As soon as I see my reflection, all my anxiety vanishes. Oliver’s right—itdoeslook rad. “I love it,” I whisper. “I really love it.”
Bree grins widely. “I’m so glad! Now, let’s talk aftercare.”
Bree goes into incredible detail explaining all the cleaning instructions and precautions we need to take with our new piercings, and I do my best to listen. Unfortunately, though, I have two shiny new rocks attached to my head that I can’t stop staring at in the handheld mirror that Bree gave me.
“Don’t worry,” Bree concludes, likely after watching me ogle my reflection. “I’ll give you written instructions with my number in case you have any questions or concerns.”
“That would be fantastic,” Jude says, plucking the handheld mirror from my hands and handing it back to Bree. When I start to pout, Jude takes my hand and smiles. I can’t resist returning the gesture.
We finish at the front, with the couple’s discount taking a significant chunk out of the final cost. I pay the full amount with my card, and Jude pays me their share in cash. Bree gives us written instructions on laminated cards, along with two small bottles of saline spray.
“Thanks for doing this with me,” Jude says once we return to Ripley, checking their reflection in the visor mirror. “It means a lot.”
“Of course!” I reply, using my laminated card as a fan.
“I definitely wouldn’t have done it alone.”
I watch them as they enter The Village into their GPS and put the car in reverse, then train my gaze forward. “Was Nikki busy?” I ask.
Jude hesitates for a moment before answering. “You know, it’s going to sound weird, but I kind of assumed she was without asking. I think I was worried she might have tried to convince me to get more.”
“Ah,” I say, understanding. “Like, instead of just a nostril piercing, why not get a tattoo, too?”
Jude nods. “Yeah, and I know with enough persuasion, I would have done it and probably regretted it.”
I frown. “Really? Is she that aggressive?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘aggressive,’” Jude says, brows knitted. “She’s just… cool and confident, and that makes her pretty persuasive.”
Something about that rubs me the wrong way, but I decide not to dwell on it.
“I just wasn’t ready for too big a step this time,” Jude continues. “One thing at a time, you know?”
“Definitely.”
“Anyway. I knew you would be down for anything, so I figured you were probably the best person to join me on this adventure.”
My chest warms at that, and I smile. “It’s an honor to be that person for you.”
Jude grins, but not enough to reach their eyes. “We probably shouldn’t tell anyone about that whole couples discount thing, though,” they add. “I don’t want people starting rumors about us or whatever.”
I nod. “Oh, yeah, no worries. It’ll be our secret.”
Jude scrunches their nose. “When you say it like that, it sounds like we did something bad.”
I scoff. “I mean…”
Jude’s smile vanishes.
“I only mean that if we’re keeping it a secret and don’t want anyone to know, it doesn’t mean it’s good, right?” I clarify. “To be clear, I don’t feel like we did anything wrong. We’re just two people who saw an opportunity to take advantage of a silly discount and ended up saving about fifty bucks on a service. All we had to do was pretend to be a couple, and we nailed it. We both know it was fake, so why does it matter?”
Jude doesn’t answer—their frown actually deepens.
The car is only silent for a few seconds, but it seems like hours.
“Well, since I already ruined the vibe, I guess I should go ahead and ask another uncomfortable question I’ve been putting off.” I roll the laminated aftercare instructions into a tight tube. “Did I do something to piss Nikki off?”
Jude digs their nails into the steering wheel as they consider my question. “It’s not your fault,” they finally mutter.
