“When should we do it?” I asked.
“How about right now?”
“Now? But—” I glanced over at the closed door. Hayden was still with his client.
“It takes two minutes. All you need is to strip from the waist down.”
I released a puff of air. Connor would have blown a gasket if I suggested a genital piercing. Hayden, on the other hand, would lose his mind in a good way.
“Let’s do it. But we don’t tell Hayden.”
“My lips are sealed.”
I waited while she set up the chair. The stirrups reminded me of a gynecologist’s office. I expected this would be an equally unpleasant experience, with a more pleasurable result. When everything was set up, I dropped my pants and underwear and took a seat in the chair. Even though she was my friend, it was no more uncomfortable to have Lisa peering at my girl parts than it was an obstetrician, likely because she made it seem like no big deal. She walked me through each step of the process.
“This will be the most uncomfortable part.” She held up the clamp. “Take a deep breath.”
I did as I was told. The stinging pinch muted the quick stab of pain when she pushed the needle through sensitive skin. She followed with the barbell. Once it was secured in place, she released the clamp and blood came rushing back.
“And we’re done. In about six weeks you can start changing it up, see what gauge of ball you like best.”
I closed my legs for the sake of modesty. “Good to know.”
Aside from the dull throb, it wasn’t that bad. I dressed while she cleaned up. I had just buttoned my jeans when the doorknob rattled.
“Tenley? Lisa? Are you in there?”
“Just a second!” Lisa called out.
She tossed her gloves in the garbage and I opened the door. Hayden stood on the other side.
“Are you done with your client already?” My pitch was too high.
“Yeah.” Hayden looked from me to Lisa. “What are you two up to? Why was the door locked?”
We both spoke at the same time.
“Lisa was checking to see how my industrial was healing—”
“Tenley wanted me to look at one of her nipple rings—”
Hayden crossed his arms over his chest. His tongue poked at his viper bites and his eyes narrowed into slits. “Which one was it?”
“Both. I wanted Lisa to have a look at both,” I replied quickly.
“Your nipples looked fine to me this morning.”
I mimicked his stance. “That wasn’t your area of focus, though, was it?”
“I think I would have noticed if there was a problem. I’m pretty fucking familiar with your nipples,” Hayden shot back.
“I’m going to check and see if Jamie or Chris needs me for anything.” Lisa tried to squeeze by, but Hayden blocked the door.
“Oh, no, you don’t. I want to know what the hell is going on. I smell bullshit.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, Hayden. Back off. Girl nipples are different from your tiny little man nipples. Ours take twice as long to heal, and with all the friction Tenley’s got this morning hers are a little tender. She wanted to make sure they weren’t at risk of infection. Now look at what you’ve done.” Lisa flailed her hands in my direction. “You’re embarrassing her. Thanks for being a jerk.” Lisa shoved his shoulder and stalked off.
Hayden turned back to me, chagrined. I was beet red. Not because I was embarrassed, but more because I couldn’t believe Lisa had managed to pull off the lie.
He ran his hand through his hair and then down over his pecs, where his metallic barbells were. His gaze lowered to my chest. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that at all. . . .”
“It’s okay. I asked Lisa to look because of our talk earlier.” I was pushing the lie now, and I felt bad about it. But this wasn’t like my other omissions. This wouldn’t cause any harm.
“Right. Of course.” He nodded like a bobblehead. “I’m done for the night. Do you want to come up to my place and hang out?”
I tried not to get too excited. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I doubted he meant hanging out in the way he used to, but I smiled, feeling suddenly shy. “I’d like that.”
On Sunday evening, Hayden asked me to come to dinner at Cassie’s. Everyone was going and he wanted me there.
Sarah and I had seen each other several times by that point. Her forgiveness came easily, which was a relief. She understood why I left better than anyone else, maybe because she’d been exposed to the nightmares that plagued me. Whatever the reason, her support was a blessing. While Lisa seemed to be another easy alliance, she would always have Hayden’s back over mine. Hayden pulled into the driveway, behind Sarah’s Tercel. I was glad she was here already.
As I gaped at the stately home, Hayden put his hand on the back of my neck. “You okay?”
“This house is beautiful.”
“Nate bought it a number of years back, when the market was slow. It needed a lot of work and he’s good with real estate. It’s how he managed to snap up Serendipity before they turned it into another condo or a high-rise. I bought Inked Armor off of him. It used to be a barbershop.”
“I thought he was a clinical psychiatrist.”
“He is. Real estate is his hobby.”
“Aren’t hobbies usually a little more relaxing?”
“I guess for him it is. We’re going to renovate a property together in the spring.”
“I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing.”
Hayden shrugged. “He asked me while you were gone. I thought it would a good way to pass the time.” Hayden cut the engine. “We should go in; they’re probably waiting for us.”
Dinner at Cassie’s was full of holiday talk. She enlisted me to make cupcakes. Last year I’d been in the hospital, pumped full of drugs, so it wasn’t a day I remembered. This year I’d be lucid enough to miss the family traditions. My ornaments, the ones my parents gave me every year, were in a box in my closet. I’d have to get a tree so they’d have a place to hang.
“You’re off tomorrow?” I asked Hayden as we drove back toward Inked Armor after dinner.
“Yeah. What’s up? You want to do something?”
“I’m supposed to go shopping with Sarah and Lisa in the afternoon, but I want to buy a tree, too. Christmas is barely a week away.”
“I’ll take you to get one in the morning. We can strap it to the top of the douche mobile.”
“We can take my car.”
“And risk ruining the paint job on the roof? Not a chance.”
Hayden hated Connor’s car and that it was still parked behind Serendipity. He made a passing comment about pretentious douches driving BMWs. Connor hadn’t been a douche, but he had had moments of pretension.
“Do you want to set it up at your place or mine?” I asked.
“Mine. Definitely mine,” Hayden said. “TK will love that shit.”
He drove past his building and rounded the corner leading to the lot behind Serendipity, which meant I wasn’t being invited up. Since the first night I’d returned, there had been no sleepovers. It was part of Hayden’s plan to keep us from making bad decisions. I would’ve preferred bad decision-making to sleeping alone, but we were together almost every evening after he finished work. It wasn’t enough, but it was better than nothing.
Hayden said a thorough good night which resulted in fogged-up windows and an inordinate level of sexual frustration on my part. I hoped his cautiousness waned by the time Christmas arrived. I headed upstairs to my apartment. Being without Hayden would have been easier if TK was waiting for me, but she was still at his place. Sarah wasn’t home either, so I was without a distraction for the rest of the night.