Page 3 of Bittersweet Redemption

A huge smile lights up his face. “Me me me!”

Chapter 2

Kai

The tattoo gun vibrates as I bring it to the bare ankle in front of me. I’m pretty sure this is the twelfth butterfly tattoo I’ve done this week. I could probably do it with my eyes closed at this point.

When the needle taps into the lady’s skin, she tenses. Everyone does at the initial prick, but I have a feeling this one isn’t going to relax until the tattoo is done. So, I hold her leg with my elbow as I follow the outline of the stencil I drew on earlier.

It’s a quick design, so it doesn’t take long to finish. The most time-consuming part is getting the different colors onto the butterfly. Everyone wants colors these days.

When I’m finished, I help my client off the table. She looks me up and down before giving me a smile. I know that smile. I see it multiple times a night when I’m working at the shop. All these women seem to have fantasies of hooking up with a tattoo artist, and most of the time, I’m happy to oblige. I am making up for lost time, after all. But this woman is old enough to be my mother, and I have to draw a line somewhere.

“Thanks, Kai. I love it,” she tells me.

“No problem.” I move to put my equipment away and clean my station. Her face deflates a little when I don’t add any more to the conversation. “Jenna will check you out at the front.” She nods, and she and her friend turn away from my table while I sterilize everything for the next client.

Once everything is wiped down and all my tools are put away, I walk up to the front.

“Kai, your last client left you a huge tip and. . .” Jenna wiggles her eyebrows. “She left her number, too.” Jenna laughs as she hands me the slip of paper. The lady left me an almost fifty percent tip and did, in fact, scribble her number on the bottom.

I shake my head. “Jesus.”

“All the ladies want you,” Jenna teases. Jones, the shop owner, walks up to us and looks at the paper in my hand.

“What’s up, man? You got another woman lined up for tonight? I saw the pretty blonde you left with last night.” I have no shame for taking that girl home last night. We had a wild night. . . and morning. She was definitely a good time. And while I admit I take women home frequently, I don’t do it every night.

I roll my eyes. “Nah. I’m not calling this lady. She looks like she could be friends with my mom. It’d be too damn weird.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know, man. In my experience, the older ones seem to be a little more freaky in bed.”

“I’ll leave them all for you then, Jones.” He laughs. I like Jones. He’s a good guy. He might look intimidating with all his tattoos, but he’s fucking chill. The best boss I could’ve asked for. He took a chance on me when no one else would. Straight out of prison with an eleven-year gap of no tattooing experience or work, he let me apprentice for a few months and then hired me full-time. I’ve never looked back.

“When are you gonna settle down, Kai?” Jenna asks. She’s propped her head on her hands and looks at me.

“Give the kid a break, Jen.” Jones calls me ‘kid’ even though I’m thirty-three years old and only eight years younger than him. “He’s gotta live the life he missed when he was locked up.”

I laugh and shrug. “Yeah, I don’t know. If I meet the right person, I guess it’d be nice to have a family. I just don’t want to rush anything. I like having my own space right now. After living in a ten by ten cage for so long, all I could think about was having my own place where I could do whatever I wanted.”

“Yeah, and adding a woman to the mix would feel like prison all over again,” Jones adds.

“Hey,” Jenna scoffs, giving him an offended look.

“Just kidding, Jen. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“You guys are assholes.” She shakes her head.

I raise my hands in defense. “Jones said it. Not me.” Because, in truth, I wouldn’t mind settling down. My little brother is getting married soon, and I love seeing him with his fiancée. He’s a grumpy prick, and she’s walking sunshine. They’re perfect for each other and balance each other out. That’s what I want. That’s what I’m holding out for. A woman who completes me, as cringy as that sounds. And I’ll never say that out loud to Jones and Jenna.

“You’re right, Kai.” Jenna turns to Jones. “Jones, you’re an asshole.”

“Never said I wasn’t.” He shrugs. We dick around for a few more minutes before a client comes in wanting his girlfriend’s name tattooed on his arm. Jones and I look at each other because we know it’s a bad idea, but we won’t turn him away if it’s what he’s set on. Sunday nights are always pretty slow, so we’ve got to take what we can get. I take the man back to my table and start going through fonts with him.

The shop closes at midnight on Sundays, so the three of us lock up shortly after I finish the guy’s arm. We walk out to our cars, or in Jones’s case, a motorcycle, together when we close up. Then I head home.

I pull into my driveway and glance at the house next door, where the beat-up SUV is parked. I saw the woman move in yesterday. It took all I had not to laugh when I looked out my front window and saw her using a damn skateboard to get her couch inside. I didn’t even think that was possible, especially since the couch was bigger than her. I almost went to ask if she needed help, but the chick I was with got on her knees in front of me, pushing all my thoughts about helping out the window.

I wonder what her story is. Why she didn’t have anyone helping her?