Wishbone Tattoos

I’m used to being alone, until she changed everything... When my ex-wife left, she said the cruelest words she could think of, and I took them all to heart. Now I work at my loveable cousin’s tattoo parlor and keep most people at arm’s length. I have the occasional one night stand to take the edge off, but there can never be anything more than that for me. I don’t let myself think about how lonely I am. At least I’m not ruining anyone’s life, right? Then Emily walks into Wishbone Tattoos, asking about the receptionist job.

For years, I've lived as a broken shell of a man, the Prom Night survivor who doesn't deserve to live. I continue my stolen life for my family's sake, but my silent world is a dark one full of terrors, with no respite to be found anywhere. Then Liaden comes along. She's my polar opposite. An extroverted, highly successful professor, always smiling, always a sparkling ray of quirky pink sunshine. This woman makes me feel things I never even felt with the girl I lost. The girl who died in my arms many years ago when the world exploded around us.

I've loved her since the moment she came into my life. My spiky, smart firecracker with the megawatt smile. I've loved her through her years long car crash of a relationship with a pretentious asshat, and I've loved her through the aftermath. And now that she's single, and enough time has passed for her to feel steady again, I know I've got to take action. And I can't think of a better place to finally, finally shoot my shot than at our best friends' wedding. But life has a bunch of twists and surprises I never could have anticipated, and... Well. All I can say is, WOW.