“Maybe you need to find a middle ground, so this thing with Tenley isn’t all or nothing. She obviously wants to be with you, like you want to be with her. All I’m suggesting is this time you might want to slow down and get all the important stuff out of the way first.”

Lisa had a valid point. I wasn’t good at taking things slow and Tenley was no exception. I’d practically lived in her apartment as soon as I got into her pants. But it wasn’t just about the sex back then, and it wasn’t now. It made the whole issue difficult to navigate. I wanted her, and I wanted to be with her; separating the two needs was a challenge. They were entwined; one begot the other. But then, I’d never felt about anyone else the way I felt about Tenley.

“Have you been talking to Nate?”

Lisa’s nose crinkled. “What? Why?”

“Because you sound like him with your life metaphors and therapizing.”

“‘Therapizing’?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a word. If not, I’m petitioning to have it added to Webster’s.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, then grew serious once more. “Therapy wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for you.”

“I already know what’s wrong with me.”

She gave me a look. “Just think about what I said. I’m on your side. Tenley was good for you before she left. I hope she still is. I would hate to see it all fall apart again because you’re still protecting each other from your pasts. Relationships are no easy thing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of crap.”

Lisa left me standing there, somewhat stupefied. She and Jamie didn’t fight, not that I ever saw. Occasionally Lisa was snippy or Jamie was in one of his moods, but they were always respectful of one another and affectionate to the point of making those around them gag. I often teased Jamie for being pussy whipped and he didn’t deny it. It never occurred to me that they had issues—but then, I guess I wouldn’t have that insight, considering how guarded I was. No one had ever gotten close enough for me to contend with real problems. Not until Tenley. So far, I seemed to be sucking at it.

I was still a little dazed when I came out of the room to greet Amy. Since Chris didn’t have a client, they were chatting it up. Amy had her hand on his forearm, her head thrown back in laughter.

“Hey, gorgeous!” she exclaimed when she saw me.

“How’s it going?” I accepted the brief hug.

“Awesome! I’m superpsyched.” She tilted her head to the side. “You look different.”

“I haven’t had a haircut in a while.” I scratched the side of my head. My hair was getting long and I’d been in too much of funk to ask Lisa to take care of it.

“No, I noticed that last week. I meant to tell you that you look almost civilized with all that hair. But don’t worry, the piercings keep you badass.”

“That’s a relief. I wouldn’t want to go mainstream or anything.”

“How tragic would that be? Still, there’s something . . . I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I figure it out.” She looked me over in a clinical, assessing way, which wasn’t unusual for her since she worked as an EMT. When she couldn’t come up with anything, she dropped it and clapped her hands together. “Should we get started?”

I smiled. “Let’s do it.”

Like Lisa and Tenley, she was feisty, but less subdued. In two-hour blocks, Amy was an awesome dose of energy. I always finished a session with her wanting to run a marathon or something.

I led her to the private room and gave her specific directions on what clothing she needed to remove. Because the tattoo spanned from ribs to thigh, she’d have to lose everything from the waist down. We could work around her shirt, but she couldn’t wear her bra. We had smocks to cover the important parts, but I’d still be looking at most of her ass the entire time. It was unavoidable.

I left the room to let her undress and checked my phone for messages from Tenley. There weren’t any, so like the sucker I was, I sent her one. Her reply came immediately. She was at the pet store and wanted to buy TK something new to play with. I suggested kitty weed. She questioned my parenting skills. I considered briefly what it would be like to have a real kid and abruptly shut down that train of thought. No way would I ever want that responsibility, or the mess or worry that came along with it. TK was more than enough.

Amy poked her head out into the hall. “I’m all set.”

“Cool.” I pocketed my phone and we got down to business.

As expected, Amy needed frequent breaks. Even with a stress ball, the area over her ribs was extrasensitive. Where Tenley was slender but curvy, Amy was rail thin. She was a runner, so there wasn’t much body fat as cushioning. She held her own, but she was ready to call it quits after two hours. In that time I managed to complete the outline, so we’d be ready for color next time she came in.

After the ink was dressed, she changed back into her clothes and met me in the main studio. Lisa wanted to see Amy’s new body art. Neither one thought to head to one of the empty rooms in the back for privacy. Instead, Amy, who wasn’t shy, lifted her shirt to display the tattoo traveling from beneath her nonexistent breasts to her nearly curveless hips. Lisa got right in there and checked it out, while two frat boys gawked at them from chairs across the room. They were waiting for Lisa to hook them up with some new piercings. At least, that’s what they’d told her. I was putting money on one of them chickening out, since their proposed piercings were of the below-the-belt variety.

As Lisa and Amy nattered away about the color scheme for the design, the bell above the door tinkled and Tenley walked into the shop. Her face was flushed from the cold. The collar of her black winter coat was flipped up to shield her face. She wore a hot-pink hat with a black skull and crossbones on it. The skull had a bow on the top of its head. She looked cute. Her eyes met mine as she removed the hat and shook out her hair.

Tenley’s smile dropped and her expression went flat as Amy’s arms came around me in a sideways hug. “I’m a devout client. I will never let anyone work on me but you.”

Chris coughed from his station.

“If I was into tribal, I’d defect, darling, and you know it,” Amy called out.

Chris raised a hand in acknowledgment and went back to filling in black lines on an intricate Celtic design.

“There’s someone I want to introduce you to,” I said, and extended a hand to Tenley. I waited until she was right in front of me. “Tenley, this is Amy. Amy, this is Tenley.”

“Hi!” Amy shook her hand enthusiastically. “Are you one of Hayden’s clients, too?”

Tenley glanced at me before she answered. “Hayden’s been working on a back piece for me, but it’s been a while since I’ve been in his chair.”

“Oh? So it’s a multisession? Let me tell you, once you get started, it’s hard to stop, especially with this talent.” Amy rubbed my arm.

Tenley’s eyes were homed in on Amy’s hand as it smoothed down my biceps, and Tenley’s lips turned up in a coy smile as she traced a line of ink on my forearm. “Yes. Hayden is incredibly talented. I’m very fortunate to have his art on my body.”

Amy blinked. Lisa coughed to hide a snicker. The innuendo was hard to ignore, and an annoying part of my body reacted accordingly. I’d said something to the same effect a long time ago, before we were together. It had come out sounding just as explicitly inappropriate. Tenley was staking a claim, and it was both amusing and hot. How Lisa figured I could manage a sex hiatus was beyond me. Pretty much everything Tenley said or did made me want her.

“Actually, Tenley’s my girlfriend.” I put an arm around Tenley’s shoulder and pulled her into my side. She burrowed right in, her thumb hooking into a belt loop.

“Oh. Of course.” Amy nodded. “I told Hayden there was something different, and here you are.”

“Here I am,” Tenley said quietly.