“How do you like him?” Mitch looked down at me and his smile widened.
Soaked.
On the spot.
Holy fuck.
Hook.
Line.
Sinker.
“Only guy I let touch my skin—well, with a tattoo gun.” I had to pause as my face got hotter than hell because the eyebrow raise Mitch gave in response to my statement made me want to crawl under the table and die from embarrassment. “He’s fast, doesn’t rip you apart, and the ink heals easily.” I spit the words out in rapid fire to try to recover as quickly as possible from my sexual innuendo.
He nodded and licked his lips, eyeing me up and down. “Very nice. Just getting off of your probation, I take it.”
I laughed a little as Larry started to shade a bit. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“That’s when I got mine too. I’ve been a fireman for just about ten years. Just took a job out here. I start tomorrow.” Mitch rubbed the back of his neck. “Thought about getting a piece done to celebrate the move and the change in my life.”
“Oh, a-awesome,” I stammered through grated teeth as my eyes slammed shut. Talking and getting tatted were not things I could do well at the same time. I had to zone out through the pain or I felt every prick and scrape from that sharp-ass needles, and it drove me crazy.
“I’ll be done with Bryn in less than an hour. Wanna chat about what you were thinking about getting when we’re done here?”
We were almost done—music to my ears! I shut my eyes and popped my headphone back in, turning the volume all the way up right after hearing Mitch say, “Sounds like a plan, brother.”
* * *
“Fucking sick,dude! Camden is going to freak when he sees this!” I rolled my arm back and forth to see the gorgeous, bright colors shining across my puffy skin.
Larry stretched his back out, chuckling a bit. “You need to get that punk ass back in here for some more ink. It’s been forever!”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll see what I can do.” Camden was my best friend and roommate. Right when we met, I dragged him into Larry’s shop and he was hooked instantly, just like I had been when I found Larry years before.
I had Larry snap a quick picture of my new piece. Within seconds of sending the picture off to Camden, he responded.
Camden: Holy hell, girl! That is one way to celebrate for damn sure!
Me: Haha yup! My shift tomorrow is going to be interesting, to say the least. This baby is going to itch like crazy sooner than later.
Camden: Can’t wait to see it in person.
Me: Getting into anything tonight?
Camden: Nah, shift in the morning means early to bed for this guy.
Me: Lame. See you when I get home.
Camden: I’m crashing soon. See ya in the a.m., roomie.
Me: Fine. Bright and early it is. Night, loser.
Camden: Don’t have too much fun tonight, punk.
Larry grabbed my hand, looking closely. “Let it rest for a bit before we before we wrap it up with A&D and cellophane.”
“Aye, cap.” I put my phone down to the side to do as I was told.
