“I think so, too.” The hockey puck looks as if it’s being shot toward the net, a spray of ice framing it. It appears as if it could come flying off the page and hit me in the face. The rest of the tattoos have a similar three-dimensional feel.
Hayden and I quickly get into the fine details, talking about shading, placement, and which designs I like the best.
After half an hour of Lily hanging off my arm, offering her opinions, and bouncing in her seat, I’m about ready to take her home and bang the excitement right out of her. But we still need to talk about her tattoo.
Hayden marks the designs in order of preference and makes notes on the changes we’ve discussed before neatly writing Lily’s name on the top of a new folder.
“Let’s talk about you,” he says.
Lily does this blinking thing and looks up at me before she turns back to Hayden. “Um, okay?”
Hayden laughs and taps his pencil on the desk. “Do you have any ink already?”
“Oh! No. This will be my first.”
“Ah. Very cool. So we’re popping your ink cherry, then, yeah?”
Lily’s cheeks turn pink, and she nods. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”
“Do you have any ideas for designs?” he prompts.
“Oh! Yes! I found a few yesterday online.” Lily pulls her phone out of her purse and scrolls through her pictures, showing Hayden a watercolor-looking heart. “I don’t really want just a heart, but, like, I figured maybe we could take a pair of skates and set them inside the heart, you know, ’cause I’m a skater.”
“Gotcha.” Hayden flips through the images for a minute and starts drawing right away, which is typically how it goes when we talk designs.
“Oh! But can we have one skate black and one white?” She tucks her hair behind her ears, exposing her earrings. “Like these?”
Hayden glances up and then leans in so he can check out the earrings. “Those are cool.”
“Randy got them for me for Valentine’s Day.” And she’s back to blushing.
Hayden spends a little more time asking questions, getting a feel for Lily’s favorite colors and the designs she seems to like.
Once they’re finished, he looks to me. “If you want, we can review the preliminary sketches for the team tattoos. Chris came in this morning to work on them a bit, and Jamie’s probably here by now, too, so we can look them over, and you can tell us what you think and if we’re on the right track.”
“Definitely.”
Hayden steps out, giving us a few minutes of privacy while he gets the other artists and the first-round sketches.
“So, what do you think, luscious?”
“You’re right about him being intense, but he’s nice.”
“I don’t mean Hayden. I mean the art.”
“Oh.” She shakes her head. “I’m excited to see what he does with the ideas, and I think your sleeve is going to be super sexy.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nods. I don’t have a chance to ask more questions because Chris, Hayden, and Jamie come in armed with folders. Lily stays for the first few minutes, but after a while Lisa pops her head in and asks if she wants to hang out with her while we talk details and business. Lily kisses me on the cheek and jumps up, leaving us to it.
It’s another good half hour before we come out of the private room. Lily and Lisa are sitting behind the jewelry counter with a laptop and Hayden’s custom album spread out in front of them, discussing their favorite tattoos. Hayden crosses over to his station and drops down in his chair, opening a drawer where he files his folders. The door tinkles, and a petite, curvy brunette holding a cupcake comes into the shop. It’s not a real cupcake, but some kind of Tupperware deal that looks like a giant pink plastic cupcake.
Lisa hops off her stool and comes out from behind the jewelry display to hug her. I catch a glimpse of the back of the girl’s shirt—or what there is to the back. It’s tied behind the neck and one thin band cuts across the middle—and that’s it, allowing most of her tattoo to be displayed. It’s a set of wings that look incredibly familiar. It’s definitely Hayden’s work.
Hayden leans back in his chair. The ball of his tongue ring pops out and slides between his lips as he gives her a once-over. “Hey, kitten, perfect timing. Did you bring me some treats?”
She holds the cupcake container close to her chest, as if she expects him to try to steal it from her, and stays close to the jewelry counter. “They’re for sharing.”
“That’s my least favorite word in the world.” He inclines his chin, encouraging her to come closer. “Did you leave some at home?”
“What do you think?”
Lisa peeks inside the container, which apparently contains some kind of snack—maybe cupcakes like the shape implies—and snickers.
He beckons her closer. “Why don’t you bring them over here and let me see?”
When she’s within reach, he cranes to see in to the container.
She puts a hand out, warding him off. “Can you exert some self-control for a few seconds?” She gives Hayden a meaningful look, her eyes darting my way for a moment.
“Oh, right. Sorry, kitten. Randy, this is my girlfriend, Tenley.” He puts a hand on her waist.
Well, that explains the nickname.
“Hey. Hi!” Turning to me, she holds out a hand and shakes mine enthusiastically. “It’s so nice to meet you. I made cupcakes. Would you like one before Hayden tries to tackle me for them?”
Hayden lifts an eyebrow. “I’m not that bad.”
Lisa barks out a laugh, and Tenley snorts. She gives him her back while she opens the container, then takes two exaggerated steps away and offers me a cupcake. I’m more of a savory snack kind of guy, but these look incredible, so I take one.
“Did you make these?” I ask Tenley.
“I did.”
“They look awesome.” They’re decorated with our team colors. I wonder if it was on purpose.
“Thanks.” She gives me a huge smile.
Hayden watches her while she traipses over to the jewelry counter, introduces herself to Lily, and offers her and Lisa a cupcake. Chris, who disappeared a while ago, comes out of the back room and grabs one, too, making a big deal out of the black cupcake papers and the red and white decorations. Tenley flushes and gives him a look, like maybe she’s embarrassed. Hayden crosses his arms over his chest and clears his throat.
Leaning on the counter, Tenley lifts a cupcake out of the container while watching him. Then she starts peeling off the wrapper, slowly. I feel like I’m watching some kind of weird foreplay, like cupcake-wrapper porn. It’s almost as bad as the way Charlene and Darren are with each other lately.
“Keep pushing if you want to see where it gets you later, kitten,” Hayden says.
Lily shoots me a look, but I have no idea what it means. I’m kind of entertained right now.
Tenley blinks at him. “Oh, did you want one?”
Hayden unfurls slowly from his chair, his expression dark. He stalks over to Tenley, who lifts the unwrapped cupcake to her mouth. Before she can take a bite, Hayden grabs her wrist. “I want this one.”
“It’s mine!”
“Not any more.” He takes a massive bite, narrowly missing her fingers.