A girl who had to be freshly eighteen with a young face and tight ponytail wandered up to our booth, her sour-looking boyfriend trailing a few paces behind her. “Hey, you do piercings here?”
“Go get ’em,” Wyatt whispered behind me and stepped back.
“Yeah,” I said, the familiarity of my professional role settling over me. “You looking to get something done?”
“I’ve always wanted a bellybutton piercing. Do you think it’d be a good fit?” she asked. Her boyfriend clapped a hand on her shoulder, as if he was worried she was going to run off with me. Yeah, not remotely my type, bro.
“Bellybutton piercings are evergreen,” I said. “And with the amount of crop tops folks are wearing now, they’re great to show off.”
“Okay, I’m sold. Can I sign up here or do you have room now?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and this was what I loved about piercing. Helping people add that little bit of expression and individuality into their life. Giving them the dose of excitement they’d been searching for.
“Table’s right here,” I said, guiding her over to the cleared massage table. I glanced to her boyfriend. “You want to stand next to her for support?”
He let out a grunt, but he slipped around the table and held her hand.
Owen was hovering nearby, ready to take an action shot, and I rolled my eyes. Wyatt and Harper were deep in discussion, and August chatted to Becky and Nyx, who were finalizing the setup for tattoos. I wasn’t sure if I’d expected a gunshot to go off to start the convention, but it seemed like we’d already launched into motion.
I faced my new client, the same thrill rising inside me that I got whenever I set to work. “All right. Let’s get you pierced.”
Exhaustion flooded through me.
We’d made it through the tattoo show. Wyatt had stayed by my side the whole day, running to grab me food, coffee, water, whenever I needed it. Nyx and I had stayed consistently busy the entire time, which was longer than our shifts at the shop. I was lucky to still be upright.
“Come on, baby,” Wyatt said. “We’re almost to the parking garage.” He hiked bags of equipment over one shoulder and carried the massage table with the other arm. I managed a few bags, but damn, I didn’t know how he was upright after all the chaos today either.
“Mm, maybe I can make a nice bed for myself on the sidewalk,” I said, all plans of hitting the city tossed out the window. I was lucky if I’d stay awake for the drive home.
“Was the tattoo convention everything you hoped it would be?” he asked as we trekked along the crosswalk to the entrance of the parking garage.
Beyond the folks from Alchemy, my family had shown up too as promised. Mom had threatened to get nipple piercings, and we both played chicken to the point I had the needles out and ready to pierce before she tapped out. And Felix had been asking Wyatt about how heliked a Prince Albert, which meant I might have another one of those in my future. Hell, the whole family and their significant others had turned out, which meant the world to me. Even though Declan had only made it five minutes with his noise-cancelling earbuds in before he noped out.
Wyatt’s original question circulated through my veins. I’d built the tattoo convention up in my head as the best way to prove myself, but the last couple of months had taught me I didn’t have a damn thing to prove.
The people who loved me would accept me as is, and they were the only ones who mattered.
“This was fun as hell, but honestly? The best part of it was having you here with me,” I admitted, my voice dipping. My eyes heated a bit as we stepped under the yellow-orange lighting of the parking garage.
We reached Wyatt’s truck, and I dropped the bags I carried into his back cab. He threw all the shit he’d lugged in there too, and then he faced me, backing me up against his truck.
Those dark brown eyes searched mine, and he rested one hand on my hip, the other coming up to cup my cheek. “I was so proud of you today,” he murmured. “Watching you shine like that. You’re in your element dealing with people, and you underestimate your ability to make folks feel comfortable. To feel welcome.”
Fuck. My eyes burned.
“I love you.” The words escaped me unbidden, before I could rein them back in. “I know you’re new to being bi, that we haven’t been dating that long, so don’t feel the need to say it back. But Wyatt, you’ve healed me in ways you haven’t even realized, and I’m not just forever grateful—I’m completely and utterly in love with you.”
His grin widened, a few teeth poking out, and the tenderness in his gaze set me on fire. My heart existed out of my chest in this moment, the tension between us amplified with the crisp night.
“Damn, do you know how long I’ve been holding back?” he said. “Rory, I’ve been in love with you from the moment we started dating. After living in a lukewarm relationship for so many years, I figured out fast that what I felt for you was what I’d been hoping for my whole life. You’re it for me.”
My vision glossed over. This was why I didn’t do feelings, because I had shit control over them once they were unleashed. “Dammit. Stop giving me emotions.”
“Not sorry about it,” he teased, stroking his rough thumb across my lower lip. I licked the tip, and a visible shiver coursed through him.
“Thanks for supporting me through today,” I said, wanting to get the rest of the emotional shit out of the way. It’d be far easier to hop into his car and give him head in the front seat—which wasn’t easy logistically, but was hella rewarding.
“Baby, I’m here with you through it all,” he said. “You’re everything I ever dreamed of finding, and now that I have you, I’m not letting go.”
My heart squeezed tight, even though it belonged to him.
