this is the last time

josie bryce. 21. college dropout. apprenticing to be a tattoo artist.

[josiebryce]

josie bryce → a moodboard

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Not really,” he said after a moment. “I like them on you.” It was an honest answer and he knew that she deserved that honesty. Her stories made him smile but the way she told them were the best part. She was so excited about it all. She had a different way of explaining things and he liked that about her. Landon joined her and then shrugged his shoulders. “Life is good. The kids are excited that we only have a week left of school. I will miss them. The first year was tough but it was a learning year. In one week I have the entire summer off to just do what I want. Kind of freeing. Boring, too.” He looked over at her. “How are you doing? What’s been going on?” He kept his eyes focused on hers. They were the prettiest color he had ever seen.

“Well,” she said, her hands on her knees. “I’m racking up hours on this whole apprenticeship thing. I did two huge back pieces over the weekend that were insane. Lots of detail, color, time...one of them had to be two sessions. He didn’t want to space the sessions out so we cranked them out over two days. It’s a giant like, stylized visual of the spine and shoulder blade...I have a picture of it in my portfolio. The other was a set of wings, but that’s less exciting.” Josie shrugged. “I don’t get summers off but I can always make time to hang out with you if you’re interested,” she offered, knowing full well that he was. “You just have to text me.”

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

Landon cocked his head to the side and then let out a chuckle of amusement. He supposed that his word choice was a bit higher level but he didn’t do it on purpose. Sometimes words just came to him. “My family thought that I should do something other than teach. They said teaching was an ungrateful job that I would come to regret. At first at least. But after I had been in school for a couple of years they got over it and used to the idea. I don’t regret it. Not yet at least,” he said, giving her a cheeky smile. “You’re family will come around to your chosen career.” He listened to her talk about her piercings and he honestly did not know how she could have done her own piercings. Just the thought of using one of those guns on himself or anyone else had him grimacing. But everyone was different, of course. He followed her out and grinned as she told her boss she was taking a break. “I just missed you,” he told her, a wry grin on his lips. “It was…like I said…a last minute decision. But I am happy I made it.”

Josie laughed when she saw Landon make a face. Piercings weren’t for everybody. “Not into needles and piercings? I get it. You’d be surprised how many people want to get piercings because of the way they look but then freak out over my piercing materials. I have one girl - she has like, double my piercings - who has to close her eyes and have the music turned up high so she can’t hear the piercing. Isn’t that bizarre?” she asked, shaking her head. “Like yeah, sometimes I can hear it but only if it’s facial. But this is for every piercing. I did dermals for her on her hips and she still swore she could hear the piercing. So weird.” She shrugged. “Whatever gets ya off, though.” She sat down on the outer sill of the window and patted the spot next to her. “So. What’s up? How’s life? The kids? Your...dog?”

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

He wished, at times, he was more artistic. Most of the teachers he worked with - being pre-kinder, kinder, and first grade teachers, were extremely artistic. Even if they couldn’t draw or paint, they could pull things together and make them look great. Landon’s mom had come up and helped him set up his room before the first day of school. It still needed more, though. His mom was incredible but she also had very simple tastes. “I don’t think that’s weird. It makes sense, actually. Skin is more malleable than a canvas or even paper.” He looked at the drawings and nodded his head as she explained who each one was. They were really good. “I’m sure they are very proud of you. I can’t help but think you’re amazing,” he said, his cheeks flushing less this time. Landon stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I was creative. I can imagine how I want things to be but they never translate well for me when I go to actually do them.”

“Did you get extra credit on the SAT for that word?” she asked, amused. Her own vocabulary wasn’t awful, but she definitely wouldn’t have used the word malleable. “They want me to be more than I am but they’re coming around. They all have smart people jobs and I doodle on people and puncture them with needles for a living. No shame in my game, but I’m not sure they dig it.” Josie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter though. I save tons of money on piercings because I can do some of them myself. I did almost all of my ear piercings,” she told him, pulling her hair back to show him. “And I did my own belly button. My friend did my tongue for me. I was too scared to do it myself. I did my lip, too, but I only wear that one sometimes.” She finished cleaning up and nodded towards the door, leading him back out. “I’m taking a 15. Save anything for me you can,” she told her boss, getting a curious grin and a nod in response. Josie led Landon back outside. “So. Did you need help with something, or did you just miss me?”

