My phone vibrates in my pocket just as I come to a stop outside the tattoo parlor. A ride is what I need, but a different kind. I want to feel pain. I want to remind myself why I choose to stay alone, because anyone that enjoys pain can’t enjoy love.
When I look at the screen, I see Seer’s name flashing on the screen. “Oh, that’s a big fuck no and fuck you, Seer. Sorry,” I ignore the call and tuck my phone back in my pocket.
And then it rings again.
I groan and tilt my head back, staring up at the blue sky. “Why is this day fucking with me?” Just to make sure Reaper isn’t calling, I bring my phone out again and see Seer’s name. “I don’t know what information you’ve got for me today, but I don’t want to hear it, man.” I ignore the call again, muting the vibration. Seer is one of a kind. He’s good people, odd, but in the sense, he has sight.
He can see things before they happen. It doesn’t bother me when it comes to someone else, but me? I’m not interested in what the future has in store. I’d rather take the punches as they come instead of dodging them, and if that means I die, then that’s when I’m meant to leave this world.
My phone rings again, and this time it pisses me off. I throw the phone on the ground and step on it with my boot.
Again.
Again.
And again.
Until it’s nothing but broken pieces and wires.
And the bastard still has the nerve to ring even if it does sound drawn out like a piece of machinery shutting down.
“You have got to be kidding me.” I stomp the phone again, then dig my heel into the cracked screen, grinning when the ringer starts to die. “Yeah, take that, fucker.”
“Tough day?” Luci’s amused tone comes from the side of the building, as does cigarette smoke. He spins around the corner and stares at me with a playful grin, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.
“You could say that.” For good measure, I kick the pieces of the cell phone across the parking lot and breathe easier when it’s out of my line of sight. I really don’t mind Seer, but I don’t want to know shit about something happening to me. His gift doesn’t scare me; it’s the truth of his visions.
“You shouldn’t have done that. Reaper might need to get a hold of you,” he says. “And you crush your phone too many times for the man to remain patient.”
“Shut up.” Damn, if Luci ain’t right. I’m going to get my ass handed to me if the club needs me and I’m not available. “Come on—” I slap his shoulder and do my best not to inhale the cloud of smoke he blows from his mouth, “—I need a tattoo.”
Luci flicks his cigarette to the ground and steps on it. “Let’s do it, then. You caught me at a good time. I don’t have an appointment for a few hours.”
When I walk inside, my nerves settle, and the buzz of the tattoo gun eases me. The shop is nice, but what I love most about it is how classic Luci keeps it. It has American traditional flashes framed over the walls, and every artist has their own private room to tattoo their clients, but it’s simple. There aren’t any gimmicks. It’s just a place where people come for tattoos and piercings, then get the fuck out. The walls are painted a simple color, beige because Luci doesn’t like to make things complicated. He likes to keep things simple, but decoration is where simplicity ends.
He’s the best fucking artist I’ve ever come across, besides Tongue. Actually, now that I think about it, Tongue would be a great tattoo artist. He can draw and make people bleed. Two things he loves most. I make a mental note to tell him my idea later.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite cock I pierced,” Bobby-Jane greets me as she dries off her hands and snaps on a pair of gloves. The artwork on her body is more delicate, flowy, and feminine.
“Hey Bobby-Jane,” I say and lean in to kiss the side of her temple. I’ve known her for a few years now before she became a tattoo artist. “How’s it hanging?”
She cocks her head and stares at my crotch. “If I remember correctly, a little to the left.”
I have a Jacob’s Ladder, bars pierced right through my cock and two hoops on the crown, like horns, and Bobby-Jane is the one that pierced me. “You want to come find out again?” I ask her, remembering the few times we hooked up. The sex was good, but we both knew the deal.
It was just sex.
Maybe that’s what I need. It’s been a while because I’ve been so caught up with Mary that I’ve forgotten that I’m a single man. Mary drives me nuts, Bobby-Jane tugs my nuts. See the difference?
“Maybe, I’ll call you later,” she gives me a wink and heads into the room where her client is.
“Yeah, too bad she can’t call you,” Luci says, sitting down on a stool and pushes his feet against the ground to roll in front of me.
“Why not?”
“You destroyed your phone, remember?” he smirks, grabbing his notepad and a red pen.
“Fuck.” I cover my face and let out a painful groan. A beautiful, missed opportunity, gone because I can’t keep my head on straight.
“Your dick will live, but the time is ticking, Knives. What are we doing?”
“I want a pinup on my arm, a woman with long black hair and red lipstick.” Once the words come out of my mouth, I nearly choke on my tongue and wish my swamp kitty carrying MC brother was around to cut it out of me. I just described Mary.
“How do you want her body?” Luci asks as he starts to draw on the paper in delicate lines.
I imagine Mary; she has fuller breasts and an ass shaped like a peach that I want nothing more than to sink my damn teeth into. My cock jumps, and I clear my throat and take a deep breath to get myself under control. How awkward would it be to get an erection while Luci tattoos me?
“Medium size tits and ass,” I say to him, which he just nods as he starts creating the outline of her tits, and it’s almost like he has seen Mary naked, because the body on the paper is everything I dream about.
I shouldn’t be doing this, but as he draws her hair, long and wavy behind her back, I want nothing more than to finally close the distance between me and Mary. I think somehow… in some way; the little hellraiser wiggled her way into my heart.
I don’t know when that happened, but as Luci places the stencil on my forearm and pulls it away, I know it’s the only way I’m really ever going to have her. This picture is the only way I’ll be able to have her close to me. “Can you add a leather jacket? Keep it unzipped.”
“Yeah, I can freehand that on with a marker,” Luci states as he starts putting the tattoo gun together and unwrapping a clean, sterile needle. “Come on. Come sit on my throne of pain,” He laughs at his own joke, but all I do is roll my eyes. I flop onto the red leather chair, flip my arm over, and Luci shines the light on it.
I dig into my pocket for my ninja star and roll it over my fingers as the gun buzzes, and the needle hits my skin. Euphoria takes over as the pain hits. It’s sweet, it stings, and it burns.
Just. Like. Mary.
I’m going to kill him.
I cannot believe I’ve had to stay in jail for two days. I haven’t showered. I have had to hover when I pee because there is no way in hell I am sitting on a stainless steel toilet that’s probably never been cleaned.