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“When you’ve had breast cancer, you get used to everyone looking at your boobs,” she explained as she passed me her bra and lay back on the recliner. Her scars had healed well and faded, and aside from the lack of nipples, her breasts almost looked real.
“Want to do the stencil? Jackson asked.
I took the wax paper from him and carefully pressed it into position, trying to place each nipple in exactly the right spot, below the center.
“What do you think?” I asked, handing her the mirror.
Tears sprung in Helen’s eyes as she gazed at her reflection.
“You know, these will be the first tattoos I’ve ever had? And I can’t, for the life of me, think why I didn’t get one twenty years ago.”
“I have to warn you,” I said, while giving Jackson a grin, “these things are addictive. Once you start, you’ll end up with them all over you.”
“Just don’t get a lover’s name on your chest,” Jackson said with a wink, and I stuck my tongue out playfully.
“So it looks like things between you are going well?” Helen asked, as Jackson started on the outline. I longed to tell her about my pregnancy, but I wanted to keep it a secret until I’d shared hte information with all three guys, and I wanted to tell them at the same time.
“They are,” I said, touching my stomach while Jackson wasn’t looking. “Things are goingverywell.”
“How does it work?” Helen asked. “The four-way relationship, I mean?”
“It works the same way as a two-way relationship,” I explained. “Just with more company and more of us in the bed at night.”
“And what about thesex?” Helen asked, stage-whispering the last word so everyone in the studio must have been able to hear it.
“It’s good,” I said. “Verygood.” There was no way I was going to spill all the details, but we’d fallen into a routine that worked for us. Sometimes I’d sleep with one man, sometimes two, and sometimes three, but Ialwaysdrifted off with a smile on my face.
I caught Jackson’s eye again, and could tell from his grin that he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Maybe you should hold still,” he said. “Just so we can keep the lines steady.”
Helen complied for a while, but once he’d finished the first nipple, she turned to me and said, “I’ve been doing online dating.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. I’d never tried it myself, and I wasn’t sure I’d know where to start.
“Good,” Helen said. “I’ve been talking to someone… and we’re going to meet up tomorrow.”
I thought back to her phone call. We’d offered to do her tattoos on Thursday, but she’d insisted she needed to get it done before Wednesday.
“Ohhhh,” I said. “And you’re expecting to get lucky?”
“Hoping to.” Helen gave me a cheeky smile. “His name’s Gavin, he’s a property developer, his wife died last year, and he’sgorgeous.”
She found his profile on her phone and passed it to me. She was right — if he looked anything like his photos, he looked good for an older man. He was sixty-two, with salt-and-pepper hair and a brooding expression.
“I hope it goes well for you.”
“Not so fast,” Jackson said. “You’ll need to take care of my work until it heals. That means no licking, no sucking, anddefinitelyno nibbling.”
“I can do that,” Helen said, and looked down at her completed nipple. “I’m just happy to feel like a woman again.”
By the time Jackson had finished her tattoo, it was time for the shop to close. After she left, I locked the door and Xavier yawned.
“What now?” he asked. “I’m fucked, and I’m sure you don’t want to cook dinner.”
I smiled.
“I have a few ideas…”
