Page 60 of Love Legacy

“It’s fine, nothing I haven’t seen before,” Ryan says, giving me a wink.

Sage chuckles when she sees the shocked reaction on my face. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Naomi, Ryan, and I have never hooked up. She’s the one who did my nipple piercings,” she explains as she pulls her long sleeve back on over her head.

“But I thought James was the piercer?”

“He is, but I’m also piercing trained and certified. James is the one who taught me when we first started dating. It’s just not my favorite thing to do, so I focus on tattooing. But every once in a while, he’ll pull me in to do nipple piercing or clitoral hood piercing on a woman who’s not comfortable having a male piercer do it,” Ryan answers, cleaning up the shop.

“A what?” I ask incredulously, crossing my legs at the thought.

“Yeah, you can get just about anything pierced. Some people are into that kind of thing. Sage at the time was not comfortable with being topless around James, and probably still isn’t honestly, so she had me do them.”

Sage grins. “And thankfully, you were willing and able because I love them. But I love all your work so…”

Ryan playfully shoves her. “Come on, let me cash you two out so you can be on your way to dinner.”

“Dinner?” I ask, glancing between her and Sage.

“Oops. Did I ruin the surprise?”

Sage waves her off. “It’s fine. We were going to be on the road soon anyway,” she turns to me, “I made us reservations for dinner at one of my favorite local spots tonight if that’s okay with you?”

I smile wide. “Sage! You’re spoiling me today. Of course that’s okay.”

Ryan rings Sage and me up, individually at first, but I insist on paying for both of our tattoos. “You paid for my nose piercing last time we were here, and you’ve already spoiled me so much today. Let me do this for you,” I say as I sign the receipt and send Ryan a tip through Venmo.

“Thank you again, Ryan, for doing this for us,” Sage says, pulling Ryan in for a last-minute hug.

I take a moment to hug Ryan too before exiting the shop with Sage.

“You guys enjoy your date night, and Merry Christmas!”

21

Naomi

Sage is constantly surprising me. When I woke up this morning, never did I expect that we would spend the day getting tattoos, and end the day out to dinner at a very nice restaurant. I was so lucky to have her, and I think I needed today. Knowing that I was about to head back home to Georgia and be back in that extremely conservative community for the first time in months, our date day was the reassurance I didn’t realize I needed. Regardless of how my parents might react once I come out and tell them about Sage, I know being with her is right.

Tonight, she decided to take me to this upscale, contemporary Indian restaurant not too far from her parents’ house. We’ve had many conversations about how limited my taste buds were, and I told Sage that one of the cuisines I wanted to try the most was Indian food now that my roommates have introduced me to sushi. She hasn’t tried this place yet, but she did say that Mel and Ken come here often for date nights.

“So, does anything look good to you?” Sage asks, snapping my focus back into the present.

“Hm?” I ask, looking up at her, clearing my mind.

She chuckles. “I’ve been trying to grab your attention for the last five minutes so we could at least get started with drinks and an appetizer. What’s on your mind, Naomi? You’ve been lost in your own head.”

I give her a small smile as she reaches across the table to take my hand in hers. “Sorry, I’ve just been thinking about the day and trying to anticipate how this Winter break is going to work out.”

Sage gives me a sympathetic smile. “Nervous?”

“Very,” I say with a nod. “I think I’m going to wait until after Christmas to talk to them. I know it’s not going to go over well, so I want to make it through the holidays first, and then I’ll come out to them and tell them about us.”

“You think it will really be that bad?”

“I would love to be wrong about their reactions, but considering how much they disapproved of you when they dropped by unannounced and the fact that they cut me off financially when I dared to leave High Valley University, I won’t be surprised if they had an extreme reaction.”

Sage squeezes my hand gently in a comforting gesture. “So what are you going to tell them exactly?”

“That I’m gay and that I’m falling in love with this amazingly kind, smart, sexy-as-sin woman named Sage. So they can eitherget on board or keep it moving because you are the best thing that’s happened to me, and I’m not going to give you up.”

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