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

Landon nodded his head as he followed her. He would have to remember the food thing for a different time, though. He did wish he had some candy or something on him. He probably had a bag of chips in his car, honestly, but he didn’t think it would be a good idea to go back to the car and get it when he was following her to her station. The chair did make him slightly nervous but he sat down anyway because it wasn’t like he was going to get a tattoo against his will. He did look around and then got up to look closer. Landon was careful with his hands, afraid he would touch something he shouldn’t. It was humorous, almost, that a kindergarten teacher felt like one of the students he taught. “Your artwork is really great. I bet you’ll have a lot of people coming to you soon.”

Josie smiled. “Thanks. I’ve always been slightly ADD and the one thing I can sit down and focus on is art. I used to paint a lot but nowadays I find myself using watercolor pencils and ink. I like the way they look. I love charcoal, too.” She cleaned off her counter, capping the ink she’d used and putting it back neatly in its little display case. “I actually am kind of a weirdo because I love drawing partial portraits - eyes or lips or a profile - but I don’t want to tattoo them on people. It’s not easy to translate a good specific drawing from medium to skin. Backing up to where he was, she showed him a page in a different binder. “My family. A study of eyes. My mom and dad are at the top, then Hayden, my brother, in the middle, and Isaac underneath him. I’m at the very bottom. They never saw the resemblance until I showed them this page because they could clearly find themselves but they also noticed the finer details. Those are my favorite thing to capture.”

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

Maybe this was a bad idea. He looked around as he waited, noticing all the different designs, and sighed. He should’ve just called her, right? Or maybe sent her a quick text. Showing up to her place of work was stupid. The moment his eyes landed on hers a dopey smile appeared on his face. “No,” he replied. “I had this dumb idea of coming down and seeing you. I should’ve brought you something…like to eat or whatever.” Landon really needed to get better about thinking his plans through. “You’ve been on my mind all day,” he admitted, his cheeks flushing as he tried to look somewhere else. Finally he met her eyes again. “I don’t really have any specific reason for coming down here. Other than I wanted to see you. It wasn’t my most thought out plan, honestly. I was driving home, passed by here, slammed on my brakes, and decided I needed to come in and see you.”

“Ooh, yeah. Huge miss on the food thing. Sitting in here all day makes me want to snack.” She sauntered over to him, a smirk on her face. She liked that he was flustered and that he’d actually stopped in to see her even without really thinking it through. “You don’t have to have a reason to come see me. It’s not like I’m super booked right now. I did just do a tattoo but it was small and easy. If you wanna follow me, actually, you can watch me break down my station.” Josie led him into the sanitary zone of the parlor, offering him a seat in her chair. She had her own set up already, a room she could keep open or close off with a curtain if she had a piercing to do or if the person being tattooed wanted privacy. It already had tons of her artwork hung up in it and a few small binders full of her more ink-ready pieces. “You can look around if you want, just don’t touch anything that looks like it might touch someone else,” she offered with a grin. “Just in case sitting in that chair makes you nervous.”

[callme-landon]

The bell rang and Landon opened his door to wait for parents to pick up. Those who were bus riders or daycare kids had already left to wait for pick up in the gym. There were only a few left and once they were gone, Landon quickly picked up his stuff. It was only a little after three and they were not allowed to leave until four. Landon sat at his desk and began to go over his lessons for the next week. Time went by a lot quicker than he thought and before long it was a few after four. He shut his computer off, grabbed his phone, and headed out of the class. After getting into his truck, he started for home. Landon slammed on the brakes right after he passed the tattoo parlor Josie worked for. Sure, tattoos were not something he wanted, but on Josie he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by them. He liked her and he wanted to get to know her more. A honk came from behind and he begrudgingly started driving, turned, and did the block to park in front of the tattoo parlor. Landon walked in and asked if Josie happened to be there. 

