Just a Little Prick: A Tattooed Bad Boy Romance (No Regrets Ink Book 1)

by Adele Niles

  I gave her a nod. “Going good. Gotta say, I’m a little hurt. You could have waited for me.”

  “You weren’t here and I’ve got other shit to do today.” She walked down the aisle between our chairs, coming to stand in front of me. Before I could react, her hand shot out, grabbing my belt buckle and tugging. “Busy tonight?”

  I shrugged. “Haven’t made any plans yet. Why?”

  “I’ll be at The Republic tonight,” she replied. She gave my belt another tug, drawing my hips toward hers. “And after a few drinks, my schedule’s clear. You game?”

  I smiled. “Maybe. I’m sure I’ll find my way to the bar. We’ll see what happens, huh?” I reached up, tugging at the neckline of her shirt to expose the tattoo she’d just gotten. A series of stars on her breast. “Cute.”

  “Glad you like it. Maybe you’ll see it again later.” She batted my hand away, grinning. “See you around, Bradley.”

  “See you.”

  She let go and turned, walking out. I watched her ass as she left, until she was out the door.

  “So the girl from last night,” Ryker called, coming down toward the front. He stopped at the sink, washing his hands. “You didn’t finish.”

  “Yeah. Let’s see, amazing kisser, super hot, seemed like she’d be into the wild shit.” I paused, just long enough to make sure everyone was listening. “Too bad she puked all over herself and passed out before we could get to it.”

  The howls of laughter almost drowned out the bell over the door. I smiled at the guy who entered and waved him over. “Hey, man, welcome to New Regrets. What can we do for you?”

  Chapter Two

  Lora

  If I never heard from Chris again, it would be too soon.

  At least there was plenty to be done around Bakeology. There were always cupcakes to make, and cookies to ice, and coffee to be brewed. And cleaning. Thank God for the amount of cleaning that had to be done.

  I had my back to the counter, letting Kenzie handle customers while I stirred and kneaded and beat butter and sugar into thick, sweet icing. Music blared on my headphones, Kathleen Hanna shouting in my ears. Loud, angry music helped on days like this.

  “Rebel Girl” was interrupted by the chiming of my text message tone. I groaned, shaking my head. Not until the buttercream was in the piping bag, I told myself. I was not going to let the bastard get to me again. I dug my spatula into the bowl, scooping out the thick, caramel-colored icing and slapping it down into the piping bag. The gesture was cathartic, in a way. It got some of the anger out.

  My phone chimed again.

  Fucking Chris.

  I slammed the last of the icing into the bag and dug my phone from my apron pocket.

  Lora, I’m sorry.

  Please just talk to me?

  I snatched the empty bowl from the counter and whipped around, tossing it into the sink. The sound echoed in the bakery. All other noise stopped.

  People were looking at me.

  I huffed and shook my head. Going to the counter, I grabbed the bottle of rum I’d just used. The cupcakes would be good, at least.

  “I’m putting this away!” I said, probably louder than necessary, but I wasn’t about to pause my music. I thought I heard Kenzie’s voice through my headphones, but I didn’t know what she said, and didn’t care right now.

  What the hell could Chris possibly have to text me about? I didn’t want anything else to do with him. He’d been the one to break up with me. He’d been the one to—

  No. I didn’t need to get myself back into the thinking cycle. I sighed and let myself into the cooler, where I knew I’d be undisturbed. I’d moved here to chase my dreams, and he… He’d made it terrible.

  It had already been terrible.

  I sat down on a crate marked ‘flour’ and looked down at my phone. Chris’s texts were still up on the screen. Snorting, I lifted the bottle of rum to my lips and took a long drink.

  Fuck off, Chris, I texted back.

  For a full minute, the three bouncing dots on my screen indicated he was responding. They stopped moving. I took another long drink of rum.

  Christ, Lora, I’m trying to make this easier.

  How could he make it easier? We’d agreed that we could handle long distance. We’d talked about it before I accepted the job at Bakeology and committed to moving. And he’d had to go and… ruin everything on me. He’d been ruining everything before we even broke up. Before I moved.

  I started to text back, letting all of my anger out on the screen. The rum sat on the crate beside me, in easy reach.

