Not enough to start an argument, but enough to stay in my mind.
Several years later, after we became engaged, I brought it up again. This time he laughed.
“There isn’t some big story.”
“So who is she?”
“My buddy was learning realistic tattoos. He downloaded a random photo online and needed somebody to practice on.”
“It’s the truth.”
Even then, I knew he was lying. I simply had no idea why.
After we married, the tattoo bothered me more and more. It was not because I suspected Ryan of cheating. It was because people do not permanently place a stranger’s face on their body.
Not like that. Not with that level of detail.
Eventually, I asked him to cover it. I was not asking him to remove it. I just wanted something else. A compass. A mountain range. A dragon. Anything.
At first he agreed. Then the months slipped by. The tattoo artist moved. Money became tight. Work got busy. There was always another excuse.
