One more day and I'd made it through an entire week. I suddenly understood why Fridays were so amazing. It meant you survived another week. Sure, there was a lot of sexual tension between me and Brad and there were moments where I had to suppress my urges while my inner dog in heat was howling and crying for some release but all in all, it went great. I'd managed to keep my pants on at all times.
And more importantly, tonight I was going to some frat party with Jill and I'd drink like a fish and probably make out with a random guy. Before I got to that part, I needed to survive one more day.
"Your first week is almost over!" Brad greeted me as enthusiastically as usual.
"Whoohoo!" I exclaimed before I came to the conclusion I wasn't at a party yet and I needed to reel it in.
"Am I officially allowed to ask you how your first week went or do I have to wait until the day is over?" Brad asked me while grabbing his laptop.
"You're gonna have to wait," I teased.
"I don't like waiting, Gwen. I'm a very impatient boy," he said. I'd witnessed him being impatient before although he'd taken his time when it was necessary. Damn, my horny little brain had it bad today. I quickly went back to my work station so I could practice a little more. I liked it a lot and playing with a needle kinda forced you to focus on the task at hand.
"Hey, maybe you could ink yourself today," Brad suggested before I started working.
"You know, I have been thinking about it..." I said hesitantly.
"And?"
"And I'm definitely too chicken. I mean, poking others with a needle is fine by me, but myself?" I shuddered visibly.
"Alright, I respect your decision. I assume you've thought this through." Brad said. I'd expected him to put up a fight or attack me with loads of arguments but he gave up pretty easily. I was kinda disappointed.
"Of course I've thought about it. It would be on my wrist, it's one of the only places I can reach pretty easily," I explained.
Brad got up and walked my direction. He grabbed my wrist and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, your wrist could work. It's not a big surface though, you have tiny wrists," he said.
"I was thinking of something like the head of a dog or wolf. Kinda like it's howling. Hang on," I said and grabbed some paper so I could draw it out. It was stupid explaining something in my head when I could just put it on paper and show Brad.
I wanted to sketch it quickly but once I got started it was hard to stop. Eventually, it turned into a howling wolf's head. The neck faded out in swirls to finish it off. I'd forgotten Brad had been watching me the entire time. By the time I wanted to hand him my sketch, he'd already seen it. He grabbed the piece of paper and put it on my wrist.
"Not too shabby. I like it," He told me. "Too bad you're not gonna do it."
That fucker had totally manipulated me. I couldn't believe I'd fallen for it. I hadn't even had a clue. So that's why he'd given up so quickly, he just wanted me to convince myself.
"You son of a bitch!" I slapped him playfully while he laughed.
"Hey, I'm innocent! You just showed me the tattoo you want but not gonna get," he defended himself.
"But now I want it even more," I pouted. "I can't believe I'm gonna ink myself."
"It's something we've all gone through," Brad said gravely while patting my shoulder.
"Really? Everyone else in this room?" I fake gasped. We were on our own. We always were except when there were customers.
"You're just being passive aggressive because you're scared. It's cute," Brad cooed and instinctively took a step back so I wouldn't hit him.
"I'm not scared!" I said like a ten year old kid being challenged by his friends.
"I bet you're not even gonna do it," Brad played along.
"You know, I actually have a friend who never says no to a challenge or a bet. It's really funny when he doesn't end up getting in trouble. I'm kidding, it's even funnier when he gets into trouble." I grinned, thinking about my friend Jake. Never had it been that easy to convince a guy to wear a red, frilly thong for a day. I feel like he earned a new respect for women that day because he couldn't stop complaining about how uncomfortable he'd felt.
"Why do I have a feeling you've got some really good stories about that friend?" Brad asked suspiciously.
"You have no idea." I grinned. "Now go away, I'm gonna ink myself."
"Yes! I will give you your space! Anything you need, m'lady." He pretended to tip his invisible hat. "I have a client coming in any second now."
While Brad went back to his laptop, I did everything he'd taught me to prepare myself. By the time I was done, his customer had come in. I liked it, that way he was distracted and I could do my thing without feeling like I was being watched. I hated how insecure and nervous I felt all of a sudden.
This was probably the coolest thing I'd ever do. Inking yourself was old-school, it was rebellious and something teenage Gwen would've been so proud of. Who was I kidding? Even adult Gwen would be proud if she managed to get this done.
I knew how it felt, getting a tattoo. I remembered vividly how Brad had inked me the week before and how I returned the favor. With a big sigh, I took the plunge and pushed the needle against my skin. Once I was doing it, I kinda got over the feeling of stabbing myself and relaxed a little.
It probably took me a little longer than it should've because I was being extra cautious of my precious skin, but a while later I was sporting a howling wolf tattoo on my wrist. I was glad Brad hadn't asked me why I'd chosen a wolf. He didn't need to know about my inner dog in heat.
I snapped a few pictures before I put a bandage on top of it, so I could show it to Brad when he was done with his client. It wasn't even noon but I already felt like my day was accomplished.
"Thanks! See you around, man." Brad said before his client walked out of the door. I never knew whether he already knew his clients or not because he seemed so familiar with all of them. After two days, I decided not to ask anymore.
"Loook," I said while handing Brad my phone. I was feeling pretty smug that I'd managed to successfully ink myself.
"You're feeling so cool right now, aren't you?" Brad breathed a laugh while handing me back the phone.