[josiebryce]

Josie felt like she lived at the tattoo parlor sometimes. She spent so much time there, doing piercings - the qualifications for piercing were, like, so much easier than the qualifications for tattooing - and running around for the official artists. Sometimes she got to do actual pieces on people and thankfully, such was the case today. It was a typical college girl tattoo, an infinity sign with greek letters one end and her graduating year on the other, but that didn’t matter. Every tattoo she did brought her that much closer to actually being able to do large scale pieces on people who had genuine interest in body art. When her coworker called her over, Josie called back that she’d be over in a few minutes so that she didn’t have to resanitize anything. After her client was finished and had been told about care instructions, Josie happily took her money and tip and pocketed them before heading over to the lobby area. “Sup?” she asked, looking to her left and seeing Landon when she was pointed in that direction. “Oh, hey,” she greeted with a smile. “Gonna go ahead and guess that you’re not here for any body mods.”

[callme-landon]

here’s to 1st dates

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Okay, we can do that,” he said, a smile on his lips. As they walked towards the stand, the man looked over at her. “Honestly, I don’t know what cool things are for adults. Kindergarten teaching doesn’t leave me finding the coolest spots to go to for dates.” Honestly, Landon wasn’t big on dates in general. Girls tended to like his looks but they weren’t ready to be in a relationship the way he was, not that it was their fault in any way. He paid for the elephant ears and handed them to Josie. “Okay, I’ll win you some sort of stuffed animal or you’ll win me one, we will hit up the fun house and then…maybe we can just go walk on the beach if you want.”

“That’s alright,” she told him with a shrug, knocking her shoulder against his. “It’s for the best if you treat me like I have the mind of a kindergartner. That’s about my attention span.” Josie didn’t hide the fact that she was probably ADHD. Her parents hadn’t ever followed through with having her tested because diagnoses like that stay on your record forever. It was bad enough that she was asthmatic and couldn’t be part of any athletic teams because of it, but to add such an illness onto what she already had would be just wrong. Her parents weren’t awful by any means, but their standards didn’t allow for such a thing in their lives. “Is it illegal to be on the beach after dark? I’m still kinda new to Maine so I’m not sure...fill me in.”

[callme-landon]

here’s to 1st dates

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Okay, you’re right. But, in my offence, I basically have an iron stomach. When I was fourteen I rode so many rides after eating a whole pizza by myself and I felt fine. Of course…that was almost ten years ago but I’m pretty sure that I still can handle it.” Landon laughed as they drove. The fair wasn’t too far and soon he was pulling into a designated parking space. Landon got out and helped Josie out of his truck before locking it. He put on his band and took her hand in his as they walked to the front. “Look at that line. I’m glad we get to go on in.” They were checked and let in quickly. “Okay, what’s first?”

“Elephant ears,” she answered immediately, spotting a stand selling the treats. It was the first thing she caught in her gaze which had to mean something, probably. That or she just needed to control her sweet tooth better. “And then games?” Josie suggested, unsure of how much fun the carnival would be as adults. As a kid she had loved the fair, but she hadn’t been since she’d been out of middle school so it felt nostalgic but also a bit...not weird, but not normal. “Or the funhouse. Whatever the cool things to do are for adults.”

[callme-landon]

here’s to 1st dates

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

Landon couldn’t imagine a world where he would ever be scared off by Josie. She was really incredible and he found himself thinking about her all through the week. It was absurd, really, that she would have such a hold on him already. Yet he couldn’t help it. He didn’t mind, either. “No. I doubt you ever could scare me off.” Landon held his arm out to her and then proceeded to walk her to his truck. “So, I already bought us arm bands online so we wouldn’t have to wait in a huge line,” he told her after they were both in the truck. He started it up and handed her the wristband before putting the truck in drive and heading off. “I am expecting us to stuff ourselves with fried carnival food and ride every ride we can.”

Josie took his arm, amused at the modesty of the action, and got in his truck with him. She hadn’t known Landon for very long, but thus far in their relationship he had done a fantastic job of showing her that he was a sweet and seemingly pretty old fashioned kind of guy. As he drove toward the carnival, she put the band on her wrist securely so that it covered up the ponytail holder that was always on her arm. “In that order it might be a mistake. I don’t think anyone ever looks forward to a second date when the first date is spent puking over the railing of a pirate’s ship or gravitron.”

