Beautiful Oblivion (22 page)

“Yes. Got you down. Thank you, Jessica.”

I hung up the phone, and Trenton grabbed my hips and lifted me up, planting my ass on the counter. He hooked my ankles at the small of his back, and then slid his fingers into my hair, combing it back just enough to provide a clear path to run his tongue up my neck until it reached its destination: my earlobe. He took the tender piece of skin into his mouth, applying the tiniest bit of pressure between his top teeth and tongue. It had become my very favorite thing . . . so far. He’d been torturing me that way all week, but refused to undress me—or touch me anywhere fun—until we went to dinner Monday night after work.

Trenton pulled me toward him and pressed his pelvis against me. “I have never looked forward to a Monday so much in my life.”

I smiled, dubious. “I don’t know why you have these strange rules. We could break them ten feet away in your room.”

Trenton hummed. “Oh. We will.”

I turned my wrist over to check my watch. “You don’t have anyone for an hour and a half. Why don’t you start outlining that shoulder tattoo we’ve talked about?”

Trenton thought for a moment. “The poppies?”

I hopped down from the counter, opened a drawer, and pulled out the drawing Trenton had created the week before. I held it up to his face. “They’re pretty, and they’re significant.”

“You’ve said that. But you haven’t told me why they’re significant.”

“
The Wizard of Oz.
They make you forget.”

Trenton made a face.

“What? Is that dumb?” I said, immediately defensive.

“No. It’s just that your Oz reference reminded me of Travis’s girlfriend’s new name for Crook.”

“What is it?”

“Toto. Travis said she’s from Kansas . . . that’s why he got that breed in the first place, blah, blah, blah.”

“I agree. Crook is better.”

Trenton narrowed his eyes. “You really want the poppies?”

I nodded an emphatic yes.

“Red?” he asked.

I held up his artwork again. “Just like this.”

He shrugged. “Okay, baby doll. Poppies it is.” He took my hand, leading me back to his room.

I undressed while Trenton finished his prep, but he paused just long enough to watch me pull my shirt over my head, and then slip my left arm out of my black, lacy bra strap. He shook his head and smiled wryly, amused by the G-rated striptease I’d just given him.

By the time the tattoo machine had begun to buzz, I was completely relaxed against the chair. Trenton tattooing my skin was so extraordinarily intimate. There was something about being so close to him, the way he manipulated and stretched my skin while he worked, and the look of concentration on his face while he permanently marked my skin with one of his remarkable pieces of art. The pain was secondary to all of that.

Trenton was just finishing up the line work when Hazel and Calvin returned. Hazel had a sack in her hand when she walked into Trenton’s room.

“I brought you both a slice of cheesecake,” she said, noticing my shoulder. “Oh, that’s going to be fucking amazing.”

“Thanks,” I said, beaming.

“It’s been that slow, huh?” Calvin said. “I don’t suppose you coulda picked up a broom?”

“Uh . . . she’s not dressed, Cal,” Trenton said, dismayed.

“She ain’t got anything I haven’t seen before,” Calvin said.

“You haven’t seen Cami before. Get the fuck out.”

Calvin simply turned his back to us, crossing his arms. “She can’t find something to organize when we’re not busy? I’m paying her by the hour.”

“Everything is organized, Cal,” I said. “I did sweep. I even dusted.”

Trenton frowned. “You bitch because she doesn’t have tats, and now you’re bitching because I’m tatting her. Make up your damn mind.”

Calvin craned his neck at Trenton, snarled his lip, and then disappeared around the corner.

Hazel giggled, clearly not worried about the boys’ confrontation.

After Trenton doctored my tattoo site, I slipped my arm through my bra strap—carefully—and then pulled my shirt back over my head. “You’re going to get fired if you keep pissing him off.”

“Nah,” Trenton said, cleaning up his workspace. “He’s secretly in love with me.”

“Calvin doesn’t love anyone,” Hazel said. “He’s married to this shop.”

Trenton narrowed his eyes. “What about Bishop? I’m pretty sure he loves Bishop.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “You’ll need to let that go.”

