Lacey smiled, her bad mood behind her. “Well, I guess you’re just going to have to start dating him.”
“I don’t think he even notices me as a woman. He seems to recognize me as a customer, but that’s about it.”
Tina set her Diet Coke down. “You can change that.”
“Oh, don’t expect me to go in there acting all slutty. Not gonna happen.”
“No.” She leaned over the table. “I didn’t say you had to be outrageous and force his attention.” She took a deep breath. “Does he have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t know.”
Lacey said, “You don’t know? You’re lusting after this guy and, for all you know, he might have a wife and two kids at home.”
“I don’t think so.”
Tina gave Lacey a look and then moved her eyes back to Kory. “There’s one way to find out.” Kory raised her eyebrows. “You ask him out on a date.”
“Uh…no.”
“Why not? Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, but not that crazy.”
Tina put her hands on the table. “Kory McCallister. Seriously? You’ve been carrying a torch for this guy for what—a year or longer?—and you’re not willing to ask him out for a drink or something?”
“A drink? Are you kidding? I’m not old enough yet.”
“Oh, shit. I forget that. Sorry, Kory.”
Kory hadn’t. Tina had turned twenty-one in March and Lacey in January. Kory had to wait until August. It wasn’t too big a deal, because the three girls drank at private parties anyway, but her friends had started venturing into the bar scene once in a while, and Kory had tried twice but, having been carded both times and rejected because of her age, decided to wait until she was legal and wouldn’t have to sneak around. She just frowned and ate another fry, wishing they would change the subject.
Tina wasn’t going to drop it, though. “Why not pizza, then? Or a concert or something?” Kory shrugged. “What are his interests?”
“I don’t know.”
“So a date would be your way to find out. Just…just do it, girl. I know you want to. And what have you got to lose?”
Kory took a deep breath, ready to resist, but she heard Lacey’s next words, and they struck hard. “Or are you dying to be pierced from head to toe?”
“All right. I’ll do it.”
Tina smiled. “Yeah?”
Kory nodded. “Yeah. I just have to work up the nerve.”
“Fuck that. Don’t think about it. I’ll go with you. I got your back, girl.”
Well…Kory didn’t know that she wanted the in-person support, but she appreciated the sentiment. If Stone turned her down, she’d need a drinking buddy—and Tina could buy the beer for it. But she had to ask first.
Chapter Three
KORY SUCKED DOWN a long, slow gulp of air. She’d been planning this for days, picturing it in her mind. Yes, she had even imagined every possible scenario—Stone saying yes, Stone saying no, Stone laughing at her, Stone looking flattered but ultimately rebuffing her. She’d envisioned him giving her excuses and reasons why he wouldn’t. She was ready for anything and felt like she could handle the rejection that she was convinced was coming.
Surely, he had a girlfriend or he had a type that Kory wouldn’t fit. She just knew it.
That was okay, though, because she was ready for anything. And she’d never been a crier, so it wasn’t like she’d make an ass of herself when he turned her down.
Tina had the night off from work, so she drove Kory over to The Iron Maiden. Lacey had finally offered her love and support and hugged Kory before heading to her night class. Tina cranked some Gemini Syndrome in her car and drove like a maniac over to the downtown area where Stone’s shop was. It was Wednesday night, one week later, and Kory knew he worked Wednesday nights. She came near the end of the day as well, because if they’d come any earlier, she knew he would have been immersed in an involved tattoo project. She could wait but she knew that would seem…well, she needed to call a spade a spade. It would seem stalkerish.
She took another deep breath and looked down at her clothing. Lacey had tried to convince her to wear a dress or something frilly…something clearly not Kory. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look nice or desirable to Stone, but she didn’t want to look like someone she wasn’t. If by some weird twist of fate he said yes, she wanted him saying it to her, Kory, not same fake version of herself.
So no dress. No frills. No curly hair (another Lacey idea). She was going to wear jeans, a Five Finger Death Punch t-shirt, and her suede black boots. Nothing fancy. Totally metal. Completely bad ass.