by S. M. Shade
Denton’s jaw drops at the sound of Trey’s voice and he starts to uncover his eyes, then thinks better of it and mumbles, “Nope, not happening. None of this is happening.”
“Dude, you should wax. Nobody likes hairy balls.”
“Get the fuck out of here!” Laughing, Trey takes a few steps toward the door.
“I don’t think he has the pain tolerance necessary to wax. Thanks for the tick thingy,” I chuckle.
“I’m glad you two find this so funny,” he says, petulantly.
“Yeah, he’s a wuss when it comes to pain. Did you see the tattoo?” Trey adds from the doorway.
“Trey, I swear…”
Laughing, Trey leaves and pulls the door shut behind him.
“Okay, let’s try again.”
The tick remover works beautifully. I slide it on, give it a tiny twist and pull, and the tick comes out in one piece, leaving a tiny drop of blood behind. “Got it!” I exclaim, and Denton breathes a sigh of relief, sitting up. “Hand me a tissue.”
I deposit the tiny little bastard onto the tissue and show Denton.
“It sure felt a lot bigger.”
“Did it?”
“Yeah, like I had a lobster clamped on there.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time you had a crustacean infestation!” Trey calls from just outside the door.
“Quit eavesdropping, you pervert!” Denton yells. Trey’s laughter isn’t the only one I hear. Something tells me Jani and Noble got an earful too. Before Trey can reply, Denton shrieks and jumps off the bed. “What the fuck?”
Cupping his balls, he glares down at me and the bottle of antiseptic in my hand. Yeah, I figured that’d burn like hell. Better to get it over with than warn him. “It could’ve gotten infected.”
He darts to the bathroom and the sound of running water trickles out the door.
“What the hell are you doing to him?” Jani calls.
Leaving him to rinse off his burning balls, I step out into the hall. “Antiseptic.” Trey and Noble both blanch when I shake the bottle.
“On injured balls? Ouch. I don’t even want to think about it,” Noble says, as everyone returns to the living room.
“Guys are such babies,” Jani says.
“Like you’d be any better.”
Flopping onto the couch, she rolls her eyes. “Women tear themselves open having a baby, get sewn back together, and then do it again. No guy could ever bear it.”
Trey and Noble glance at each other. “Yeah, you win.”
While Denton gets ready for the day, I whip up his favorite breakfast. French toast and bacon. It’s the least I can do after the morning he’s had. He appears a few minutes later and wraps his arms around my waist from behind as I prepare our plates at the counter.
“Mmm, that looks good. You should just quit your job and cook for me full time, with plenty of blow job breaks, of course.”
I tilt my head up, and he plants a kiss on my lips. “I don’t know. You might be too traumatized to perform now.”
He squeezes my ass. “Never.”
He takes the plate I hand him, and we move to sit at the table. “I have a client at ten o’clock, and my last isn’t until eight tonight, so I’ll be home late. What are you doing today?”
“I have to stop in the university bookstore, then I have a meeting with my academic advisor. My shift at the car wash starts at noon so I’ll be cutting it close.”
“No rest for the wicked.” I dip a bite of French toast in syrup and scarf it down. I don’t know if I’m extra hungry after all our activities this morning or what, but it tastes really good.
“Do you want a ride to work?”
Not having a car sucks, and I’m probably looking at another two months or so before I can get the money together for a down payment on one. I probably could scrape it together, but with all the drastic changes I’ve made and the added financial responsibilities, I’m terrified of getting in over my head. Besides, it’s late summer. The weather won’t make riding my bike a challenge.
“Thanks, but I’m going to ride my bike.”
It really isn’t a chore to ride to work on days like this. After kissing Denton goodbye, I sling my bag over my shoulder, and take off. The warm wind blows across my skin, and I soak in the feel of the sunlight on my face.
