Page 19 of Just a Little Prick

Zoe looked up at me, her eyes bright.

“Hi.” My voice quivered with nerves. “I’m here to get a tattoo.”

“Nice! Is it your first?” Zoe grinned and picked up a tablet on the counter, tapping on it as she spoke. “I’ll need your ID and you’ve got to fill out the form here. It’s pretty straightforward, just some medical questions and a waiver.”

I nodded and reached into my purse for my ID. “Yeah, it’s my first. I’m nervous.”

“Aw, don’t be.” Zoe winked playfully. “It’s like losing your virginity. It’s scary until you get going, and when you’re done with the first time, you want more. Let me guess…Bradley?”

“What?” I looked up, cheeks red.

Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment, but she still smiled. “For your artist. Bradley? I saw you two talking by the flash sheets earlier.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. He knows I’m here. Well, I mean, he knew I was coming tonight.’

“I bet.” There was a tone to her voice that suggested something else. I ignored it. I didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that we’d spent the night together. She just smiled and turned, hurrying up the five steps that led to the back of the shop.

I took my time filling out the form, reading each question carefully. I was over eighteen. I was not drunk, high, or otherwise intoxicated. No known bloodborne diseases. I checked the box saying I would not hold No Regrets liable if I didn’t take care of my tattoo and ruined it, then set the tablet down.

Zoe returned and snapped a picture of my ID, then nodded toward a row of chairs. “He’s wrapping up another client. He’ll be out shortly.”

I nodded and went to sit. I looked around the shop, studying the flash sheets. Many of them were cool, biker-ish designs. Snakes, skulls, fire, fantasy-inspired knives, and dragons dominated the designs. There were a few that featured pinup-style women, and some that included other animals: wolves, dogs, deer, a horse.

None of the sheets had what I wanted.

Bradley came down the stairs shortly after, leading a man who was still pulling on a shirt. He moved gingerly. I wondered what he’d gotten, and where, and how badly it had hurt.

Bradley looked my way and smiled. It made me warm inside.

He turned to speak with Zoe and the man for a moment, then turned his attention back to me. He waved for me to join him.

Together, we walked to his booth.

“I gotta clean up a little, but we can talk about what you want,” he said. “Let me wipe the chair down, and then you can sit.”

“Okay.” I nodded, leaning against the half-wall surrounding his station.

“So, what are you thinking?”

“Um…” I reached up, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I was thinking a ladybug.”

He looked up, amused. “A ladybug? All right.” He nodded, spraying the chair with cleaner and wiping it down. “Photorealistic? Simple? Something stylized?”

“I don’t know.”

Bradley chuckled. I felt silly, but didn’t say anything. “Come sit. Let me finish cleaning and I’ll do some sketches.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I trust you.”

He looked back up at me for a moment, nodded once, and went back to cleaning. His station was decorated with framed pictures. I assumed it was all art he’d done. His style was interesting, with lots of swirling, almost tribal-looking patterns. I recognized many of them as animals—predators, every single one—but some I couldn’t identify. I assumed they were abstract drawings and didn’t dwell on it too much.

Bradley finished his cleaning and busied himself with a sketchbook. My heart leapt into my throat. This was real. He was doing art for me, for my first tattoo.

My hands were shaking in my lap.

He did some quick sketches before turning the book to me. He’d done a few different things—a sketch clearly based on a photo, shaded with hatching to give it depth. Another was a simple line drawing; a third was cute, almost cartoony.

But the fourth one was stunning. He’d done a single S-shaped swirl, the bottom wider and rounder than the top. A curved line divided the bottom into two halves, with dots down either side. Two little curls came off the top part, indicating antennae.

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