"I don't feel cool, I am cool," I answered him confidently. "Do you like it? I'm still new at this, you need to compliment me so I don't break down."
"You're such a walking contradiction," Brad answered with an amused expression on his face. "I'm not gonna compliment you because I'm a little jealous that yours is cooler than mine." He pretended like he was having a hard time admitting to that defeat. It made me feel even better.
"I'm gonna send this pic to Jill. She'll love it. First she'll complain that it's not her name but then she'll love it," I said.
"That does sound like her," Brad said while cleaning his work station.
Instead of answering like a normal person would, Jill decided to call me. Why call someone? I swear, sometimes she acted like a forty year old woman. Although she wasn't aware of that. I looked at Brad, silently asking if it was okay answering it.
"It's lunch time anyway," Brad shrugged.
"You know, you could just text me back saying Gwen that tattoo is SO cool, I'm so jealous I want to have babies with it instead of calling me like an old hag," I answered the phone while earning myself a questioning look from Brad.
"Why hurt my feelings like that, fuckbucket? I was gonna compliment you but now I'm gonna admire it in secret. You will never see my shrine!" Jill answered within a heartbeat.
"Thanks, I love it too," I said smugly.
"Anyway, I did call you for a reason, wise ass. And old hag? Really? Our vocabulary is filled with so many beautiful made up words and you go for old hag? Did you accidentally poke your brain with the needle? Or is someone making you forget how to think? You don't see me right now, but I'm totally wiggling my eyebrows. Well, one of them is wiggling, the other one is trying real hard."
"Jill?" I interrupted her, because she could go on like that for a few minutes.
"Hmm?"
"The reason, Jill. What was the reason you called?" I asked.
"I can't make it tonight. I know! Before you say anything, I'm really sorry. I was looking forward to it too! I found out I have an essay I need to hand in tonight. I kinda haven't even started on it. Oops?" She said.
It sucked, I really had been looking forward to it. Jill was such a moron. "You haven't even started? You're in so much trouble," I asked incredulously.
"Yeah... I'm fucked. We could go for drinks tomorrow, though?" She suggested. She didn't seem fazed at all that she had a full day of writing an essay ahead of her. The girl really didn't know what it was like to have stress. She was probably immune to the concept.
"Tomorrow? Sure, we have a deal," I said.
"Great! I wanna hear all about your week." I could tell she was smirking from miles away.
"Jill, don't you have to get back to your essay?"
"Psh, not at all. It's only 30% of my grade. Hahaha! Ha! I'm gonna open another bag of chips because my bucket of M&Ms are gone. Stupid Chase, he said he didn't eat them but I know he did. I couldn't possible have eaten that all by myself in the last 24 hours," Jill replied.
"Yes. Yes, you could have and you probably did. Try to write a little bit in between meals, old hag," I advised her. Maybe I'd misjudged her. She was definitely stressed. She was bucket of M&M's stressed.
"Okay. Bye little wolf. I'm calling him Winston. Bye Winston!" She said, referring to my tattoo, right before she hung up on me. Why did she always hang up before I had the chance to say goodbye?
"Boo," I muttered.
"Bad news?" Brad asked.
"I had plans to go out with Jill but she has an essay to write." I sighed as I let my weight fall onto a chair like a sack of potatoes being thrown away.
"Sounds to me like she got the worse end of the deal though," Brad said before he shoved some of his salad in his mouth. It seemed like he was enjoying his salad but I wasn't fooled. I've never enjoyed a salad before so I just assume people who think they're enjoying it are just faking it. it's all a ruse to get people to eat healthy.
"Oh definitely, she's binge eating as we speak," I told Brad.
Brad burst out into laughter, like he was having the best inside joke ever. "Jill eats when she's stressed? I thought Chase was the only one. All of their fights are probably about food. They're such weirdos," He explained while grinning.
"So true. Jill was having a relationship crisis when she discovered Chase didn't like cheese," I laughed along.
"This explains so much!" Brad exclaimed. "I once walked into Nate's dorm and he was sitting at the table filled with all kinds of cheese with Chase. The poor guy looked so distressed. It was the weirdest thing ever, I didn't even ask what it was about," Brad explained when I gave him a puzzled look.
"He actually tried loads of cheese for Jill? The guy's such a dork," I snorted.
"A very loyal dork," Brad agreed. "Anyway, I'm free tonight."
"Eh... good for you?" I replied.
"Okay, I admit that wasn't smooth. What I meant was, if you wanna go out for drinks tonight, we could go together. If you want. Don't feel pressured to say yes just because we work together. In fact, you probably want a little break from me after this week," he pondered out loud. I noticed the tip of his ears got a little red when he caught himself doing that insecure little monologue.
I couldn't help but smile at his socially inept way of asking me to hang out. It was a nice change from his confident people skills. "Sure, why not. You're gonna have to treat me to a drink though because I haven't received my pay check yet," I told him.
"Deal," he said with a content look on his face. His insecure demeanor had vanished as soon as it had appeared.
I was pretty relieved I was gonna go out instead of staying at home watching some stupid old movie my parents decided to watch. I was relieved until I realised I was gonna go and drink alcohol, which made me horny, and with my hot colleague I'd had hot sex with before, which also made me horny.
Cousinfucking shitstains! Maybe not shaving and wearing obnoxious underwear would make me insecure enough not to put out but let's face it, my inner dog wouldn't care about that at all. Suddenly my new tattoo seemed to be mocking me.
Haha screw you Gwen, screw you.