A few neighbors wave at me as I pass, and I return the gesture. It’s funny how fast I not only adapted to living here but grew to actually enjoy it. And not just because of Denton. Everyone I’ve met has been kind and friendly. A bit strange maybe, but I don’t have any problem with strange. Normal people are boring, anyway. If things continue like this, I’d have no issue with living here another year or two while I get settled at my business and save some money.
Sasha looks up from the lady’s bicep she’s currently inking and raises an eyebrow at me. “A guy named Elijah called. He said you told him to stop by, that we may be hiring. Are you looking for help?”
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and flip through my appointment book at the desk. “I’m considering it. I figure we have enough space to add another artist, and his work is phenomenal. He has a unique style and does pastels really well.”
Working with light or pastel colors is something Sasha and I both despise. It’s harder to get a smooth fill in when the blood seeps through the pigment. It makes it difficult to see how well the ink is laying into the skin, and even when you do get it nice and smooth, pastels seem to fade fast and need far more touch up and refreshing work.
“Plus, we’ve been getting more walk-ins than we can handle lately, and I hate having to turn people away or schedule them a month away.”
Nodding, she wipes the lady’s bicep and gives her the aftercare sheet. It has occurred to me that Sasha might not like the idea since it’s always been the two of us here, and I’ve learned most of whether you enjoy a job or not is based on your coworkers. Difficult people make for a stressful day.
After her customer leaves, I bring the subject up again. “You won’t have to change your hours or anything. Our art styles don’t cross over so I can’t imagine we’d lose many clients to him.” And I could really use the percent of his earnings to keep the bills in check, but I’m not saying that since that’s my responsibility, not hers.
Grinning, she flops into the padded chair and opens a soft drink. “I’m not worried about it. It’s kind of amazing, huh? We were worried about how slow business was, then we thought we might lose the place altogether, now we can’t keep up with the demand. How fast things change.”
“It’s a good problem to have,” I agree, as the chime on the door rings, alerting me that my ten o’clock is here. It is weird how things work out sometimes. I mean, I’m aware my decisions have led me here, but if I hadn’t met Denton, things would be far different. He helped me take a long hard look at my goals and what I really wanted out of life, then used his talent with advertising to help me achieve it.
I’m not used to people going out of their way to help when there’s no benefit for them. I really need to think of something nice to do for him. Something to show him how much I appreciate everything.
The rest of the morning passes quickly, and I’m just finishing up work on a man’s shoulder when Elijah enters the shop. “Hi, I’m almost done here. Be with you in a minute,” I call out.
“No hurry.” He wanders around, studying the art on the walls. I’m a little amused to find that while he’s the one here hoping for a job, I’m also nervous. This is the first time I’ve ever interviewed anyone. The decision I make could help or hurt my business and I’m terrified to screw things up when they’re going so well. It has to be done though.
Elijah leans over the desk where Sasha sits, and they chat while he waits on me. Her eyes dart to me for a second, and I know that look. Yeah, the guy is hot, but that’s not why I chose him. We probably need some kind of no sleeping with a coworker policy, but the thought makes me laugh. No way to enforce that one. If there’s one thing I’ve le
arned it’s that people will go to any lengths to be with someone they feel a connection to, no matter what situation it might throw them into. Like dating a roommate.
Elijah beams at me when I approach them. “Hi Becca. You didn’t tell me you’re the owner.”
“We only spoke for a couple of minutes,” I remind him.
“True. You have a great shop.” The door chime rings, and Sasha gets to her feet. “And a pretty busy one.”
“Walk-in,” Sasha says. “I’ll take it.”
Elijah follows me as I give him a tour of the shop. I explain our hours and what I’m looking for. “There’s no chair or equipment rent. I know some shops do that. Just the basic percentage we discussed earlier. We take turns on the walk-ins depending on our schedules and whether what they want suits one of our styles better.”
“That sounds fair.”
