Messy Love(13)

“Ralph, let me guess. You’re here for a cover-up tatt?’’ I smiled, and it surprised me when it wasn’t forced. This guy with the crazy hair was so easy going that it wasn’t too difficult for me to push the rest away and focus on his bright spirit. But, I’d lie if I said it wasn’t difficult not to look at his friend behind him.

“You convinced me. I can’t resist a beautiful girl,’’ he retorted with a wink that had me chuckling.

“Alright.’’ I glanced at Sophie, and I frowned when I realized she’s busy checking out Wyatt and his big arms crossed with the muscles bulging against his black t-shirt. “Soph, who’s free for a cover-up tatt?’’

She blinked her big blue eyes and pink colored her otherwise pale cheeks. She looked at the planning on the laptop in front of her and shook her head before she stared up at me. “There’s no opening today. And Kam is booked the rest of the week.’’

“I’m happy if you work on me, Marissa,’’ Ralph butted in with a big smile.

Wyatt scoffed and came closer to stand next to his friend, towering over everybody around here. “She’s a damn apprentice, fucker. She’s not going to put ink on you.’’

I bristled at his gruff voice and the way he easily put me in my place. Of course, he’s right, but still.

“Oh, but she could!’’ Sophie said, taking my defense.

Sophie and I had hit it off surprisingly fast when I started here at InkSpired. She’s the one doing all the piercings, and she also took care of the front desk, appointments and some paperwork for Kam. I wasn’t really into piercings for myself yet, but if I ever wanted one, I knew she’d be the one I’d ask. And even though she looked sweet and a bit at odds with the place and profession with her pencil skirt and blouse and librarian glasses, I knew for a fact she covered a few nicely placed piercings.

“No, I can’t.’’

“Oh come on. We both know Kam would have never let you get close to his machine and ink some simple pieces if you weren’t ready for your stuff.’’

I glanced at both men listening quietly, one with a huge smile and the other with a scowl and intense eyes trained on me, unwavering. “It’s not the point, Soph. Book Ralph with Kam. I think his designs would fit him more.’’ I turned back to Ralph and played with the hem of my t-shirt trying to ignore how both men looked down my cleavage. “I’m sure Sophie will find you an opening with Kam for next week.’’

“Wyatt? Dude, is that you?’’ Kam’s loud voice interrupted Ralph from answering. We all turned to see my mentor taking off his gloves and walking toward us with an odd smile on his face. It’s odd because the man rarely smiled. One look at Sophie made me realize our thoughts were heading the same way: what the hell?

“Hey, Kam, long time no see,’’ Wyatt greeted him, and both men shook hands. If I looked closely enough and squinted a bit, I’d say Wyatt was smiling under that thick dark scruff of his.

“Last time I inked you was what…two years ago?’’

“Yeah, that’s about right. But I’m not here for me. My friend wants to cover up a sloppy piece.’’

Kam turned to Ralph, shook his hand as his dark eyes detailed his sleeves. “Nice work, but,’’ he pointed at the ugly tatt on his forearm I had picked on immediately when I had met him a few days ago, “What the hell happened here?’’

Ralph laughed and shook his head. “Alcohol was involved, both for the guy about to tattoo me and me.’’

Kam grimaced. “So damn unprofessional,’’ he muttered to himself and came to stand behind Sophie and me, eyeing the planning to find an opening. “Ya know what you want?’’

Ralph shook his head. “Not really. Your girl here convinced me to get a cover-up tatt, that’s as far as I thought.’’

“You should get something that’d blend with your sleeve,’’ I said, eyes on his forearm, already thinking of ways to cover up the tattoo and blend in the new ink with the sleeve. I was itching to grab my notepad, pencils and start sketching. But I couldn’t just yet. One day soon, though.

“You want her to work on your piece?’’ Kam asked with interest. “Or you want in her pants?’’

My eyes widened as Sophie choked on her coffee and Wyatt’s scowl deepened as he fixed me harshly. Ralph, not fazed in the least, shrugged.

“I want her to work on my piece, but if she also lets me in her pants, I won’t say no.’’

“Oh hell,’’ Wyatt mumbled and stuck his hand in his hair, tugging a few dark strands upward, messing with it more than it already was. It’s annoying how messy hair looked good on guys like him, but on women, a few strands out of place and you either looked like you got electrocuted or someone ravished you.

“Wyatt, my man, your friend is a comic.’’ Kam looked at me and nodded. “Alright, let’s start slow on this. Girl, you take him to the office and discuss a design. You come up with a flash and a sketch, and we’ll see if you can work on the piece yourself. What d’you say?’’

“What the—''

“It’s so great!’’ Sophie squealed and jumped on me to hug me. She’s so small that she had to go on her tiptoes to wrap her thin arms around my neck.