[callme-landon]

here’s to 1st dates

Landon wasn’t that nervous. Josie was really cool and he liked her a lot but he wasn’t nervous. Nope. Nada. The sweaty palms thing was a fluke, he was sure of it. Butterflies? Maybe it was bad pizza. He was parked outside her apartment complex in the visitor’s spot, and preparing himself to go up. It wasn’t that he needed preparing, not really, but it had been a long time since he had gone out on a date with someone he was interested in. Josie had potential and he hoped she felt the same way about him. Finally, he got out and made his way to her door. Landon knocked twice and stood back to wait for her to open it up - he was sure she would take his breath away.

[josiebryce]

Apparently, getting a second date was a huge thing. Josie lived with her boss and her boss’ boyfriend in a spacious three bedroom home that sometimes didn’t feel quite big enough. She loved her boss - the woman was a legend in their realm of being, someone who kept reinventing herself and kept getting better with age. As a woman in her early forties, she managed to maintain a tattoo shop and a bunch of young adults and keep her business running successfully and very profitably. Josie, however, could see beyond the amazing woman exterior and although she loved her, she was sick of being treated like someone who needed advice and approval from anyone without asking for it first. That was not who Josie was and she’d never be that way. Comfortably dressed in ripped jeans and a cute top that showed a sliver of stomach and just enough cleavage to draw the eye in, she answered the door when Landon knocked. “Hey,” she said with a smile. “Glad ya didn’t get scared off.”

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Oh, yeah? Well…it’s a godo name,” he said, a smile on his lips. “Yeah, her name is Bryce LeeAnne. I don’t know what my mom was thinking.” He laughed, letting her know that he was only teasing. “I hated high school, too,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not…as you know…super social. I was teased a lot. For really stupid reasons. They were never the same. It was like, they just needed a reason to tease me so they made shit up. I don’t know. College was much better for me.”

Landon nodded his head. “See, I have no roommate so it’s all up to me. And I’m terribly indecisive. My mom used to joke that I should’ve been born a Libra. I can be impulsive at times. I don’t know. You’re probably going to find me boring.” He chuckled and winked at her. Why? He didn’t know. Maybe nerves. He really did hope she didn’t find him boring. “I do follow my gut, though, and it’s always right. I don’t know why or how but it is. And right now it’s telling me that going to Denny’s with you is the best thing I could be doing.” He wrinkled his nose at her and opened the door to the restaurant to let her go in first.

Josie nodded to him in thanks as he held the door for her and then slid into a booth against the wall. There was a window that was bringing in a soft, subtle supply of moonlight to supplement the coarse restaurant lighting. It would be good drawing light if she’d had any inspiration. Portraits weren’t really her thing. She did okay at them, but she hadn’t ever worked too hard on drawing realistically detailed portraiture. Her style was more animated when it came to drawing people and faces and more realistic when it came to the inanimate.

When they were both seated and had ordered their drinks, Josie flipped her placemat over and pulled an ink pen out of her bag, starting to sketch out a tattoo idea she’d had a few days before. “So. Boring is how you choose to describe yourself? I don’t think that’s the approach most people would take to ensure that they got a second date,” she said with a wink, looking up at him only momentarily as she finished curving a line in the drawing. “Tell me what makes you so boring.”

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Good to know. I’ll stay far from being like them. Though I doubt I would ever want to tease you. I have a thing about wanting the girl I think is cool and pretty to want to be around me and I have a hunch that teasing you would do the opposite of that.” He smiled easily at her. “I am an older brother but I don’t tease my sister. Bryce is…she’s sixteen and I swear she’s the total opposite of me. You’d probably get along great with her. Not that…I’m not saying…ignore me.”

He missed her hand right away but he didn’t say anything or reach for it again. Maybe by the end of the night he would be able to. “Thank God. I love breakfast. I am a pretty good cook, if I say so myself, and I know breakfast isn’t really hard to make but I do know tons of different breakfast recipes. Maybe I’ll have to learn how to make that Denny’s plate you are talking about.” He winked and then shook his head at himself. “Tuesday is taco day for me. Pizza day is Friday and Chinese is usually Sunday. What about you? Do you have certain days or is it just when you feel like it?”

“Bryce?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “That’s my last name. And no offense taken. Tons of sixteen year olds have the same mindset I do. It’s probably the whole ‘potentially ADHD but also hugely unapologetic about not fitting in with societal norms’. Or it could be that I’m super immature and still loathe high school even though I’ve been out for years. Jury’s out on which one it is.” Josie shrugged. 