The interview doesn’t turn out to be difficult at all. Elijah is friendly and easy to talk to. We end up agreeing on a ninety-day test period where he’ll work with us and see whether it’s a good fit. Like me, he’d rather not get up early—seems to be a trait among artists—and he’s happy to take the swing shift.
Sasha grins at me from where she sits, outlining a daisy on a young girl’s wrist. “Well?”
“He’ll start tomorrow.”
The young woman smiles and glances at me. “Are you looking for someone to clean? Because I’d do windows and scrub floors all day for that kind of view.”
Laughing, I sit down at the desk. “Adding his face to our advertisements sure won’t hurt business.”
It’s late when I get home, and the first thing I hear when I walk in is Trey warning Denton. “Revenge is a bitch. Just remember that. And don’t think I’ve forgotten you still owe a bro code penalty.”
What is going on now?
Jani and Noble sit together on the couch wearing identical grins. Slinging my bag to the floor, I flop beside Jani. “What did I miss?”
Jani bends forward and scoops up a few Tasty Taco name tags from the coffee table and dumps them in my lap. “Denton had a little fun with Trey’s name tags, and he’s worn them for like a month without noticing.”
“Dude, I forgot all about it. Kenny and I came up with them one night when we were high and playing with the label maker.” Denton might be a bit more believable if he could stop chuckling.
“Why do you need multiple name tags?” I ask, picking one up.
“Because I always lose them. I had a bunch made so I can always find one. I didn’t know I had to guard them!” Trey fumes.
Oh my god. No wonder he’s mad. “Holden Madick?” I snort, and Trey snatches it out of my hands.
“It’s not funny!”
He glares at me as I hold up the next one. “It’s not as funny as Barry McCockiner.” My chest aches from trying not to laugh as I read the last one. “But Drew Peacock has to be the winner.”
“Didn’t anyone at work notice?” Jani asks.
“Of course they did! They’re all assholes too!” Trey sits in the recliner and mumbles. “I thought that new girl was checking me out because she smiled and laughed every time she saw me.”
“It could be worse,” Jani says.
“How? How could it be worse?”
“Uh, it could say Mike Oxsoft?”
“No, dude, I’ve got it!” Denton shouts as Trey stalks away. “Maya Norma Stitz!”
“He’s going to get you for that,” I caution Denton, as he sits beside me and pulls me into his lap.
“Nah, I’m way too observant. Nothing gets past my eagle eyes.”
It’s not twenty-four hours before he’s eating those words and I have to dine with him. We don’t see Trey again before we go to bed and both of us crash pretty hard after a long day. The sunlight wakes me too early since we forgot to close the curtains, and I sling my legs over the side of the bed, planning to close them and go back to sleep.
What the hell?
My heel hits something plastic and wet. Scrubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I try to understand what I’m seeing.
The entire floor is covered with plastic red cups, usually reserved for beer pong. They’re placed sides touching over every inch of space, and worse, they’re half filled with water.
“Uh, Dent.” I shake him, and he opens his eyes. Damn, I wonder if mine are that bloodshot?
“What’s wrong?”
“Look at the floor.”
Sitting up, he takes in the room and laughs. “Ha! It’s unique, I’ll give him that. But we can just pick them up.” He lies back down and starts to roll over.
“They’re half full of water. If you have a suggestion how to get to the bathroom or out of the room without flooding the floor, I’m all ears.”
“Shit. Seriously?”
I’m glad I slept in shorts and a tee because Denton is stuck in only a pair of boxer briefs until we figure this out. “I can’t believe we slept through it.”
“This is war, Trey!” Denton yells and laughter filters in from the living room.
“Everybody decent?” Trey asks, slowly opening the door.
“I am. Dent’s in his underwear,” I laugh.
Denton shakes his head at me. “Are you enjoying this?”
Shrugging, I scoot to the edge of the bed. “I’m a little impressed at the originality.”
Noble joins Trey in the doorway and cracks up at the sight. He then calls to Jani so she can see.