I left them both and walked to the counter, noticing a buzzing noise coming from the drawer where I kept my cell phone. I pulled it open slowly, and looked at the display. It was Clark.

“What’s wrong?” Trenton asked, coming up behind me to kiss a small section of my shoulder that wasn’t angry and red from the needle.

“It’s Clark. I love him, I’m just not in the mood to be in a bad mood, ya know?”

Trenton’s lips touched the outside edge of my ear. “You don’t have to answer,” he said softly.

Holding the phone in the palm of my hand, I declined the call, and then tapped out a text.

Trenton’s one appointment was the only customer we had all day. The sky was full of low-lying gray clouds; winter threatened to throw up on us at any moment. With at least an inch of sleet and ice already on the roads, not many people were braving the weather. The shop wasn’t far from campus, so we usually saw a steady stream of vehicles passing in each direction, but with the crap weather, the traffic was nonexistent.

Trenton was drawing doodles on a piece of paper, and Hazel was lying in a straight line on the floor in front of the brown leather sofa that sat next to the entrance doors. I was typing out a paper for class. Calvin still hadn’t come out of his office.

Hazel let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m leaving. I can’t take this.”

“No, you’re not,” Calvin yelled from the back.

A muffled scream emanated from Hazel’s throat. When she finished, she was quiet for a moment, and then sat up quickly, her eyes bright. “Let me pierce your nose, Cami.”

I frowned and shook my head. “Hell no.”

“Oh, c’mon! We’ll do a really tiny diamond. It’ll be ladylike, but fierce.”

“The thought of my nose being impaled makes my eyes water,” I said.

“I’m so bored! Please?” she whined.

I looked over at Trenton, who was shading in his drawing of what looked like a troll. “Don’t look at me. It’s your nose.”

“I’m not asking for your permission. I want your opinion,” I said.

“I think it’s hot,” he said.

I cocked my head a bit, impatient. “Great, but does it hurt?”

“Yeah,” Trenton said. “I’ve heard it hurts like a son of a bitch.”

I thought for a moment, and then looked at Hazel. “I’m bored, too.”

Her beaming smile spanned from one side of her face to the other. Her cheeks pushed up, making her eyes just two slits. “Really?”

“C’mon,” I said, already walking back to her room. She scrambled to her feet and followed.

By the time I left Skin Deep for the day, I had extensive line work on my left shoulder, and a new nose piercing. Hazel was right. It was tiny; dainty, even. I would have never thought to get a nose ring, but I loved it.

“See you tomorrow, Hazel,” I said, walking toward the door.

“Thank you for preserving my sanity, Cami!” Hazel said, waving. “Next time we’re slow, we’ll put gauges in your ears.”

“Uh . . . no,” I said, pushing the door.

I started the Smurf, and then Trenton jogged up to my door, signaling for me to roll down my window. When I did, he leaned in and kissed my lips.

“You weren’t even going to say good-bye?” he asked.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m a little out of practice with this whole thing.”

Trenton winked. “Me, too. But it won’t take long.”

I narrowed my eyes. “When was the last time you were in a relationship?”

The look on Trenton’s face was one I couldn’t quite read. “A few years. What?” he said. I had looked down and chuckled, and Trenton tucked his chin, forcing me to make eye contact.

“I didn’t know you’d ever dated anyone.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I am capable of being a one-woman man. Just has to be the right woman.”

My mouth pulled to the side in a half-smile. “Why didn’t I know about this? Seems like the whole campus would have been talking about it.”

“Because it was new.”

I thought for a moment, and then my eyes widened. “Was it Mackenzie?”

“For about forty-eight hours,” Trenton said. His eyes lost focus, and then they snapped back to mine. He leaned in and gave me a soft peck on the mouth. “See you later?” he asked.

I nodded, rolled up my window, and then backed out of the parking lot, and pulled into the Red parking lot fifteen minutes later. The roads weren’t getting better, and I wondered if the Red would be just as dead as Skin Deep.

