Ink Read Online Free Page B

out the door.
    And I think I’m okay with it. A lot better than okay.
    He flexed his left arm. The bandage crinkled, but the tape held. His skin gave a small twinge of protest, not horrible, yet enough to make its presence known.
    If he wanted to be truthful, he wondered why Shelley stayed with him for as long as she did. In theory, he could have left her, but theory wasn’t always realistic. Maybe the tattooed Jason could have left her. But the Jason before, could he have left? He pushed the uncomfortable thought way down.
    Brian wrote back. “Sorry, dude. I’m at McAfee’s. Want to join me?”
    “Sure.”
    I can’t believe I did it.
    He smiled and looked down at his arm once more before he drove away.
     
    10
     
    Jason walked into McAfee’s, a bar and restaurant at the opposite end of Fells Point, and found Brian at a table in the back, along with Vic, the newest employee on the team. Jason and Vic were friendly but not exactly friends; he and Brian, on the other hand, had known each other since college.
    Hidden speakers pumped classic rock into the air. The passage of twenty years' worth of customers had walked the shine off the wood floor, the tables were scuffed and scratched, and the bar top was marked with old cigarette burns and water stains. Tourists often passed the place by, in favor of the flashier places right off the water, but McAfee's served some of the best burgers in the city and the prices were cheap.
    “So what the fuck happened?” Brian asked. The body spray he used, to ”attract the ladies”, lingered in the air, though only a ghost of its usual potency.
    Jason shook his head and pushed a plate of half-eaten nachos out of the way. “I was getting ready to pack, and she said she wanted to talk.”
    A cute blonde with a tiny tank top and low-rise jeans passed by, smiling at Jason, and he smiled back.
    “Just like that?”
    Jason nodded and ordered a beer, a burger and fries from their waitress. “Just like that.”
    He had known by the look in Shelley’s eyes she wanted more than a quick little talk and once she started, her words sped up until they were an incomprehensible blur. After the words, she left with her suitcases in hand, without a look back over her shoulder. For once, she didn’t want to stay and watch him bleed. Or maybe she feared there wouldn’t be any blood at all. Maybe she knew that last stick of the knife might not have been as painful as she hoped.
    “You’re better off,” Brian said. “She was a bitch. She’s had your balls in a sling for years, man.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    Brian had no idea. It had been more than a sling. She’d had them in a set of vise grips and whenever he stepped a little out of his expected Jason-place, she squeezed them tight.
    The waitress brought Jason’s beer; he winced at the quick sting of skin against bandage as he took the bottle from her hand.
    Vic pushed his glasses up on his nose. “So, are you going to show it to us or what?”
    “It’s still all bloody. You probably won’t be able to see the detail.”
    “Big deal, come on.” Brian said.
    Jason grinned. “The picture wasn’t enough, huh?”
    “No fucking way, man. Stop being a tease. I want to see it in person.”
    With the edge of his fingernail, Jason loosened the surgical tape holding the bandage in place and peeled it back. Blood speckled the bottom of the white gauze, but the tattoo itself emerged clean.
    “That’s fucking amazing,” Brian said.
    “Holy shit,” Vic said at the same time. “How long did that take?”
    “About two and a half hours.”
    “Bullshit,” Brian said.
    “No bullshit.”
    “Are you serious?” Vic asked, his eyes wide.
    “Dead serious. The guy worked fast.”
    “No way,” Vic said. “My brother got one with half the detail. It took four hours in two sittings.”
    “I’m serious.”
    “Was it flash or a custom design?” Brian asked.
    “I told him what I wanted, and he sketched it on paper first, then he started with