Reckless Past

Chapter 2: Touch Up

"I'm completely beat," Ian yawns as he leaves the building, Eddie at his side.

"Today was longer than normal," Eddie says as he scans the parking lot for his bronco, momentarily forgetting where he parked it.

"So, what'd you think of my friend Loren?" Ian wiggles his eyebrows, "I know you two were outside talking for a while."

"She's cool."

"Just cool?"

"Yeah, she's cool."

"She's single, has been for years. Sure, she has a kid, but she's a good chick. And she's a good mom."

"Yeah, I don't know." Eddie always knew Loren would be a good mom; there was never a doubt in his mind about it. She takes care of people, it's in her nature.

"Come on, you haven't dated since what? Chloe?"

"Yeah, since Chloe."

"I'm not saying you need to jump into anything serious, but maybe it'd be good for you to put yourself out there a little bit."

"I don't know, man. I don't feel like dating."

"You just want to hook up?"

"Nothing wrong with hooking up, if I do recall you hooked up more than the average male before you met Kim."

"I'm a changed man now."

"I know, I'm just saying don't knock hook ups."

"I'm not."

"What're you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, I was going to sit on my ass, watch reruns of Mad Men and drink beer."

"That sounds like a party."

"What're you doing?"

"I was thinking about getting some tattoos touched up, I haven't done it yet and they're starting to look like shit."

"I know of a really good shop."

"Where?"

"Like two miles from here, I'll go with you. Come on," Ian waves Eddie over to his challenger.

The guys get into the car and Ian turns the engine over. Neither says much on the drive over. Eddie watches out the window to figure out where he is.

Ian was the first person Eddie met on the force and he was the first person Eddie trusted. When Eddie came back from Afghanistan a year ago he secluded himself from everyone. Somehow Ian was able to pull him out of his shell and now he feels more like himself than he did when he came back.

Sure enough about two miles away from the station is a tattoo shop that Eddie hasn't ever seen before. Ian parks next to an old red Camaro and Eddie looks the car over, having a feeling he knows the owner of it. The men step out of the challenger and Eddie looks at the sticker on the lower middle of the hatchback window, it reads 'endless summer' in the shape of a heart. His stomach ends up in his throat as he follows Ian into the shop. At the counter is a familiar brunette  and Eddie makes a mental note to kill Ian after this.

"Well, hello," Loren smiles at the guys. She's shocked that Ian is here; he told her he was done getting tattoos for a while. She's even more shocked that Eddie is standing next to him.

"Hello, gorgeous, my friend here needs some work done," Ian smirks as he nods towards Eddie.

"What're we touching up?" Loren looks over at Eddie.

"Some stuff on my back."

"Let's take a look at it."

"Um, okay," Eddie turns around so his back is facing Loren. He pulls up his shirt and Loren looks over all of the different ink on his skin. A phrase on his shoulder blade catches her eye. 'Come to fight, trained to kill. Prepared to die, but never will.' Some of the letters are almost not noticeable anymore due to scars on his shoulder.