I grabbed a chair and sat down.
I was just inches from her left breast.
I kept my eyes on hers and she looked at me.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Can I squeeze your hand?" she asked.
"Of course."
I gave Ana my hand and she quickly squeezed it.
"I'm nervous," Ana said.
"Don't be. It's a quick pinch. You'll barely feel it."
"You're lying to me," Ana said.
"Okay, let's get ready," Prick said.
I moved my eyes for a second and saw Prick touch Ana's bare breast. He was wearing rubber gloves, but still, he was touching her. I had no idea why the whole thing suddenly got to me the way it did. Maybe because I hadn't enjoyed myself in a while, not since what happened with Lacey up at the cabin.
It still made no sense to me.
"River," Ana said. "Look at me."
I looked at her.
Her eyes were really pretty.
She bit her bottom lip.
I reached for her face, not even realizing what I was doing until my hand cradled her cheek. My thumb slid down to her mouth and she slowly parted her lips. Her teeth touched my thumb as Prick rammed the needle through her breast.
She gasped, shut her eyes, and bit my finger.
"It's okay," I whispered. "It's all okay."
I had no fucking clue who I was actually talking to.
When Ana opened her eyes, she blinked fast, a stray tear escaping.
"That's it," Prick said. "You did it."
I started to move my hand but Ana turned her head and nibbled at my thumb again. Then the tip of her tongue flirted with the tip of my thumb. Flicking up and down, up and down.
She was eye fucking me and tongue fucking my thumb.
"Good job," Prick said.
I took my hand away and backed up, keeping distance from Ana. I couldn't stand up right at that exact second. I needed to let my body cool down a little.
She looked down at her newly pierced nipple and smiled.
"I love it," she said.
"Good," Prick said. "How about the other?"
"Not yet," she said. Ana looked at me. "What do you think, River? Do you like it?"
I turned and stood up. "I have to get back to work. Let me know if you need anything else, Prick."
"Thanks, brother," he said with a sly grin.
He had known what he was fucking doing to me. Trying to get me revved up so I'd shake the Lacey shit. I didn't talk about my past all that much but everyone at the shop knew something had gone down between me and an old flame. We were all like brothers but I swore sometimes they all could gossip like a bunch of high school girls.
As I shut the door, I heard Ana ask, "So why do they call you Prick?"
I shut the door, laughing to myself.
Why was he called Prick? Because he was the piercing guy at the shop and because he was, indeed, a fucking prick.
But he meant well.
I went back to my room and sat down, looking at what I had to work on for the rest of the day. I opened the drawer to the right and took out a picture that was folded up.
Unfolding it, I looked at the old picture of me and Lacey. She was beautiful then and even more beautiful now. If the ring really had spooked her, then that was on me. Now I just needed to fucking find her and explain everything. The last ten years were my story to share with her. No ink. No music to drown out the pain. Just an honest heart, bleeding for her. That was the scariest thing I could ever imagine.
The crease from the picture being folded was right down the middle, right between us.
How fucking fitting.
There was a knock at the door.
"It's open," I called out as I kept my head down, sketching away.
The door opened and I figured it was Danny taking a lunch order. Truth of it was that I was more ready for a beer than some food. Drinking on an empty stomach helped to chase away Lacey's memory.
"Um, River?" a woman's voice asked.
I spun around in a hurry.
Lacey?
No.
It was Ana.
The woman whose nipple I helped pierce with Prick.
"Ana," I said. "You get lost leaving?"
"No," she said. She shut the door behind her.
"You want to get some ink done?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She shook her head.
She locked the door.
"You never answered my question."
"What question is that?"
"Whether it looks good or not."
Before I could utter another word, she lifted her shirt and bra. It was the second time seeing her breasts, but this time the intentions were polar opposite of the first.
She had beautiful breasts. They were full, her nipples symmetrically round, perfect for piercing. Her left nipple a darker red, still irritated from the bar that had been forced through it.