.
The tattoo guy chuckles and motions us into the back room. Tomi leads but he keeps a firm hold of my hand.
"How big is this patch gonna be and where am I putting it? Pretty little thing like her shouldn't be tramp stamped."
I hear Tomi's teeth grind together. "Shut your fucking face up and just do the job, Onyx."
He explains the whole thing, where it's going and how big, but I still don't know what this tattoo entails. Onyx obviously does because he has it all drawn up and the stencil on me in under a minute. When he directs me to lay down on the chair Tomi sits close enough to choke him out if he needs to and then he holds my hand the whole way through it.
It doesn't hurt all that much but I would do just about anything to get the guy to stop touching me. Just because I can take it from Tomi and his family now doesn't mean I like other people touching me. Nope, I'd still rather stick pins in my eyeballs.
"Speck wants to learn how to tattoo. Maybe I should vouch for him when he finishes up prospecting, just in case you want something else,” Tomi mumbles, bringing my hand up to his lips to kiss my knuckles when Onyx finally finishes. He offers to show it to me with a mirror and I shake my head.
I don't want to spend any extra time here and to be honest, it doesn't really matter to me what the tattoo looks like. It matters to me that Tomi's eyes flare when he looks at it, that he loves it, and that it'll mark me as someone the Unseen protect.
That's what I care about.
"Right. What do you want then?" Onyx says as he cleans up his station and starts pulling out sterilized equipment.
"I want Angel tattooed on my throat. And I want Jazmin tattooed in the patch on my back. Put it in the skull."
My heart kind of stops beating a little, just skips along a little before it recovers.
"Two names? Your old lady is fine with that?" Onyx says, scoffing and inking up the gun.
Tomi doesn't explain it. He just strips off his cut and his shirt, handing them both over to me, and then sits through both of the tattoos. The one on his throat stands out, stark against the patterns he has there already, and the one on his back blends in a little more.
When we leave together, hand in hand, he huffs at my curious look. “Jazmin is still your name. It's what you signed for your house as. If you wanna change your name again I'll get that too. Whatever you need, sweetness."
I blush. "I'm sticking with Angel.”
He pulls his jacket off and slings it over my shoulders before we climb back onto his bike, marking me as his and protected by the Unseen. He waits until my arms are tight around him before we speed back down the highway towards Coldstone, one of his hands holding my cast steady now I can’t get as good a grip on him.
When he stops and pulls his motorcycle up alongside my old Chevy everything just feels fucking… right in my life now.
Mrs. Farley is on her porch, glaring at us both and I wave at her with a bright smile, channeling Poe just a little because I know it’ll piss the old bitch off. She’s already made her displeasure at having bikers living on her street well-known.
I’m killing her with kindness.
Tomi just wants to plain kill her.
“Angel, you need to stop playing with her and get inside before I bend you over your porch railing and fuck you out here in front of the old bitch.”
My mouth snaps shut at his command and my legs get moving even as a giggle bursts out of me. Tomi chuckles and stalks up behind me, flipping the bird at my neighbor and laughing at her gasps of horror.