tattoos

It stung. She couldn't have said why, but the bland and goody-goody description
put her back up. "I've got a tattoo on my butt."
He set the rather sloppy sandwich he'd put together down. "Excuse me?"
"I have a tattoo on my butt," she repeated, with a combative gleam in her eye.
"Is that so?" He couldn't wait to see it.

....

"The tattoo? What is it?"
Embarrassed now, she slapped ham over mustard. "I hardly see that it's an issue."
"Come on." He grinned, leaning over to tug on her hair again. "A butterfly? A rosebud? Or are you really a biker chick in disguise, 
with a skull and crossbones hiding under my jeans?"
"A unicorn," she muttered.
He bit the tip of his tongue. "Cute."

Hidden Star

_________

The hidden meaning

Tattoos talk. Rather than meaning something literal and universal, the art on our bodies is often personal and complicated. A magnificent panorama of an underwater world is unlikely to simply declare the bearer's love of trout. However, some designs still shout a very particular meaning

GUARDIAN

 _________________

"I noticed. Why do you have a tattoo of a winged horse on your butt, Grace?"
"It was an impulse, one of those wild-girl things I dragged M.J. and Bailey
into."
"They have winged horses on their—"
"No, and what they do have is their little secret. I wanted the winged horse
because it was free. You couldn't catch it unless it wanted to be caught."

Secret Star