“How are you going to get out of there without wetting the floor?”
Denton grins. “Godzilla through them, then mop.”
“That’s a lot more water than you realize,” I caution. “We should just try to make a path to the door or bathroom so we can dump the water.”
Denton glances around the room then scoots on his knees to the very edge of the bed, stretching out to reach the nearest window. “If you fall, I’m going to laugh,” I warn.
He manages to get the window up and shove the screen out. “I’ll fix that later,” he mumbles. “Now, we can throw the water out of the window and collect the cups as we go.”
It’s not a bad idea. I reach down beside the bed and pick up a cup, then toss the water toward the window. Most of it makes it out. Denton does the same. We start slowly clearing a path, one cup of water at a time.
“The hell!” someone shouts, and I look up to see one of the maintenance men standing outside the window, dripping wet.
“Sorry man!” Denton calls, sounding about as far from sorry as possible.
“I was going to fix your screen…” the maintenance guy says.
“Uh, yeah, I’ll get it in a minute, but thanks.”
“I don’t get paid enough for this shit,” he grumbles, walking away.
It takes us about ten minutes, but we manage to make a path to the door. We’ll grab some buckets to use to dump the others once we’re free.
Denton grins at me and grabs a cup in front of the door. “See, not a drop spilled. You’re not as smart as you think,” he gloats, flipping Trey off. When he snatches up the cup, raising it like it’s a trophy, the one next to it comes with, as does the next, and the next. Water splashes everywhere as the cups fall domino style.
All three of them lose their minds laughing, while Jani records the moment on her phone.
The cups blocking the door are clear taped together, and also taped to at least twenty more that we had no reason to pick up yet.
Sighing, Denton looks at Trey’s smug smile. “Fine, truce.”
Nodding, Trey struts away.
Chapter Twelve
Denton
My back aches. The last few days I’ve pulled double shifts at the car wash just to bring in a little extra money before I have to cut back my hours. I only have one class this semester, but more of a workload than ever. I’m preparing for the presentation and final interview with Paducah Advertising, working on my related thesis, and searching out other internship possibilities in case I don’t get this one. The competition is brutal and onl
y an idiot would be confident enough not to have a back up plan.
I may be busier than a dog with two dicks, but I can’t remember a time I’ve been happier. I wake up beside Becca every morning, and fall asleep beside her every night, usually after some scalding hot sex. God, the way she reacts when she’s turned on never seems to leave my thoughts. Walking around half hard all day is an unfortunate side effect, but I’m not complaining. It’s not just her body haunting my mind though, which is why I decide to talk to Noble. It hasn’t been long since he was in my predicament with Jani, and he almost blew it. The three words I’m dying to tell Becca could scare her away, and I need an outside perspective to tell me whether saying them would be a massive mistake.
Noble meets me at the gym where I haven’t been spending nearly enough time. “Hey, man. Good news. The housing office called, and our apartment is habitable again.” We sprawl out on a section of mats to stretch. “Thanks for letting us ride it out at your place.”
“Anytime.”
“Are you going to look for another roommate?”
Shrugging, I lie back and bring a knee to my chest, wincing at the tightness of my muscles. Yeah, definitely need to make the gym a priority if we’re going to keep fucking like rabbits on meth. “I don’t know. We’re handling it pretty good with the three of us.”
“And you never know who you’re going to get,” Noble says.
“Exactly.”
Silence takes over for a few minutes before I ask. “How long did you wait to tell Jani you loved her?”
“Whoa.” Noble sits up and his stare instantly makes me wish I hadn’t asked. “Are you in love with Becca?”
“Can’t you just answer the damn question?” I choose a stretching exercise that lets me face away from him.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he chuckles. “It was a couple of months after we starting seeing each other. I don’t know exactly. It’s not like I planned it.”
All pretense of working out is dropped as I look him in the eye. “Did you worry that it was too early? That you were rushing things?”