Page 61 of Spring Break Fling

As I drew the rose, its petals soft and menacing all at once, I thought of the rose I put on her arm. I thought about the way her lips had hesitated before that kiss. A kiss that shouldn’t have meant anything but somehow changed everything.

For me, anyway.

The guy with the arm grunted a little. “Man, that stings,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” I said automatically, my mind barely there. “Almost done.”

He nodded, gritting his teeth as I continued to fill in the petals. This was always the part I loved about my job—the transformation. Clients came in with a vision or a whisper of an idea, and left carrying a piece of art that was both part of them and apart from them.

The buzz of the needle finally silenced, and I wiped down his arm, revealing the finished design—a black cross crowned with a deep red rose, drops of dew inked painstakingly on each petal to give it life.

“Shit, that looks awesome,” he said. “Way better than I expected.”

“Jess will get your payment,” I said as I wrapped his arm. “She’ll tell you how to keep it clean.”

“Cool. Thanks, man.”

He got out of the chair and walked away. I took a bathroom break. When I returned, the shop was blissfully empty. I started to clean up my station when Jess walked over and handed me a twenty.

“Your tip.”

“Thanks,” I said and stuffed it in my pocket.

“Damn, Nikko, could you scowl any harder? You’re gonna scare the customers away,” Jessie said.

“Yeah,” Diego chimed in from his spot by the rack of binders, flipping through designs no one had asked for in years. “You look like someone crapped in your coffee.”

“Maybe because I’m stuck here with you two morons,” I muttered.

Jessie leaned against my station, her eyes narrowed in concern. “Hannah again?”

Diego snorted and flipped another page. “That girl’s doing a number on you.”

“It’s nothing,” I lied, grabbing a bottle of green soap and beginning to scrub down my area more vigorously than necessary.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Jessie persisted, folding her arms. “And since when do you put so much detail into a walk-in’s rose? You were zoned out. I thought you were going to end up doing a whole sleeve. I was already thinking about how I was going to convince the guy he had to pay a thousand dollars for the piece he thought he was paying a hundred for.”

“I do good work,” I said. “Obviously, that’s why people request me more than the two of you combined.”

Jessie rolled her eyes but didn’t push further. She knew when I was close to the edge, knew better than to prod too much when I was in this state. “Just don’t go biting anyone’s head off, okay? We need the customers more than they need us.”

Diego laughed, tossing a crumpled piece of paper at me. “Lighten up, man. You should see your face right now—it’s like you’re deciding whether to cry or punch someone.”

Ignoring them both, I grabbed more paper towels and disinfectant and continued cleaning.

“It’s definitely woman trouble,” Diego said.

“Fuck you,” I said.

“He needs to get laid,” Jess said.

“Since when do you guys give a shit about my sex life?”

“Didn’t you go out with Hannah again?” Diego asked.

Jess smiled. “He likes her.”

“So, you took her out?” Diego pushed.