“What do your tattoos mean to you, Mina?”
“Sometimes nothing,” she says with a light sniff, and then her voice changes, grows softer. “But sometimes, they feel more me than anything else. Sometimes they remind me who I really am.”
“Imagine if you could give someone that feeling, and not just someone, but lots of someones.”
There’s another long moment of silence.
“Point well made, Charlie,” she finally says with a long sigh.
And then it’s time to wash the second round of shampoo out of her hair, which I do carefully, avoiding her eyes. We stay silent as I then rub conditioner into the ends of her hair and then angle her so the spray can wash it away. While I don’t speak when I feel her rub my pouf over my body, my breathing does change and my body responds in exactly the way I expect it to. When she spends more time than perhaps is necessary washing my erect penis and testicles, I finally reach down and grip her wrist.
“I want to,” I say. “You can see how much I want to, but I have to take Goldie for a walk.”
She nods but still runs her hand up and down my length, squeezing her fingers around the head.
“Please, Mina. I have no willpower when it comes to you, especially when you’re standing dripping wet and naked in my shower, but I really do owe my dog a nice, long walk.”
“Boring dog person,” she mutters, but she takes her hands away from me and gives me a slow side smile as she adds more shower gel to the pouf and then starts washing her own body. “Thank you for washing my hair.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, and I take what feels like a very big risk by lowering my lips and kissing the top of her head. Why that small act should require so much courage when an hour ago I was ploughing into her like I wanted to bury her in my bed, is beyond me, but when she doesn’t move away or say anything, I do it again. And again and again and again until Mina finally pushes me away.
“Okay, fuck off,” she says, but she’s smiling.
And so am I. I smile the whole time I’m drying off and getting dressed in my bedroom. I smile as I head to the living room, find Goldie and tell her we’re going for a walk. I smile as I dodge her licks and jumps and then start looking for her lead.
“Charlie, wait!” A voice stops me as I reach for the door handle, still smiling.
“Yeah?” I ask Mina as she walks into the room, dressed but her hair is still wet.
“Where are you guys going?”
“Just to the Common. We won’t be long. You can watch some TV or make a cup of tea. Just relax.”
“Nah,” she says and she looks around the room.
“Pardon?”
And then she goes and surprises me all over again when she picks her boots up from the kitchen floor and carries them to the door.
“Come on. Let’s go be boring dog people.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
What The… Are We Saying?
Mina
Ineed the fresh air. I also need a nap and a small mountain of food, but I will settle for this gentle cool breeze that is waking me up a little and making me forget my growling stomach and slightly uncomfortable pressure behind my left eye. Besides, I am currently getting a rundown of who all Goldie’s friends are in this dog-friendly section of Clapham Common.
“And that there is Pookie,” Charlie is saying, pointing at a white poodle leaping around with Goldie fifty metres or so in front of us. “She looks innocent and sweet but is actually a bitch who sometimes bites.”
I huff out a laugh. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, personally I don’t mind it.” Charlie catches my eye and winks. “Now and then.”
“Goldie is just like you,” I say, watching his dog prance around, tongue hanging out. “Talking to anyone. Smiling at everyone. The life and soul of the dog park.”
“You make me sound a bit desperate.”
