The Rules of Dating(3)

“I’ll figure it out.” She shook her head and blew out two cheeks full of air. “This is going to be freaking epic.”

I nodded. “Oh, it’s going to be something, alright.”

***

Kaiden fell asleep.

It was laughable, really. People did occasionally conk out in the chair, but usually it was a woman nervous about getting her first ink who’d popped a Xanax before coming into the shop. I never thought the fuckwad birthday boy would take a nap. Though I was grateful he did.

When I first started pressing the pedal, he’d rested his free hand on my thigh. I’d managed to remove it, telling him he needed to stay in the same position I’d put him in. But I worried that next time his hand would find its way to my ass, and I’d wind up punching him in the face. Not having him watch my every move also made the job so much easier. I didn’t have to worry about him sneaking a peek of what I was doing in the mirror, and I was even able to bandage him up before he stirred.

For the last twenty minutes, Justine had been texting me from the lobby to keep me updated. Apparently eight women had showed up and were currently sitting just thirty feet away on the other side of my studio door, waiting to meet their handsome Tinder date. I swear, it felt like I had an electric current running through my body. I had to take a few deep breaths before waking Prince Charming.

“Hey.” I plastered on my best fake smile and nudged Kaiden’s shoulder. “Sleepyhead, it’s time to get up.”

His eyes blinked open. For a few heartbeats, he looked lost, but then he lifted his head and looked over at his arm. “Shit. I fell asleep?”

“You did indeed.”

“How long was I out for?”

“Oh…hours.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “You’re finished already?”

“Yep. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

He sat up in the chair. “You shouldn’t have bandaged it up.”

“I want to keep it a surprise a little longer. Justine’s still here, so I asked her to take a video of the big moment. I want to be able to watch your mind-blown face over and over.”

“Alright.” He smiled. “Thanks, babe.”

“It was my pleasure, trust me.”

My heart ricocheted as I walked toward the lobby. Kaiden followed. The moment I opened the door, Justine jumped up from her seat and blocked my path. “There’s a customer here. A real customer,” she hissed. “I was just trying to get rid of him.”

I looked around her toward the front. Sure enough, a random guy was standing at the desk. He was dressed in a suit, with the knot of his tie loosened. He looked sort of like a cute narc. God, please don’t let him be a cop. Beyond him, most of the chairs were filled with women, all of whom were now looking our way. One smiled and stood. There was no way I’d be able to stall the explosion about to happen, so this poor random dude was about to get a lot more than he’d bargained for.

Kaiden looked at the guy waiting at the counter and the people filling the lobby. “I thought you were closed tonight, babe?”

“I, uh, I invited some friends for the big reveal.” Grabbing his hand, I took one last deep breath and pulled him out into the lobby. Once I was in the center of the room, with all eyes on me, my legs started to shake. Kaiden looked around at all the women, his gaze snagging on one particular blonde as he seemed to work to place her face. This thing was going to self-implode if I didn’t detonate the bomb myself.

So I cleared my throat.

“Ladies, this is my boyfriend, Kaiden. Today is his birthday, and I wanted to do something special for him. Since he and I have such a wonderful relationship and share so much trust, he let me pick the tattoo that will forever grace his body. He hasn’t seen it yet, but I think all of you will agree that it’s the most fitting ink I could have given him.”

My hands shook as I reached up and peeled the tape off Kaiden’s bicep. Once the bandage was off, there was no going back. The giant pink flame symbol had to be six inches wide by six inches long—you couldn’t miss it from down the block. Everything that came after that seemed to happen in slow motion.

Kaiden looked down. His face wrinkled in confusion. “What the hell is that?”

One of the Tinder ladies covered her mouth. “Oh my God. It’s the Tinder logo. Holy shit! Did this really just happen?”

Kaiden pulled his arm forward to get a better look. “What the fuck, Billie?”

My hands flew to my hips. “Don’t what the fuck me!” I waved my hands around the room. “Don’t you even recognize any of these women?”

He scanned the lobby…the first face, then the second. When he got to the third woman, his eyes flared, and he blinked a few times. Then his eyes darted from person to person as everything seeped in. Kaiden closed his eyes. “What the fuck did you do?”

“What the fuck did I do?” I screeched. “Let’s see. I made you dinner when you had to work late. I rubbed your back when you said you’d had a hard day on the job site. I even picked up your brother from the airport when he came to visit. But I guess what’s most important here is that I believed you when you said you wanted a relationship and were falling in love with me.”

Kaiden reached for me. I took two steps back and held my hands up. “Don’t touch me.”