  If you think anything you can do is going to make this easier, you’re stupid. You’re such an asshole! You really thought you could fuck somebody else and it would be okay? And that it could be—

  The door to the cooler opened. Kenzie’s pretty face peered around the corner.

  “Lora?” she asked. Her gentle tone stung. “Hey. You okay? You’ve been… a little off today.”

  I took another long drink of the rum. “I’m—I’m fine.” But as I said it, my voice broke. “I’m fine! I’ll be fine, okay?”

  I couldn’t fight back a sob. I put the bottle down and pressed both hands to my mouth. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, splashing on the front of my apron.

  Kenzie crouched down at my side. “Lora? What happened?”

  Why did I want to open up to her? We weren’t that close. She was sweet, and I liked her, but we were more friendly acquaintances than friends. Still, her tone and the expression on her face were so caring, and I just…needed to talk to somebody.

  “My boyfriend. Chris,” I choked out. “I… I moved here because I want to own a bakery one day. Right? And we…talked. We talked. And we felt like we could handle long distance. So I moved.”

  She rested one hand on my knee. It was comforting. “Yeah?”

  “I haven’t been here long. And a few days ago, he… he tells me he’s been sleeping with my best friend!” I let out another sob, louder this time. “And not just since I left, but before! When I was still in town!”

  “Oh, shit,” Kenzie said. She shifted, perching on the edge of the box, and wrapped both arms around me. “Oh, my god. What a fucking asshole.”

  “Right?” I wiped my eyes. “He keeps texting me to say he’s sorry, and I’m just like, if you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done it to begin with. Right?”

  Kenzie nodded. I wasn’t sure if she was agreeing, or just being sympathetic. Either way, it helped. “Hey. Listen. Why don’t we do something tonight, huh? I know you’ve only been here for a month, so, maybe you and me can go out for a few drinks?”

  “I don’t know…”

  She looked at the bottle of rum next to me. “I mean, I know you do drink, so…”

  I smiled through my tears. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. The rum’s yours now. So how about drinks tonight?”

  Drinks. Obliterating memories of Chris in a few shots sounded good. I wasn’t so sure about socializing, though. “I don’t know, I…I’m not really feeling social.”

  “I think it would be good for you.” She nodded sagely. It was hard to keep disagreeing with her. “My brother works nearby. He and his friends always go to this bar down the street to unwind after work. They’re all kind of jerks, but they’re good guys at the end of the day. It’ll be fun. No commitments, no pressure. Just a good time to get your mind off this.”

  I bit my lip. I’d seen Kenzie’s brother and some of his friends around. I knew they worked in a tattoo parlor, and from some of the stories I heard, they sounded like a wild bunch. It wasn’t really my scene.

  “They’re kind of…a lot,” I said, trying to be as gentle as possible. “I’m not sure.”

  Kenzie laughed, patting my shoulder. She let go and stood up, turned to face me. “It’ll be fun. And don’t worry about the guys, okay? I won’t let them do anything stupid. I promise. And if I tell Bradley to keep an eye on them, he will. Nothing to worry about.”

  Maybe she was r
ight. Maybe I did need a night out and a few good drinks. If Kenzie said she’d watch out for me, then I believed her. I took a deep breath. “Maybe for a little while. Okay?”

  “Okay!” Kenzie brightened immediately. “Get yourself together and come back out, okay? The rum cupcakes should be ready for frosting, and you make the best spiced buttercream. I’d hate to ruin them with my shitty frosting.”

  I laughed at that and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute. Thanks, Kenzie.”

  “No worries. See you in a sec!” She smiled once more, then turned, leaving me alone in the cooler.

  I got myself together fast and kept it that way for the rest of the day. A few of the guys from the tattoo shop came in throughout the day, and Kenzie spoke excitedly to each one. I tried not to pay attention. I was nervous, really. Going out wasn’t really something I did, and I still wasn’t sure this was a good idea.

  And yet, once I went home to change, I found that I was a little bit excited. Maybe Kenzie and I would become friends. Or maybe she knew some other cool people. With Chris out of the picture, I could start settling into my life here. It was time to make friends, maybe flirt a little—after a drink or two, of course. They called it liquid courage for a reason.

