“What the hell was that?” Blake gasped, her cheeks slashed with red.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “Just watch the game. And you can cheer for your precious Avs. Don’t hurt yourself going for Toronto.”
He turned away from her and gulped half his beer down in one go. He could feel Blake’s eyes on him before she turned away, and see her hands shaking out of the corner of his eye.
“Dude,” Owen whispered. “This is going to be fun.”
“Fuck you,” Graham growled and drank the last of his beer.
He didn’t know what had come over him, but that had to be the last of it. There was no way he was going to go there. If he were this unraveled and tense at the same time with just one kiss, with just one look, he wouldn’t make it if he had her in his arms. In his bed.
Blake wasn’t for him, and damn it, he didn’t want her to be.
The Kiss Cam could go straight to hell.
4
Blake looked at the needle in her hand and held back a smile. The two women beside her weren’t quite arguing, but they sure weren’t agreeing with one another either.
“I really think nipples would be the best thing,” the blonde one named Linda said smoothly.
“I was thinking more like the nose,” Natalie, the brunette answered back just as smoothly. She waved her hand toward Blake and the other person in the room. “And can you not say nipples like that around our daughter.”
Alisha, the daughter in question, smiled widely, the light brown of her skin shining under the harsh lights of the piercing room. “I know what nipples are, Mom, geez.” She rolled her eyes in a way that reminded Blake of Rowan. Apparently, thirteen-year-old girls had the same thing down as her ten-year-old.
Natalie sighed and ran her hand over her face. She looked much like her daughter Alisha, though while Alisha wore her hair natural, Natalie had hers in braids. Linda, also Alisha’s mother, had paler skin than Blake, and the three of them together were one gorgeous family.
Blake cleared her throat. “Okay, how about we pierce Alisha’s ears before we decide what we’re piercing on the two of you either today or the next time you come in, hmm?” She said it with a smile, and Alisha giggled.
“Yeah, let this be about me.” Her moms narrowed their eyes, their mouths twitching. “After all, this is my thirteenth birthday present, and I’m like the only girl in the entire school who hasn’t had her ears pierced yet. I mean, come on, you don’t want me to be picked on, do you?” She fluttered her eyelashes, and Blake did her best to keep a straight face.
“Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth now, would it?” Linda asked dryly. “And Alisha, darling, you were the one who wanted to wait to get your ears pierced. We would have done it earlier.”
Alisha blushed. “Uh…”
“Yeah, uh…” Natalie said with a snort. “But you’re right, today is about you. We can discuss what parts of us we’ll pierce later.”
Blake couldn’t help it, she laughed. The other three women in the small room looked at her before joining in. “I’m sorry, I tried not to laugh, but you guys are adorable.” She shook her head and bumped her hip against Alisha’s, though the child sat on the table. “Anyway, I can do the ears quickly, and then we can discuss what you guys want.”
Linda smiled softly. “Thanks. I know we could have gone to the mall or some small place to get her ears done, but I’d rather someone who isn’t a few years older than Alisha do it. I mean, they must train those people with the little guns and all, but I want my baby to have the best.”
“Mom…” Alisha sighed the sigh of a thousand embarrassed teenagers, and Blake bit her lip to keep from smiling. She really liked this family.
“No problem,” Blake said once she could keep her face neutral yet calming. “Many of those places do have certified people, but I get the reason for coming here. I don’t let my friends get second piercings in their ears or anything without my help. I’m picky that way.”
After a few more minutes of discussion about Alisha, she went about getting the little girl’s ears ready. Since this would be her first time, and they weren’t going to gauge or anything, it would be a quick job.
“So,” Blake continued as she worked, “What’s the occasion for the piercings for the two of you? I know the ears for Alisha are for her birthday, but what about you guys?”
Linda and Natalie smiled at one another with so much love that Blake almost felt like a voyeur. The two women held hands and gave identical sighs.
“We had a commitment ceremony before Alisha was born,” Linda explained. “We exchanged rings then, and even though it wasn’t legal, we still considered ourselves married in every sense we could.”