Promise Me This(4)

“Why not tattoos?” Bennett said and Avery nodded. Bennett was one of the nicest humans on the planet, easy on the eyes too, and seeing him look at his fiancée, made every girl in a ten-mile radius sulk. Together they had sex appeal oozing out of their pores and I’d guess their sex life was combustible as well.

Bennett was expert in all areas but his work in specialized lettering was the bomb. If a customer wanted a favorite quote tattooed on their skin, I’d send them Bennett’s way in a heartbeat. Avery had proof of his expertise on her own skin.

“Those photos that you hung in the hallway at the shop are amazing,” Avery said.

Oliver, the owner of Raw Ink, had asked me to take professional photos to decorate the walls. I had used the university lab to process them and then took them to a framer to get them matted and hung properly. It’d been a yearlong project. I’d asked customers to sit for long minutes, while I adjusted the angle and lighting to snap their tattoos.

“I thought of that,” I said, nodding. “But call me crazy, I want to pick something else to challenge myself.”

“Makes sense,” Dex said, talking a long pull of his beer. I noted he was taking it easy tonight, only on his second beer—otherwise one of the guys would have to cart his ass home again. Even though Dex and Cory were older than the whole lot of us, they sure acted juvenile sometimes.

“I was thinking of photographing something outdoors,” I said to the group, my eyes panning across each of their faces.

“You mean like flowers or trees?” Avery asked. “The fall leaves would be gorgeous.”

I wrinkled my nose. I wasn’t much a nature girl and I knew she wasn’t either, even though I did admire it from afar.

“No, that would be too . . . lame,” I said.

“You could always come with me to the dog park,” Emmy said, still nursing her first drink. I shook my head. Her and those darn shelter dogs. She probably cared more about them than humans.

“I’m thinking something more gritty, industrial—like maybe bikes or motorcycles,” I said. “I don’t know, been wracking my brain about it.”

“Meet me at the biker bar this weekend,” Cory said. “The entire lot is filled with sweet rides.”

He was a true motorcycle aficionado and had even inherited a vintage Harley from his uncle. He’s met some of his past boyfriends at that bar, even though that was a tough room to work if you were gay. But Cory knew how to keep everything on the down low—at least that’s how he’d described it to me.

“Not a bad idea,” I said. We’d all been to that bar with him before. It tended to bring a rough crowd. If you thought these guys were exclusive, you should meet that pack. They don’t appreciate fake enthusiasts, either.

“How about photographing buildings?” Nate said. He was studying to be a structural engineer and loved anything having to do with blueprints and construction.

Last summer, Nate had invited me to a concert at the Artisan Music Center with his cousin, Kai. We’d road-tripped there with Bennett and Avery, her roommate Ella, and Ella’s boyfriend, Quinn. On the way up, Nate would point out interesting structures and tell me cool facts about them. It had never occurred to me to photograph them, though.

“Not sure that’s my thing,” I said. “Sorry.”

“No sweat,” Nate said, his leg finally settling beneath the table.

Avery motioned for Bennett to move aside so she could slide out of her seat to use the restroom. Bennett leaned over and kissed the side of her head before allowing her to pass and she smiled endearingly at him. When she first got together with Bennett, I thought she might eat him alive. That girl was tough and I loved her take-no-shit attitude, but Bennett had softened her. I thought they complemented each other well.

“I just thought of something for your project, Jessie.” Bennett said, turning back to me. “Maybe Nate here can help you out.”

“Huh?” Nate’s head snapped up. “What the hell do you mean?”

“You have that cool internship where you get to go up on bridges and shit.”

“Seriously? I know you’re working for some firm this semester, but I never knew exactly what the hell you do for them,” I said, staring Nate down. “You’re allowed to climb on bridges?”

Nate nodded. “They have a contract with the city and my supervisor took me up on the Municipal Bridge—you know the big blue one that shines over the river downtown?”

“That is so rad,” I said, my mouth hanging open in awe.

“Yeah, you should see the view from up top. It was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done,” he said, his eyes slightly unfocused, as if he was recounting it in his head. “But no way I’d be allowed to take you up there.”