Chapter 1

1

OLIVER

“You’re such a loser.”

“But what if?—”

“Go talk to her! Honestly, Ollie, it’s not hard.”

I scrub a hand over my jaw. Maddy’s right. I should go talk to her and everything will be fine.

“Ask her out like a normal human instead of getting more piercings.” She throws rubbish in the bin and crosses her arms. Annoyed at having this discussion. Again.

And because I interrupted her break between clients. She owns Whimsical Ink, a tattoo parlour beside Ella’s piercing store.

Torture for me, knowing my sister spends every day beside Ella while I’m across town trying to find a shred of courage to ask her out.

“I’m just getting the jewellery changed,” I say sulkily. Maybe I am a loser. I’ve run my business for years, led it to success, and I’m here complaining to my sister about asking a woman out.

A younger woman at that.

My chest clenches. Fuck. I’ve got no idea what I’m doing. Why I keep going back. Ella probably dreads the day I show up.

“Ollie, you can do it.” Maddy grasps my shoulders and shakes me while she speaks. “She’s lovely and you’re great and you can do it. Nothing’s stopping you. She hasn’t dated anyone since meeting you. You’re welcome for that info by the way, and she willingly pierces you instead of giving you to someone else.”

“Will you stop shaking me?”

“Fine.” She releases me and crosses her arms, flashing her watercolour tattoo. “Promise me you’ll ask her out.”

“I’ll try.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’ve said that for the past four years. Good luck, now go away.”

I smooth down my suit jacket Maddy creased, which has the added benefit of drying my sweaty palms.

“Tell me what happens,” Maddy yells as the door slams shut behind me.

If I’m ever successful asking Ella out, she’ll be the first to know.

It’s five steps from Maddy’s store to Chic Steel. Five steps to get my mind under control and calm my ragged breathing. How I can negotiate sales and manage over fifty employees without breaking a sweat when the thought of seeing Ella causes panic to tighten my chest and close my throat, I don’t know.

I hope she’s there. If she isn’t, I’ll turn around and come back another day.

The only reason I show up is to see her.

The only reason I have piercings is because I passed a new shop one day and saw her.

I was visiting my sister the day Chic Steel opened. There was a line down the street and I got caught in it while walking past.

And there she was.

Standing at the entrance greeting people, talking to them and offering advice.

Dark hair wavy against her jawline, silver hoops decorating her ears, with the occasional stud sparkling in the light.

I joined the line. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to talk to her. Needed to talk to her.

Not that I’m any good at it.

The only way I could think of talking to her was to request a piercing. But only if she did it.

There was a board behind the counter with a list of options, and my eyes snagged on ‘nipple piercing.’ I’d glanced at her furtively and noticed hers pressing against her tight green shirt, swallowed thickly, and thought, why not?

When I asked her to pierce me, I hadn’t considered the fact she’d need to touch me to do it.

That was a new kind of torture.

Her small hands were covered in clear rubber gloves, but I could still feel the warmth from them on my skin. Could see her dark head bent over me while she carefully placed a black dot and asked if I was happy with the placement.

If she’s happy, I’m happy.

I also hadn’t considered the pain. Or the fact she was shoving a needle through my skin. Thankfully, I have a cheek to bite to disguise my whimpers and managed to keep my wide-eyed reaction at having metal pushed through my nipple to a minimum.

At least I thought so. Ella took one look at me and bit her lip until it was red and glistening to keep her smile at bay.

“All right?” she’d asked, and I nodded and followed her out to pay, keeping my eyes above her waist instead of on her tight jeans.

As I tapped my card, I noticed an asterisk at the bottom of the board stating ‘genital prices on application.’ My chest seized, and I choked on air. I didn’t know it was something you could do.

“Is that…” I trailed off, unable to finish my sentence. She looked at me inquiringly, and I tried again. “You pierce genitals?” My voice sounded squeaky.

She blinked at me a few times before her throat bobbed and she replied, “Yes. Are you interested?”

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

Her cheeks flushed, stark against her dark hair. “Some people find it helps with…pleasure.”

“Oh.” I frowned, not understanding how it would work. “For who?”

“Depends on the piercing.”

An awkward silence fell as we stared at each other. Red spread down her neck, and my heart pounded harder until I could barely hear over it and the crowd of people waiting in line.

“Thank you for your help,” I croaked out and spun for the door before she could respond.

I still don’t know what I was thinking, asking about genital piercings. The fact I returned a week later to get one caused more confusion. After a thorough deep dive on the internet, I decided why not. It’s totally normal to ask your crush to pierce your dick in the hope you can figure out how to talk to her.

If I ever ask her out and we become intimate, maybe she’ll like the feeling of the metal? And seeing her claim on me. Because that’s what it is. Her claiming me in a small way. Or me forcing her to claim me?

It doesn’t make sense. Either way, I enjoy seeing her mark on me, even if she doesn’t see me that way. I get a new one added every year. Maddy laughed when she found out.

Today I’m not getting a piercing. Just a jewellery change to set eyes on her, and figure out how to see her outside of her store for once. It’s going to happen this time.

It will.

I enter her store and nod to the woman behind the counter. It’s not Ella. This woman started working here two years ago and has long hair with streaks of colour through it.

“Is Ella in today?”

The woman’s eyes widen, and she nods rapidly.

“Is she available to help me?”

“I’ll check.” She launches herself through a door that bangs against the wall, and I flinch at the sound.

Good. She’s here. That’s good.

But now I have to talk to her.

Fuck.

I haven’t planned anything. Don’t even know how to start the conversation. Do I ask her straight out to date me? Do I need to be casual? Or do I ask for her number? Is that creepy? Will she think I want her number to ask her piercing questions? Is she allowed to date me if she’s my piercer or is there a rule against it like doctors?

“She’ll be out in a second. Head to room three.” The woman blinks at me until I turn numbly and walk down a hallway to the room.

It’s always the same room.

I sit on the edge of the piercing chair and rub my palms along my trousers to remove the dampness.

Shit.

I haven’t figured out what to say. Should have asked Maddy.

What do I say?