Waiting For You

Chapter Twenty-five

"Getting the pride flag in a place that reminds me of my mother? Fuck yeah, I'm sure". He smiled lovingly and didn't say another word until we got there.

"When Rowan told me that Alexander Richardson had booked two appointments, my panties exploded," a woman called as we walked inside. My eyebrows shot up at the remark.

The place was dark, as to be expected, with posters and drawings on the walls. Long curtains separated the room and I could hear a muffled buzzing of a needle from the other side of the curtain.

"Love," Alex said, shaking his head. "Her name is actually Love," he said through our bond, watching my confused expression.

A thin, tall woman came out from the back of the shop. She was clad in a pair of ripped black shorts and a dark purple corset. Colorful ink covered her tanned skin and her lavender curly hair bounced with each step she took. Immediately she hugged Alex and then she turned to me.

"It's so nice to see you, Alex, but who's the innocent eye-candy with you?" she said, making Alex laugh.

"That's Hunter, my soulmate. So, hands-off," he told her. Her eyes snapped to him for a second, and then back to me. Slowly, she extended her hand.

"Love Candy, I know, stripper name but I'm not," she introduced herself, making me bark a laugh.

"I'm Hunter Anderson," I said to her. As she heard me she shook her head and turned to glare at Alex.

"You, lucky bastard," she told him. She, then, clasped her hands together, "I'm taking you first," she said to me and pulled me with her behind the curtain. "Is this your first tattoo?" she asked me when I sat down at the leather chair she guided me to after we talked about what and where I wanted.

"Yeah".

"It's going to sting a little, but I'll try not to be rough with you," she told me, picking out seven different ink containers. She then put on black, latex gloves and with a damp cloth came to sit before me. "How long ago did your bond form?" she asked me as she turned on the needle.

As it began to break my skin I tried not to flinch by taking counted deep breaths. Alex had told me about how his first time felt so I was a little bit braced. In the end, I realized it didn't hurt as much as I had expected.

"Four months ago today," I replied after I got used to the needle's pain.

"Oh, so it's your anniversary?" she exclaimed and I nodded.

"How did you and Alex meet? Was it when he came for his tattoo?" I asked back, a few moments later.

"Nah, I once met him at one of Matt's parties, my now-ex boyfriend hanged out with Matt and I had tagged along with him. To my surprise, Alex was there, and actually I knew him from his YouTube channel. After talking all night long, we hooked up eventually," she said, whipping my skin with the cloth. "We stayed friends and when he needed a tattoo I offered to do it with a discount," she added.

"So, you know Matt?" I asked after she finished her story.

"Yes, I've had the misfortune of meeting him. How did he react to you being Alex's soulmate?" she replied.

"We haven't told him –or any of Alex's friends- yet," I answered with a scoff.

"Why not?"

"They don't know Alex is bisexual, so they might react badly to it," I told her with a shrug. She nodded with understanding.

"My soulmate is Rowan, my coworker. He's the typical tattoo artist, covered in piercings and tats, but he's quite effeminate". Now I as the one nodded in understanding. "I hate the whole alpha-male macho archetype. It is way too toxic and I don't have the time or energy to not wound any fragile male egos," she added with a roll of her shoulders.