“Honestly I usually just pitch in and order a bunch of food from wherever my roommate is wanting. We get way too much and just take the rest to work and the whole shop will eat it. Routines are kinda boring to me a lot of the time so I just go with my gut.” Impulsivity was a major vice of Josie’s, but she wasn’t so inconvenienced by it that she wanted to go to the trouble of attempting to change herself. It tended to work out mostly in her favor, so she just let it happen more of the time. “Not to make myself unstable or anything. I just like to go where the moment takes me, ya know? Like right now, it’s taking me to Denny’s and that’s killer.”

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

Landon grinned but rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’m honestly not normally that cheesy but, maybe you’re right. Maybe it is the noble profession of teaching that has me saying really stupid stuff to a beautiful girl. In my defense it worked. You thought it was funny.” There was nothing to be offended by or worried over. She was only playfully teasing him. Landon knew that she meant nothing by it. “Well, the best news for such tragic news is a raging kegger so I suppose I am glad I got your diagnosis here, doctor.” The boy winked as his fingers slowly moved up and down her arm.

“Your brother sounds very cool, though. I should see if there’s a club. I will be inducted as the newest member.” He scrunched his nose up at her before using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. “Do you want to get out of here? I can walk you home or we can just walk or grab something…full disclosure I am hungry and regardless of your answer I’ll probably still wander into a Denny’s so you can come with me or not. I think come with me is the best plan, though. Unless you are anti-breakfast at one in the morning. If so, then you are uninvited.”

“My brother is an ass. They both are. I’m the baby by a few years so they like to tease me relentlessly about basically everything.” Josie rolled her eyes. “So don’t join any clubs that Hayden is in. He’ll only steer you in the wrong direction. Isaac too. Avoid being like him.” Her brothers were good people, but they had always made sure to take advantage of their status as older siblings and made her life harder than it had to be.

“I am never opposed to Denny’s,” she told him, faking offense at the implication. “C’mon,” she told him, standing and pulling him up with her before dropping a few of her cards just in case and weaving through the crowd to get out the front door. “They have this peanut butter cream pancake breakfast with eggs and hashbrowns and sausage...ugh, I die just thinking about it.” Josie licked her lips and released his hand once they had the freedom to span the entire sidewalk. “I’m really passionate about breakfast,” she told him unapologetically. “All day every day. Except taco day, pizza day, and chinese day. Then I’m only passionate about it for one meal.”

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

“Bistro idea sucks, huh?” he said, his nose scrunching up to show he was being playful. “But I like your idea. I’ve always wanted to try street food. Maybe there will be food trucks. They have some weird combinations that sound kind of amazing.” He put his hand over hers on his knee and laced their fingers together. “Friday it is. No extensive grading to do, in fact, I will not have anything to do.” It kind of sounded perfect - him and her on a ride or eating ridiculous food that sounded so gross but so good. Kind of perfect to him. 

“We have a date,” he said before winking at her. Maybe he was feeling more comfortable or maybe he was just being ridiculous but he liked whatever it was. “I feel like I need to let you in on a secret about me.” He paused for a moment. “I have an addiction. It’s to books. I’m addicted to books.” He smiled softly and then shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been called a dreamer on more that one occasion but I don’t think that it is a bad thing. I have an idea of what I’d like out of life. Just so you know, though.”

“Nah, it doesn’t suck. It’s just too romantic and stuffy for a first date. First dates are supposed to be fun. How much fun can you have at a little restaurant with crabby old ladies and pasta bloat bellies?” She winked and listened to him speak, excited to hear his secret and then audibly groaned once he exposed his “secret addiction” to her.

“Oh no,” Josie said with false disappointment. “You’re one of those.” She shook her head. “You’re a non dad dad joker. That’s a rare type of person but you definitely fit the bill.” She pretended to look him over, nodding after a moment. “Yup. You’ve got a chronic case of ‘adorably nerdy’ and a co-diagnosis of ‘incurably cute’. I don’t think there’s much that can be done for either illness. You’re doomed. It must be the profession. My oldest brother teaches high school math and he’s the same way.” She pasted on a falsely sad smile and shook her head again. “I’m sorry to give you such tragic news in the middle of a raging kegger, but it had to be done.”

