Chapter 46

He must have asked me something because he’s looking at me with a puzzled expression. I was completely lost in my own train of thought there for a moment, and I feel my cheeks burn.

“So?” he asks with a smile.

“So what?”

“I asked if you work here.”

“Oh. Yeah, maybe.”

“Maybe?”

God, I feel so stupid!

“Maybe, yes. It’s…well, it’s my first day. And I’d love to go inside, but it seems the whole world doesn’t want me to.” My voice is only slightly above a low mumble.

“Well, okay,” he replies, still smiling. “I didn’t mean to hold you up, sorry. It’s just that my tattoo parlor is around the corner and I wanted to take a look around before opening. It’s the first day for me, too.”

Oh.

“Do you like tattoos?” he asks, not intimidated by my silence.

“Y-yes, I like them.”

“Do you have any?”

What the hell? No. I don’t have a tattoo. I have a damn scar on my fucking face! Can’t you see it?

My grumpy side is pushing to be heard, as poisonous as ever.