  I stood in front of my full-length mirror to look at myself one last time. Kenzie would be here soon to pick me up, and I was still fussing over how I looked. I’d let my hair down and brushed it so it laid perfectly, full and slightly wavy. Makeup wasn’t really my thing, but my favorite gray eyeliner and tinted lip balm had yet to let me down. My best jeans and boots made the base of a good outfit, but the shirt… I tugged at it. The purple shirt was snug, hugging the curves of my body, and I worried that it was a little much.

  I looked kind of hot. Would it give people the wrong idea?

  My phone chimed in my back pocket and I groaned. Kenzie, telling me she was here. It was better than another message from Chris, but it meant that I didn’t have time to change.

  No going back. This was how I was going out tonight.

  I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse, and headed out to meet Kenzie.

  Chapter Three

  Bradley

  I agreed to meet Kenzie at The Republic. Hell, I was going to be there anyway and hopefully not have a repeat of the night before. The guys were all game, of course—any chance to drink and maybe get their dicks wet. We closed the shop a few minutes early, wrapped up our cleaning, and headed down to the bar.

  Kenzie wasn’t there yet, so we pushed a few tables together and got a tab going. I reached into my pocket for my phone, checking to see if my sister had texted me again. It gave me a second to reread her last texts.

  Look, she just went through a bad breakup. This is to cheer her up and let her have fun. NOT for you or anybody else to hook up with her!! You can all be animals around other women, but not Lora. Help keep the others off her, okay?

  I wasn’t going to argue with my sister, but if Lora wanted to take one of us for a spin, I wasn’t going to stop her. Besides, some girls liked a good fuck right after a bad breakup.

  I wouldn’t push my luck, but I wasn’t going to say no. That sounded like a fair compromise. Besides, Mal was my fallback. She did say she was going to be at the bar.

  The guys and I were all into our second beers when I spotted my sister. Kenzie, hair still in a bouncy ponytail, had changed into clothes that were still casual, but nicer than what she wore to work. I didn’t know the girl with her, but…

  Goddamn.

  Gorgeous. Her hair was almost pink in the amber bar light, falling perfectly around her shoulders. The neckline of her top was modest, but it clung to her perfectly. She was curvy, soft in all the right places, and smiled almost shyly as she followed Kenzie to our table.

  Dammit, Kenzie. Why did this one have to be off-limits?

  My sister came to sit beside me, punching me in the shoulder as she dropped into the chair. I recoiled, groaning in mock-pain, and Kenzie laughed. “Hey, Bradley.”

  “Welcome to the party, Kenzie. Gonna introduce your friend, or are we rude now?”

  Kenzie rolled her eyes. “Lora, this is my brother Bradley,” she said. She pointed around the table, introducing the others—Benny, Garrett, Ryker, Zoe, and Logan.

  “Um, hey.” Lora nodded. “I’m Lora. It’s good to meet you.”

  Conversations started to flow easily. I bought Kenzie and Lora their first drinks. Logan got Kenzie talking about the bakery, and she moved closer to avoid shouting across the table.

  I moved into her empty seat, next to Lora.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.” She smiled, taking a sip of her beer.

  “You look a little nervous.” I gave her a smile. “We don’t bite. Unless you ask for it.”

  Her eyebrows lifted and she looked away. Was that one too much? Where did Kenzie find a girl like this?

  “Sorry if that was, uh, off-color. Just kind of how we joke around here.” I nodded toward the table.

  “Oh, no, I can take it,” Lora replied. She took a long drink of her beer, finishing it. “I need another.”

  “It’s on me.” I gestured for the bartender’s attention, holding up my bottle and two fingers. My attention shifted back to Lora, looking her over. “So, you’re new in town?”

  The look she gave me immediately made me regret saying that. She snorted softly. “I work with your sister. I see you every morning when you come in for coffee and a muffin.”

  “Oh, fuck!” Of course. The hot girl I’d watched stir batter this morning. That was where Kenzie knew her from. “I’ve never seen you with your hair down! It totally changes the picture.”