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

He tried not to smile so big when Josie scooted closer to him. Honestly, he was really bad with meeting girls and hoping things progressed. It was such a talent that he did not have. In fact, he hated the process so much that he usually avoided it unless there was someone he couldn’t get out of his head. Sure, it had not been long since they had met but he didn’t care. She was kind of great and he wanted to see what would happen between them. “Yet, little girls get their ears pierced all the time and don’t make that big of a fuss. I’ve seen how strong little girls are just from the few days of having kindergartners.”

Landon licked his lips as he watched the crowd and then turned back to her. “I might have to come in when my friend gets his tattoo. I’d get to see you and see his reaction.” His grin was playful and he was starting to feel more at ease with Josie by his side. She was easy to talk to and he wasn’t alone in a place where he knew no one. “So, if I was to suggest a date one day…hypothetically, of course…” he started, though they both knew he was not speaking hypothetically. “Do you like Italian food? Would you prefer somewhere low-key or something more fun? I was kind of thinking we could go to a little bistro and then hit up the boardwalk. You know, when I ask you one day.”

Josie didn't fight the last this time. "I've never been one to exist within hypotheticals." She put her hand lightly on his knee as she looked at him, ignoring the pumping music and loud voices feeling the room around them. It was almost like having a movie moment, she thought, except he wasn't glowing or dulling anything she'd been feeling. He was just completely stealing her attention away from everyone and everything else. Strange as it was, it was not unwelcome. Networking could wait. Landon was her priority for the moment.

"So let's skip them. Friday night. You don't have any term papers to grade or anything, do you?" she teased, knowing that kindergarten grading was probably fairly easy in comparison to actually being in the classroom and planning out their lessons. "No bistro, but yes to the boardwalk. I'm thinking we can totally fill up on street vendor food, go see what's new in the artist alley, and then go to that little pub and have a beer. Maybe we'll find more trouble to get into after that but I think it's a solid plan so far." She grinned. "Whatcha think? Do we have a date?"

[callme-landon]

Hey There, Delilah

[josiebryce]

callme-landon:

He faltered slightly when he heard her tone. He thought she would want to go back to the party but it seemed almost as if she didn’t want to. He was going to protest and tell her that they could stay out there by themselves all night for all he cared but she was already holding his hand and pulling him back with her. It was easy for Landon to allow her to pull him - his focus was on the way her hand fit so perfectly with his and how he felt due to that touch. The moment she let go of his hand he finally took a breath. He wanted to touch her again.

They were so close on that couch and he could feel the need to put a hand on her leg or drape his arm around the back of her. But he refrained for now. The man laughed as she pointed out the not so tough guy and he could only imagine. “Why does it seem the bigger they are the harder they fall? I feel like we were all taught this at some point - you know, the bully is actually weak, but it is good to see that play out as an adult.” After a moment he allowed himself to drape his arm around his arm around the back of the couch; fingers lightly touching her shoulder. 

Josie had been watching Landon. She liked to think that she was pretty intuitive when it came to reading people and Landon was easy to read. He was nervous, sweet, maybe more out of his element than he cared to admit. They were all fine traits in someone she’d just met. A lot of the that approached her were bold and brash and tried too hard to seem like they could live up to what they expected her type to be, but in doing so they only further proved that they weren’t her type. She liked a man who could be honest and admit that he wasn’t entirely comfortable. Landon was proving to be that kind of person.

When he put his arm around her, as nonchalant as he’d tried to be, she couldn’t fight the amused smile that took over her expression. Not wanting to make him feel like his advance was unwelcome, she scooted closer to him so that their thighs were touching. He was too sweet to try and play hard to get with and that really only made things easier for her. Hard to get could be an exhausting, frustrating game. Rolling the bottom of her tongue ring over her bottom lip, Josie leaned in to Landon again. “You should see how people act when they come to get piercings. That’s almost as funny as the tattoos. I’ve seen people burst into tears over something as easy as a cartilage piercing and I want to tell them that the worst isn’t even over yet but I try to save that piece of advice for after I’ve been paid,” she joked.