The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 32~ Not a Date

Coming soon-ish ^^ Zeke and Charlene's Story 😉

Chapter 32

Bard left that night and never returned. It was a relief. I needed space; time away from the intense aura that always surrounded him. Every time he came near, it seemed to swallow me up and leave me gasping for whatever form of oxygen I could find.

Bard was like one of those ugly ass fish that only occupied in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. You see their little lights and go oooh pretty. You know it's dangerous to approach, but that stupid fucking light continues to draw you in.

Bard's light was blinding. An Adonis in the form of a bearded pillar of all things mysterious and sexy.

And I was a stupid ass little fish.

Two days after Bard disappeared, Boe asked for another tattoo. A massive tattoo. A dragon, full of fine details and large enough to cover the full expanse of his back. I'd spent hours drawing it up, only to have him add to it, over and over, more and more detail.

When he'd finally been satisfied, I'd shot him a look. "This is going to take more than one session."

"That's the idea," had been his response, that cat-like smile full of flirtation.

In that moment, with him looking at me as if I were a pie on the windowsill, I'd considered turning it down.

Then I'd eyed the sketch again and reconsidered. I needed the money, and Boe wanted close to an eight hundred dollar tattoo.

Needless to say, it'd been two weeks, and we did sessions every other day. As much as I fucking despised myself for it, I actually enjoyed his company.

He wasn't like most of the men I'd met in my life. Ever since Boe told me about his past, he stopped blatantly hitting on me. He made no advances, didn't try to sleep with me. Instead, he did something that was even more outrageous.

He asked me questions.

Not personal ones, nothing too deep. Stupid ones.

What's my favorite color? To which I'd responded, black.

What's my favorite food? To which I'd responded, edible.

What's my favorite flower? To which I'd gagged.

Still, he continued on, every session, question after question, never minding my snarky and blunt responses. Instead, he seemed to revel in them, finding humor in my general attitude towards the world.

This session, however, would be the last. The tattoo was almost complete. Another hour and I'd have it finished.

"You're awful quiet today, Jessie," he said, cutting his face over to try and glance at me.

I smacked his shoulder. "Don't do that! It jars your whole body!" I was positioned behind him on a chair, while he sat hunched on a stool with his forearms on his thighs for support.

He rumbled a laugh. "Awful testy, too."

I smirked. "Well, I'm almost finished. Then you can focus on your own clients and never have to put up with me again," I joked, but in reality it was the truth.

Boe stiffened. "You can't be done already."

"I'm not," I replied, pausing to wipe off the area I was working on. "But I will be in about an hour or so."

He was quiet for a long time, and I returned my focus to coloring in the dragon's tail.

I'd just stopped to wipe it down again, when Boe spoke. "Jessie?"