  Lora studied me a moment longer, one eyebrow arched, then laughed. She shook her head. “I know I’m quiet, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

  “What? No, no. Quiet’s fine. Seriously, it’s all in the hair. And, you know. You’ve got a lot less flour on you.” I grinned and took a sip of my beer.

  She smiled, then, and took a sip of hers. She put it on the table as she finished. “Anyway. Yes, I’m new in town. I’ve been here for a month. My boyfriend just dumped me to fuck my best friend, so I’m in the market for a new social circle.”

  “Cool. Cool. Well, we’re a loud bunch, but we’re fun. Stay away from Ryker, though, he’s a dog.” I nodded toward my friend.

  Lora turned her head, following my gaze. Her hair flipped, wafting the scent of cinnamon and rum my way.

  As if she could get any hotter.

  She turned back to me, her eyes dropping to look at my arms. She leaned forward, looking intently at my tattoos. “So, do they all have a super deep meaning? Or are they just, you know, cool?”

  I chuckled, shrugging. “Some of them are just cool. Art I liked and shit.” I gestured to my right forearm, where a geometric design in black and red surrounded a drawing of a beetle.

  “Nice,” she said.

  “Benny did that one. He did the art for it and nobody was buying.”

  “What about this one?” Lora touched the back of my hand. Another geometric design—a series of triangles, done in black with different line weight, all locked together.

  “Geometry is cool. Clean lines, neat shapes.” I looked up at her, studying her for a moment. She shifted uncomfortably. “How about you? I haven’t seen any of yours yet.”

  “Oh. Oh!” Lora shrugged. “I, um…”

  I grinned. Perfect. “Hidden, huh? Gotta undress you to find them? Maybe some other time, huh?”

  Lora blushed, red staining her cheeks. The flush traveled down to her chest.

  God damn. I was going to have to break my promise to Kenzie. Lora was too good to pass up. If she wanted to take me home, I was going.

  She drank more, as did I. By the time we were on our fourth bottles of beer, I’d told her about all of my visible tattoos. She leaned heavily on the table, gazing at my arms with interest as I finished up explaining the tiny wooden spoon on the inside of my right thumb—a tattoo for Kenzie, of cours
e.

  “Wow,” she said, grinning. “That’s pretty fucking impressive.”

  She shifted, leaning toward me. The way she moved gave me a clean view down her shirt. I felt my cock twitch. I wanted her bad.

  “I do my best to impress.”

  “Do you?”

  There was an edge to her voice that I liked. Was she flirting back?

  “I can be real impressive. Anything specific you want to ask about?”

  Lora raised an eyebrow and, for just an instant, her gaze flicked downward. My cock stirred again. Who was this girl? She’d seemed kinda shy at first, and now she was trying to—

  “Bradley!” Kenzie’s voice was almost singsong, definitely cheerful. I turned my head toward her. She was standing, wobbling just a little. “C’mere, I need something.”

  I looked back to Lora and sighed. “Give me a sec. I’ll be right back.”

  Lora nodded, sitting up in her chair and busying herself with her phone. I went to Kenzie, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you need to switch to water now?”

  Kenzie shook her head. She turned me around. A table of women sat in the corner of the bar, and Kenzie gestured to them. “I see what you’re doing with Lora, okay? I’m not stupid. So. Why don’t you go talk to one of them instead?”

  Mal was with them. She caught my eye and smiled, waving. I nodded once at her, then turned to Kenzie. “I’m just talking to her. That’s all.”

  “You have that look.” Kenzie wasn’t going to back down. Shit. “I know you. You want to go home with her. I’m telling you not to. Okay? I think she literally got dumped a few days ago.”

  “Nothing wrong with a rebound,” I replied.

  “Bradley. No.”

  “Okay, okay.” I held my hands up, defeated. “All right. I’m gonna take a walk. Go piss. Keep an eye on her, okay? She’s had a few.”

  Kenzie patted my shoulder. “Come back soon. Party’s not the same without you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I smiled, shaking my head as I walked away.

  I came back to a very full bar. The Republic was the best bar in Richland, that was for sure. It had a good reputation. But places with good reputations attracted people, and asshole frat boys from West Virginia weren’t the type we got along with. The last thing I wanted was some dumb boys thinking they were tough and picking fights they wouldn’t win.