“That’s great. Thanks.”
“Just call when you’re ready, and we’ll set up a follow-up appointment. Unless you want to do that now? Say, in a few weeks? I’m guessing you want to wait until summer’s over since you’ve got a lot of light colors in there and you don’t want the sun to fade them out.”
Lily nods again, and we make an appointment for a few weeks from now, as well as another one for October, when I’ll be home between a series of away games.
We finish up, and Lily hugs the envelope to her chest as Hayden opens the door to the private room and stops dead.
“What’s going on here?” he demands. “You giving away all my treats while I’m busy?”
Everyone’s sitting around eating snacks. It takes me a second to realize they’re mowing down cupcakes.
Tenley, who’s close to the same height as Lily, but curvier, flips her hair over her shoulder and gives Hayden a look I’m very familiar with. “Relax, cupcake, I made lots, and there are plenty at home if you don’t get your fill here.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be hungry when I get home, kitten.”
Lily leans in to whisper in my ear. “And I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be eating cupcakes.”
“Neither will I,” I whisper back.
Chapter Ten
cupcake
TENLEY
I SERIOUSLY CAN’T get over the uncanny resemblance between Hayden and Randy. I mean, of course the beard is different, and Randy is way broader than Hayden, but put those two side by side, and they could probably pass for cousins, maybe even brothers.
Hayden has that look on his face—the one that tells me I’m the cupcake when I get home. Lily’s whispering something to Randy, and ironically, he seems to be wearing a similar expression to Hayden’s, and it’s directed at Lily.
Suddenly the only place I want to be is home. In bed. With Hayden. If we can make it that far.
Lily excuses herself to the bathroom, and Randy watches her go.
“Stay where we can see you, Balls,” Lance says.
“Those two like to christen bathrooms, and based on the look on this one’s face, he’s strongly considering following her.” Violet points a finger at Randy.
“They have a lot in common with those two.” Lisa motions between Tenley and Hayden.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Hayden shoots back.
“Jamie and I were never as bad as you two.”
Hayden scratches his temple with his middle finger. “I think you have a short and faulty memory.”
“You’re riding shotgun on the way home.” Lance points to Randy. “There’s no way you and Lily are sitting beside each other.”
There’s some more banter back and forth, and when Lily returns they say their good-byes. I get Randy to sign the shirt and poster I brought to the shop before they leave. Everyone else is nice enough to sign it, too.
Lisa turns to me and fans herself once the door closes behind them. “That was a lot of testosterone.”
“Right?”
“Can you even imagine what it would be like to date one of those guys? Their stamina must be insane.”
Jamie stops filing designs in folders and gives Lisa a put-out look. “Uh, my stamina’s insane.”
“So is mine,” Hayden says darkly.
Lisa gives Jamie a patronizing smile. “I didn’t say it wasn’t. All I’m saying is that these guys play professional sports for a living. Their job is to be physically fit.”
Hayden runs his hand over his stomach. “I’m physically fit, aren’t I, kitten?”
“Of course you are.” For a guy who spends most of his time sitting in a chair, putting art on people’s bodies, Hayden is incredibly fit. He runs, and we have a workout room in the house, so that helps.
“See?” Hayden flashes Lisa a dirty look. “I’m just gonna clean up a little in the private room, and then we can head home.”
“I can help, if you want.”
“You don’t have to.” He pauses at the door. “Unless you want to.”
Chris is busy setting up for an appointment, and so is Jamie. Hayden is taking a rare Sunday afternoon off, so the sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll get home and the sooner we can enjoy some naked time between the sheets, or on top of them.
I follow him into the private room, closing the door. I don’t bother locking it. I’d prefer to be in a much more private location when he gets me naked.
“How was the consultation with Lily?” I ask, tracing the edge of the desk as I look over the designs he’s sketched for her.
They’re stunning, although everything Hayden creates is beautiful in my eyes, even if it’s dark. These designs are anything but. A watercolor heart frames a pair of mismatched skates—one hockey skate and one figure skate tied together, the laces creating a second heart inside the first.
“Yeah. It went well.” He taps the desk.
“That sounds like it comes with a but.” I look up to see a little smirk curling the right corner of his mouth.
“She’s really excited about the art, which is great—like, she would’ve gotten it today if she could’ve decided on a design.”
“That’s fantastic. So what’s the problem?”
“Location.” He drops down in his chair and wheels around the desk so he’s beside me.
“You mean deciding whether she’s wants it to be visible or not?”
“Yeah. Kinda. At first she mentioned inner thigh, and then I started explaining the logistics of that, so…”
I suddenly understand exactly what he’s getting at. “Let me guess, Randy wasn’t all that excited about you having your head between her thighs for a couple of hours.”
Hayden shifts, grabs me by the hips, and pulls me between his legs. “You should’ve seen the look on his face when he realized what I was getting at. It was fucking priceless.”
“Well, can you blame him? A sex god like you with your hands all over his girl?”
Hayden snorts. “I’m hardly a sex god, and those two seem pretty into each other.”
“You’re my sex god, and yeah, they’re like a fuck-bomb ready to explode.”
“I’m looking forward to being your fuck-bomb when we get home.” Hayden slides his hands up the outside of my thighs until his fingers reach the waistband of my leggings. He slips his thumbs under and pulls it down far enough that I question whether he actually intends to make it home.
Hayden sweeps his fingers over the cupcake tattoo on the crest of my pelvis and follows with a soft brush of his lips. It was the first tattoo he ever put on me, a cover-up for a poorly done one I’d gotten as a teenager.
“Do you have any idea how much it pissed me off that someone inked you before me?”
I push his hair away from his eyes. “You were very clear about your feelings on that.”
“I don’t think I tried very hard to contain those.” He’s not even the least bit remorseful.
I laugh. “This is Lily’s first tattoo, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s cool to watch someone get excited like that, you know? I have a feeling it won’t be her last, either.”