Page 39 of Love Legacy

“Of course. Hell, you can even have her do your nose piercing if you want.” James laughs, patting me on the back.

I shake my head. “Let’s not do that. But I’ll be right there with you, Naomi,” I say, taking her hand once again and giving it a squeeze.

She smiles at me before turning to James. “Alright, I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”

We head back to one of the rooms, and Naomi takes a seat on the table along the far wall. I stand in between her legs, running my hands up and down her thighs in a soothing motion. “Breathe, Church Girl, breathe,” I say, coaching her through some deep breathing. Her heart rate begins to even out as she matches me, breath for breath. “Good, that’s my girl.”

She grins ear to ear at the praise, her arms draped around my neck. “I’m still nervous.”

I shrug. “That’s completely normal. I’d be more concerned if you weren’t.”

James comes over to us, holding a tray of piercing utensils. “To the side, Sage.”

“Yes, sir.” I drop Naomi’s hand, stepping out of the way.

“Okay, Naomi, which side?” James asks, setting his tray down and grabbing a fresh pair of gloves.

“I’m sorry?” she asks, tilting her head a bit, confused by his question. She looks over to me for assistance.

“Which side of your nose do you want pierced?” I clarify.

“Oh! Right,” she says, looking back over at me. “I like how yours looks.”

James switches his tray and supplies over to her right side, shifting to that side, and I take a spot over on Naomi’s left. Shetakes my right hand in both of hers, squeezing tight. “Easy. He hasn’t even started yet.”

James chuckles, disinfecting Naomi’s nose, concentrating on the right side. He marks the placement of the piercing, letting her check it out and approve it. When she gives him the okay, he clamps her nostril, grabbing the piercing needle. “Okay, take a deep breath in. And breathe out through your mouth,” he says, counting down before piercing her nose.

Naomi squeezes my hand tight as the needle pierces her nose, tensing up. I use my free hand to rub small circles into her thigh. “Hey, the hard part is already over.”

James changes the needle out, leaving the stud in place. “All done!” he says, using a cotton swab to clean up any blood around the fresh piercing.

“That’s it?” Naomi asks, using her right hand to wipe the couple tears that had formed.

“That’s it. Here’s a mirror if you want to check out how it looks.”

She takes the hand-held mirror, examining her new piercing. “I love it!”

James takes a small gift bag from one of the cabinets and hands it to Naomi, walking her through after-care instructions. One of the things I love about the shop is they send every client home with after-care instructionsandthe supplies you need to take care of your new mod, whether you got a piercing or a tattoo. This way, you have everything you need, and there’s no confusion on the client’s part.

I hand Naomi a strawberry lollipop that I swiped from the snack bar. “Eat it before you get up from the table.”

She pops the candy into her mouth and salutes me, mocking me. “Yes, ma’am.” Now’s my turn to blush.

James turns to me as he cleans up the room. “You not going to get one, Sage?”

“Nah, not today. We have to make a pit stop over to the parents’ before we head back to campus.”

“A meet the parents? Already? Wow, seems pretty serious,” he says in a low voice.

“It’s not like that. It’s… It’s complicated,” I murmur, glancing over at Naomi, who’s eating her lollipop and checking out her new piercing in the mirror.

“Regardless, you seem happy kid. She makes you happy.”

I let out a sigh, still watching Naomi. “Yeah. Yeah, she does.”

James pats me on the back. “Don’t screw it up,” he says before walking over to Naomi. “Let me help you down.”

Naomi hops down from the table with his help, stabilizing herself.

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