I’ve seen more than one other teammate take that kind of hit and have their girlfriend, or fiancée, and even a wife or two decide they can’t handle the pressure. Violet might be a little crazy, but she’s got Alex’s back when it matters. She’s also a closet math nerd, like me.

Violet falls into step beside me. “Sorry we’re crashing your sausage party.”

“You’re not crashing it.”

“Yeah, we totally are. Mostly I’m here to observe and appreciate the fine art of tattooing.”

“I didn’t know you were into tattoos.”

“Well, it’s kind of erotic, right? Alex’ll have to take his shirt off and this incredibly built guy covered in tattoos is going to get all up in his space and put something permanent on his skin.” She fans her face. “So hot.”

I shake my head, because that’s not at all what getting a tattoo is like from my perspective, and only Violet could turn something that’s supposed to be cool into something pornographic. “Except he’s not actually getting a tattoo today,” I point out. “Does Waters know you’re here to ogle other guys?”

“Of course not! He thinks I’m considering getting my nipples pierced. And it’s appreciating, not ogling.”

“Jesus, Vi. You can’t talk to me about your nipples. It breaks bro code.”

She bumps my arm. “I’m not actually going to get it done.”

“Still. I don’t need to know anything about the state of your nipples.”

“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Miller throws an arm around Violet’s shoulder and grabs me by the back of the neck.

I elbow him in the ribs, and he lets go right away, but I’m betting he overheard our conversation, or at least Violet’s side of the conversation, and that was his way of letting me know. There are conversations you should never have with your friends’ wives and girlfriends; nipple discussions make that list.

“I was just telling Lance how I’m looking forward to seeing Alex get his nipples pierced.”

Alex’s head swings around. “Pardon fucking me?”

“Just kidding, baby. Your little man nipples are perfect the way they are, but if you want to get one of those peen piercings, I might be okay with it.”

“Baby, you can barely handle me as is. What the hell do I need a piercing for?”

“I’ve been handling all you have to offer for more than a year. I’m pretty sure I can take a little steel ball.

“Okay. This is a conversation I expect to hear from Randy and Lily, not the two of you,” Charlene says.

“Uh, yeah, there’s no fucking way I’m putting extra holes in my junk, thank you very much,” Randy says.

“It has its benefits,” Darren replies.

Everyone turns to look at him.

“Seriously, what the hell do you two do in the bedroom?” Lily asks. “Never mind. I don’t actually want to know.”

Charlene fingers the pearls around her neck and looks up at Darren, who winks.

I’m relieved when we reach the storefront. The chick with the purple hair—I can’t remember her name—comes out from behind the desk, throws the lock, and opens the door. “Hey! Hi! Oh, wow! It looks like everyone’s here!”

“Hey, Lisa. Lily’s coming to see what Hayden put together for her, and the rest of the girls wanted to tag along.” Randy motions to them, standing in a gaggle behind him like they’re his entourage, which wasn’t far from reality not that long ago. Although it wasn’t these girls falling all over themselves for him.

“That’s great! Hey, guys! Hi, Violet!” She ushers us into the shop and locks the door. When we were all here for the initial consult, they had to move us to the private room so we wouldn’t create a huge distraction.

There’s another chick I’ve never met before seated behind the jewelry counter. She has long, dark hair that’s been braided and pulled over her shoulder. She’s wearing a loose tank that shows off a little ink on her shoulders. Maybe she’s a friend of Lisa’s.

I get an elbow in the ribs from Balls. “Don’t even think about flirting with her. That’s Tenley, Hayden’s girlfriend.”

“Thanks for the warning.” I look away before she catches me staring. I don’t want to piss off one of the guys who’s going to put ink on my skin.

Lisa and Violet hug each other, and there’s a round of introductions when Hayden, Chris, and Jamie, our team of artists, greet us.

We settle into the couches and chairs surrounding the coffee table on the left side of the room, and the girls follow, apparently interested in our designs.

Hayden opens a folder and methodically lines up sketch after sketch. “So these are some of the designs we’ve come up with.”

The basis for each tattoo is the same: it’s a puck that looks like it’s just hit the ice with a cool blue watercolor background, but there are subtle differences in each one, beyond the incorporation of our names and numbers. Darren’s is darker than the rest and is black and white, apart from his number, which is red. Waters has CAPTAIN underneath his and crossed sticks over the puck since he already has a puck tattoo, which is what our designs are based on—he’ll just be adding to his. The inky looking background on Miller’s is a brighter blue, Randy’s is full, vibrant color, and mine has a more intense, deep blue.

I’m completely amazed by how well these guys have managed to capture our personalities through the art. No wonder Randy won’t let anyone else work on him. I also understand exactly why this place is by appointment only.

“These are amazing,” Randy says.

His declaration is followed by a chorus of agreements. Hayden drops his head, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. His knee bounces a couple of times before he picks up another folder.

“Thanks. It really was a combined effort. We’ve got other options, though, and of course we expect to do some tweaking between now and the session, so know this isn’t the final product. We can adjust color, design elements, font, all that stuff. You just have to let us know what’s working and what isn’t.”

Flipping the folder open, Hayden pulls out a second set of designs with small, but significant differences. It doesn’t take long for the girls to get bored with the back and forth over details. They head over to the jewelry case, where Lisa and Tenley are sitting, glancing at us every once in a while and whispering.