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“Triumph in death.” I didn’t need to say anything else. That tattoo represented me beating Kent. He may have hurt me, but I was the winner in the end.
“Babe,” Mace groaned. “Do I even want to know how much your kneecaps hurt?”
My knees were identical. Large old school flowers with bold black outlines filled with red, blue, and yellow. “After about half an hour, they went numb, and it wasn’t too bad.”
“How did you wear pants while they were healing?” His fingers trailed over my kneecaps, and a shiver ran up my body.
“I blocked that from my memory. I’m sure Dorothy can tell you how much misery I was in. I think those are the only tattoos on my body that I would never get again. If they fade or straight up disappear, I will not be getting them redone.”
“You’re a fucking badass, babe.”
“There was a good chunk of time where I liked the pain. It made everything else fade away.” I had never told anyone that before. Each tattoo I had held a special meaning to me, and each time I got one, the pain of the tattoo helped me heal inside.
“Imogen,” he whispered. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down to my knees.
“Is the tattoo tour over?” I laughed.
“I never should have let you leave, Imogen.”
“It wasn’t like I told you I was leaving, Mace. I was gone with the rising sun. My mom didn’t even know I was gone until I called her from the bus stop.” Even if he would have tried to stop me, I still would have left. If I would have stayed in Sutter Creek, I wouldn’t be here.
If I had to stay in the evil and prejudice of that town, I never would have made it out alive.
“I know, but I should have found you. Kept protecting you.”
I cupped his face in my hand. “I know you think it is your job to protect me, but I think I needed these past years to figure out how to protect myself. I took care of myself by going to therapy and working through my messed-up mind after Kent raped me. If you had been around, I don’t think you would have let me out of your sight, let alone let me go to therapy to talk about Kent. It was so hard for me at first, but in the end, it was what I needed.”
“I should have found you sooner.” His voice cracked, and I could feel his regret and pain from the past fifteen years.
“We both needed to go our own way and find ourselves, Mace.” I laughed softly. “Look at you. You found a new family and changed your name. All I did was get some tattoos and piercings.”
“You found a job you love and Dorothy.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
“And now we found each other again.” And in a weird, twisted way, we had Kent to thank for that.
Though if he hadn’t hurt me, Mace and I would never have been apart.
“I don’t think we would be here right now if Kent hadn’t hurt me. We had to lose each other to find ourselves.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest. “And then we found each other again,” he whispered.
I pressed my forehead to his and sighed. “We did, and now we really need to sleep, Mace. You don’t know this, but I am a bitch in the morning if I don’t sleep enough.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips and smiled. “I remember a few times at school in the morning when you didn’t talk or look at me.”
“I was probably tired,” I chuckled. “It took me till noon sometimes to get out of my funk. I discovered coffee when I got to grandma’s, and it was a total game changer for early mornings.”
“Then I guess I better wake up early and make sure to get some coffee in you tomorrow before we take off.”
“Please tell me your bike has a cupholder.” I had been on his bike a few times, but I had never thought to take notice of everything. I just enjoyed the wind in my hair and my front pressed against Mace’s back.
He shook his head.
“Oh my god,” I moaned. “Tell me why you think we need to take your bike. We can take my car, and you can even nap while I drive.”
“No cages for me, babe.”
