Evan had one rule for himself: don’t sleep with clients. It was a pretty straightforward rule, easy to follow, but this particular client was making it extremely difficult.
As soon as he walked through the door Evan knew he’d be trouble. Dark brown eyes with even darker hair, covered in tattoos and piercings (possibly more than Evan himself), and sporting a wicked grin that just screamed fuckboy.
Yeah he was Evan’s type.
He’d come in for a flash tattoo, choosing the small skull option they had and requesting it on his upper arm. Nothing difficult.
What was difficult was trying to keep a straight face while the man’s—Barty, he’d learned—warm skin was right there in front of Evan’s face and under his hands. Setting up was easy, Evan going through the movements with a precision that only comes from familiarity. He could feel Barty’s eyes on him as he worked, causing Evan’s heart to speed up. Get it together, Rosier.
“How long have you been doing this?” Barty asked curiously.
“Almost 4 years.” Evan replied, turning back to face Barty. He moved closer, flicking on the overhead light. “Lean back.”
Barty complied, leaning back against the chair and holding out his arm. Evan took a second to admire the array of tattoos covering his arm before cleaning the area for the new one.
“Here?” He asked and Barty nodded in response. After the stencil was done, Evan got to work on the tattoo. He worked quietly, only mildly distracted by the feeling of Barty’s skin under his and eyes watching him.
It didn’t take long—the tattoo was only small—and soon he was placing the second skin over top of the finished piece.
“Looks great!” Barty said, turning his arm to get a better view of the skull now resting on his upper arm.
“Fits in perfectly with the rest.” Evan commented. “Now I’m sure you know the healing process but I’ll go over it with you anyways.”
Barty nodded along with Evan’s words as he described how to properly care for and heal the new tattoo. His eyes lingered on Evan’s neck for what was certainly too long to be just admiring the tattoos visible above his collar. And he licked his lips as his eyes roamed over Evan’s piercings.
Evan suddenly felt too hot in the small room, the lights combined with Barty’s gaze making his heart race. He cleared his throat as Barty’s eyes flicked back to meet his own, watching as the dark haired man smirked slightly.
“Well as long as you feel alright, you’re free to go.” Evan said, turning away from him to take of his gloves and distract himself from the way his heart fluttered at the smirk.
“Actually I think I feel a bit dizzy.” Barty said. “Mind if I stay a little longer?”
“Oh, yeah that’s fine.” He grabbed a granola bar and tossed it to the other man. “Here.”
“Thanks.”
They fell into silence as Barty chewed on the granola bar and Evan started cleaning up. A small part of him wished this would never end, there was something comfortable about simply being near Barty.
“Your tattoos are pretty cool.” Barty began, tossing the empty wrapper in the garbage bin. “What’s the one near your neck?”
“This one?” Evan asked, gesturing to the flower partly visible above his shirt collar. It was the one Barty had been staring at before.
“Yeah. Looks like a rose.”
“It is.” Evan confirmed.
“Can I see the rest of it?”
Evan hesitated.
“I’m not asking you to take your shirt off.” Barty said in a light teasing tone. “Wouldn’t complain if you did though.”
“Oh?” Suddenly he was feeling a bit more bold, despite how unprofessional it was to flirt with a client.
Barty’s grin widened. “Considering it?”
“Maybe.”
Barty leaned closer. “You got any other clients today?”
“No.” He really hoped Barty couldn’t hear his heart beating.
A hand came up to brush across the rose tattoo, pushing his shirt collar to the side a bit before moving away to brush through his hair.
“This is a horrible idea.” Evan said, shivering when Barry’s fingers lightly brushed his ear.
“Are you saying you don’t want to?”
“I should.” Barty’s hand stilled in his hair. “I’m not though.”
Their lips crashed together before he could blink. Yeah, Evan was definitely breaking his rule.