“What?”
“Both things that draw blood.”
I roll my eyes. “Get inside. You’re being annoying.”
Faith sticks out her tongue at me, pulling open the door. “And you’re being a hypocrite.”
The smell of antiseptic spray and stale water wafts around us. I look around for the front desk, my gaze snagging on a thin woman with red hair and piercings peppering her ears and nose standing behind a glass counter.
“Hi, I have an appointment.” The girl looks up at us, smiling widely. It’s a kind smile, her eyes twinkling, and I smile back.
I find myself doing that a lot these days—smiling.It’s hard not to when I no longer feel the oppressive weight of shame and despair.
“Valentina?” she asks, and I nod. “Perfect. Falon will be your girl. She’s almost done.”
“Thanks.” I face Faith, whose eyes are sharp.
“V?” I wink at her, and her expression morphs to excitement. “You didn’t! Are we really?—”
“Not we. Mine are done, although I’m thinking of having them switch the bars for something else.”
She claps her hands, jumping on her toes like a giddy school girl finding out her crush just talked about her on the playground. Pink crawls up her neck, a full body blush taking over, and I laugh at the sight of her so happy.
“Does McCrae know you’ve got a nipple fetish?” I tease.
Her grin falters. “Wh—what?”
I sigh. “We can talk about him, you know. You’re like two magnets. Plus, you’re both my best friends.”
Faith’s eyes round at the corners. “V, I?—”
“I’ll honestly be pissed if you guys waste more time acting like you aren’t both insane for each other.”
She grabs my wrist, and I look at her—really look at her—she’s open, vulnerable in this moment, and I prepare for whatever she might say next. This has been a topic we’ve danced around far too long, and I don’t want either of my best friends to spend another minute unhappy—not on my account, anyway.
“V, that means so much to me.”
“It’s nothing but the truth. Don’t make it a big deal.” I look over her shoulder for the receptionist, feeling uncomfortable with the praise I don’t deserve.
Faith yanks my wrist, and I snap my gaze to hers. “It’s everything, V. To me, to McCrae. You’re like our fairy godmother, giving us the opportunity and the means to find each other.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.” I scoff.
Faith turns a deeper shade of pink, “How can I be with him? I’ve got so much going on, so much he doesn’t know I can’t tell him. How can I ever be with someone when I harbor so many secrets?”
“What secrets, Faith?”
She purses her lips but ignores my question, instead saying, “And Reiny. I have to consider her. But what if—” She licks her lips, eagerness bleeding into her tone. “What if there was a way? But to have him,to truly have him,he has to change who he is? Could you love me still? Could you love us both if we changed?”
I grapple with the earnest, almost panicked edge to her voice, desperately trying to keep up even as her words and questions swirl in my mind, making a maddening web. “Faith?—”
Her hand quivers around mine. “I want a fairytale, V. A real fairytale with a happy ending, an evil step mother who doesn’t win, a prince charming, a fucking mote around a castle in a land far, far away. But I’ll have to change. I’ll have to, more than what I already am, and what if it’s too much? What if what I’ve done is too far? What if?—”
“Valentina?” Faith’s cut off by a leggy woman with a short black bob and way too much liner around her eyes. She’s got one brown and one blue eye, and I try not to stare. I fail, of course, but Faith, being the ever polite and gentle one of us, reaches out, shaking the woman’s hand. Gone is her desperation and fear, replaced with the bubbly, slightly coy girl I first met.
“I’m Faith, V’s friend. Nice to meet you! My nipples are excited.”
The woman barks a laugh, shaking Faith’s hand with matched enthusiasm. “Lovely! I’m Falon. New year, new you?” Falon asks.
