“Okay, girl, I see you. This is pretty damn good.”
“Thanks.” Her cheeks turn pink, and I can see her closing in on herself.
Being friends with Iris has taught me what this body language means. “No way, little missy. You stop that right now.”
Her eyes go wide, and she looks like she’s about to cry.
Fuck, I’m bad with kids. “I just mean that this is really fucking good. You should be proud of yourself. Don’t be shy. You need to act like you know how good you are.” I grab her shoulder and give her a little shake. “Promise me the next time someone compliments you, you’ll own it. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I stare down at her until her eyes go back to a normal size and her face softens into a smile. I hope I didn’t just traumatize her. I just can’t stand when talented women and girls aren’t confident in their skills. And since I’m stuck with this girl for the next eight weeks, I’ve now made it my mission to make sure she knows how damn good she is.
“Good. Try not to make any more messes.”
“I’ll try.”
The class ends,thankfully, with no more messes for me to clean up. Clover mostly kept to herself, humming what I’m pretty sure were Sleep Token songs. Girl has good taste. It actually gave me a really cool idea for my tattoo.
I message Kass again to let him know about the slight change in plans, and he seems pretty excited about it. I can’t stop scrolling through his profile. Most of the pictures on his feed are of tattoos he’s done, but a few of them are of him tattooing someone or group shots at various tattoo conferences. I keep zooming in on his arms in pictures where he’s wearing short sleeves. They’re covered in beautiful ink.
Probably not the best move to get horny for my tattoo artist before he’s about to tattoo my stomach, but I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for bad boys. Or at least guys who look like bad boys. He’s been very professional in our messages, but I can’t help but secretly hope he's into me too.
I wait for the last of the students to file out of the room before I start cleaning up.
As I’m carefully stacking the canvases in the corner to dry, I take a picture of Clover’s painting and send it to Liam.
B
You didn’t tell me I’d be babysitting.
Liam
You mean Clover?
She’s really sweet, you shouldn’t have a problem with her.
B
I don’t like kids.
Liam
Did you have a problem with her today?
B
Yes. She spilled a bunch of paint on herself and the floor.
Liam
Did it get cleaned up?
B
Of course.
Liam