Everyone’s vehicles except Jorie’s were parked side by side, leaving one space open between the employees’ cars and Hank’s. I ran into the side entrance and rubbed my hands together as I hurried to my stool at the east bar. Hank and Jorie were standing on the other side together, hugging and kissing more than usual.

“Cami!” Blia said, smiling.

Gruber and Kody were sitting together, and Raegan sat on the other side of me. Immediately I sensed that she was being quiet but didn’t dare ask when Kody was nearby.

“I thought you weren’t here, Jorie,” I said. “I didn’t see your car.”

“I rode with Hank,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Car-pooling is definitely a plus for shacking up.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?” I said, standing up, opening my arms wide. “She said yes? You moved in together?”

“Yeah!” they both said in unison. They both leaned over the bar and hugged me.

“Yay! Congratulations!” I said, squeezing them. My head was between both of theirs, and even though I considered the employees of the Red my work family, they felt more like the real thing than my own family did lately.

Everyone else hugged and offered their congratulations. They must have been waiting for me to get there before they announced it so they could tell all of us at the same time.

Hank pulled out several bottles of wine—the good stuff from his personal stash—and began to pour glasses. We were all celebrating. Everyone but Raegan. I sat next to her after a while, and nudged her arm.

“What’s up, Ray?” I asked quietly.

A small smile touched her lips. “Nice tat.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning to the side, showing my tiny nose ring. “Got this, too.”

“Wow. Your dad’s going to shit a wildcat.”

“Spill it,” I said.

She sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin the party.”

I made a face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s happening again,” she said, her shoulders sagging. “Brazil’s getting busy. He’s made it pretty clear that he’d rather be with his frat brothers and at football parties than with me. He had that Abby chick’s birthday party at his apartment last month and didn’t even invite me. I found out about it from Kendra Collins last night. I mean . . . really? We got into it bad today. He said almost all the things he said last time.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s shit, Ray.”

She nodded and looked down at her hands in her lap, and then, for less than a second, glanced over at Kody. She laughed once, without humor. “Daddy loves Brazil. All I hear about at the house is”—her eyebrows pulled together and her voice deepened to emulate her father—“Jason Brazil would be accepted into the Naval Academy in a heartbeat. Jason Brazil would be a contender for the SEAL program . . . blah, blah, blah. Daddy thinks Jason would make a good soldier.”

“I wouldn’t let that cloud your judgment. Sounds like sending him off to the Naval Academy is a good way to get rid of him.”

Raegan began to laugh, but then a tear fell down her cheek, and she leaned into my shoulder. I put my arm around her, and the celebration half a bar away instantly died down. Kody appeared on Raegan’s other side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, genuine concern in his eyes.

“Nothing,” she said, wiping her eyes quickly.

Kody looked wounded. “You can tell me, you know. I still care if you’re hurting.”

“I can’t talk to you about it,” she said, her face crumpling.

Kody put his thumb under Raegan’s chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. “I just want you to be happy. That’s all I care about.”

Raegan looked up at his big green eyes, and then threw her arms around his chest. He pulled her against him, cupping the back of her hair with his huge hand. He kissed her temple, and just held her, not saying a word.

I stood up and joined everyone else while Kody and Raegan had their moment.

“Cheesus Crust, does this mean they’re back together?” Blia asked.

I shook my head. “No. But they’re friends again.”

“Kody’s such a good guy,” Jorie said. “She’ll figure it out eventually.”

My cell phone buzzed. It was Trenton.

“Hello?” I answered.

“The fucking Intrepid won’t start. I don’t guess you could pick me up from work?”

“You’re just now finishing up?” I asked, looking at my watch.

“Cal and I were talking.”

“Yeah . . . I have to run home to change for work tonight, though . . .” The line got quiet. “Trenton?”

“Yeah? I mean, yes. Sorry, I’m just fucking pissed. It has one of those two-point-seven-liter engines so I knew it was gonna . . . you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me. “No. But I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Sweet. Thanks, baby. Take your time. The roads are getting worse.”

I looked down at the phone gripped in my fingers after I hung up. I loved the way he spoke to me. The little nicknames. The texts. His grin with that amazing dimple in his left cheek.