After a few minutes the girls—and by girls I mean Violet—get louder. Giggling and some gasps and Oh my Gods follow.

“I say go for it!” Charlene has her arm around Lily’s shoulder. “You won’t regret it.”

Randy looks up from the design. His is much different, considering it’s going to be part of a sleeve. “Won’t regret what?”

“Lisa’s trying to convince Lily to get her clit pierced!” Charlene explains.

“Permanent vagina bling!” Violet chimes in.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “This is not stuff I need to know about.”

Chris, the tattoo artist who’s big enough to pass for a hockey player, or a linebacker, snorts. “You wouldn’t believe the shit we hear on a regular basis.”

“I don’t think I even want to imagine.”

Randy gives Lily a full-body visual sweep. His eyebrow rises. “What’s the healing time on that?”

“That depends.” Hayden says.

“On what?” Randy’s knee is going now, and he’s having a hard time not looking at Lily like he wants to eat her.

“On your level of patience. Isn’t that right, kitten?” Hayden glances at his girlfriend.

Her eyes go wide, and her mouth drops open. “Seriously, Hayden?”

“What?” He looks genuinely confused, even though we’re all suddenly super interested in the sketches, not the conversation. Well, except for Randy.

“I think you’re badass for getting a hole in your vagina penis,” Violet says seriously.

Chris barks out a laugh. “You guys need to hang out here more.”

Lisa rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. She’s the one who answers Randy’s question. “If you follow the aftercare instructions, it’s usually about a week before you can resume normal activity.”

“Normal being—” He gestures between him and Lily. She looks a little mortified, which is kind of funny, considering how those two will pretty much get their fuck on anywhere. They routinely disappear for half-hour increments when they think no one’s paying attention to them.

“You have to be careful with too much friction, too soon, or you’ll prolong the healing period,” Tenley replies.

“What do mean, prolong? Like, how sensitive is it going to be?”

“You gotta take it easy for a couple of weeks,” Hayden says, eyes still on Tenley.

“Like, once a day easy?” Randy asks.

“Uh…” Hayden pokes the corner of his mouth with his tongue. I’m not sure if it’s some kind of signal or what. “Yeeaah, you’ll have to go easier than that.”

Randy looks horrified. “Oh, fuck that. No way, luscious. I’m not going down to less than once a day.”

“It has some incredible benefits.” Tenley strokes her braid. She and Hayden are giving each other the screw-me eyes.

“What kind of benefits?” Randy still looks skeptical.

“More orgasms for Lily,” Tenley replies.

Randy snorts. “Yeah, cause there’s a real shortage of those right now.”

“You probably couldn’t get the needle through anyway since Lily’s beaver is made of titanium,” Violet says.

“Jealous again?” Lily smirks.

“It has nothing to do with jealousy. I’m just stating facts. Clearly you have some sort of beaver superpowers with the amount of humping you and Horny Nut Sac do.”

“She’s always like this, isn’t she?” Chris asks me.

“Most of the time, yeah. It’s pretty entertaining.”

He nods his agreement. “How’s she do with interviews and stuff? “

“Those are always scripted,” Alex says.

“What about nipples? What’s the healing time on those?” Violet asks Lisa.

“About two months before they stop being sensitive, but a good four to six before they’re totally healed, sometimes longer.”

Violet makes a face and holds her boobs, so I look away.

Alex points a finger at her. “Don’t even think about it, Violet.”

“Oh, don’t you worry. I would never take away your favorite toys for that long.”

Alex relaxes back into his chair.

Charlene slaps the counter. “I’m going to do it!”

“You already have your nipples pierced. They’re not ears; you can’t get them done a whole bunch of times like Tenley here.” Violet motions to Tenley’s ears, which are indeed pierced numerous times. A ladder of rings climbs the shell.

Now, I don’t have an issue with piercings. I’ve been with plenty of girls who have holes in various parts of their bodies—what I didn’t realize is how long it takes for something like that to heal fully.

“I’m not talking about my nipples; I mean a hood piercing,” Charlene clarifies.

Lisa does a little jumpy-squeal thing. “Yay! You won’t regret it!”

“You’re okay with that?” Charlene looks to Darren.

Darren taps the arm of the chair. His smile is tight. “If it’s what you want. Although, you may want to consider waiting until the season starts and I’m on an away series.”

Charlene bites her lip and turns to Lisa and Tenley. “It’s only a week, though, right?”

“For gentle use,” Tenley says.

Charlene looks back and forth between the girls and Darren. “You can handle that.”

“It’s not me who has to go without. There are plenty of ways for me to achieve the same ends; not so much for you.”

“He makes a good point,” Lily says.

“I think I need to sit down.” It’s the first time Sunny’s involved herself in the conversation since the girls started in on the piercing talk.

All of a sudden the girls are flitting around, and Miller’s out of his seat. Sunny’s pretty freaking pregnant right now, and she’s a bit of a delicate flower—not literally, she’s a yoga instructor, so physically she can kick ass. But she’s not a big fan of blood or anything related to pain, so I can imagine this conversation is a little much for her.

I’m actually relieved that she’s inadvertently put an end to it. Charlene seems to have decided to put off the piercing for another day, perhaps when Sunny isn’t at risk of passing out on us.