she walks through the back door of the shop, finding me leaning over my station, talking to myself while Lily talks to Arlo.
“Praying.”
The clicking of her high-heel boots stops a few feet away, and I lift my head to look at her, knowing what I’m going to see. “You’re what?” she asks with her nose wrinkled and eyes trained on me.
“You heard me.”
“Well, yeah. But why?”
I turn my entire body around, placing my ass against the cabinet, and cross my arms. “Did you know Lily’s setting me up with someone today?” I raise an eyebrow.
Gigi’s eyes widen. “Um…” she mumbles.
“Thought so.”
“Well…I…”
I lift a hand to her. “Save it.”
The women in this family are thick as thieves. I have no doubt Gigi is in on Lily’s grand plan, along with Tamara, Rebel, and Jo too. Besides being nosy and unable to keep a secret, they have a constant need to try to fix people. And this month’s current target is me.
“You’re now part of the enemy camp,” I tell her as she stands there, blinking at me, knowing she’s been caught and I’m not overly happy.
I’d looked into the waiting room as soon as Lily left me behind. To my surprise, it wasn’t a random woman from her book group, but Arlo, someone I’d known…which Lily damn well knew.
“Aren’t you the one who asked for our help?” she asks me, mindlessly rubbing the back of her neck.
I tick my head toward the front of the shop. “Yeah, but I thought I’d get some warning, not have her show up at work as a surprise.”
Gigi gasps. “She’s here? Like, here, as in now, now.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Lily didn’t tell me she was stopping by today.”
“She’s my first appointment. She’s more than stopping by, but at least it’s only a consultation.”
Gigi’s eyes widen. “Hold up. She’s getting a tattoo?”
“Yep, and I’m the lucky one doing it.”
“I know you’ll do a great job. But seriously, she’s getting a tattoo?”
“Again, yes. What’s the big deal?”
Gigi’s eyes move around, not meeting mine. “She just never seemed like the tattoo type.”
I narrow my eyes, knowing someone’s playing me or both of them are. “Listen, it doesn’t matter if she’s the tattoo type or not. I know why she’s here. Lily explained to me the grand plan to identify and fix my issues. I told her I’m game because I’ve never been scared of a challenge.”
“If you’re up for the challenge, why are you back here and not up there, welcoming her to the shop?”
Pike strolls in behind my cousin, his wife. He looks at me and then at her. “What did I miss?”
“The woman Lily is fixing Carmello up with is here,” Gigi whispers.
“Oh boy,” he mutters.
I throw up my hands, glaring at him. “You too? I mean, I expect this shit from the girls. But you, Pike, I thought you’d have my back in shit like this.”
He shrugs. “I have Gigi’s back first since she’s my girl.”
“You’re a traitor to all dick-kind.”
He stares at me, blinking. “Dick-kind?”
“The bro code. You’re a traitor. Card revoked.”
Pike turns his head to where Lily and the girl are talking but still not visible. “Have you seen her yet?”
“Nope.”
He stalks toward me, arm out, and pokes me straight in the chest. “Then withhold your judgment, brother.”
“Hello,” Gigi says, waving her hands. “I’m right here, and I can hear you.”
He glances at her, smiling. “Babe, you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met. I’m just calling a spade a spade. You going to tell him she isn’t beautiful?”
“No,” she groans. “I just don’t like hearing you think she’s beautiful. But I ain’t gonna lie, if I were even remotely interested in pussy, I’d be following her around like a puppy dog and totally go lesbo.”
Pike stares at his wife, speechless for a second before he recovers. “You’d leave me for her?”
She comes up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle. “If chicks were my thing, you wouldn’t be here, sweetie. So, no, I’m not leaving you for her. Anyway, she’s Carmello’s girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” I argue. “She’s my fake girl for a month, and that’s it.”
Pike pulls Gigi around his body, throwing his arm over her shoulder, both fuckers laughing. “He’s so gone and doesn’t even know it.”
“I know,” she says, almost too giddy. “It’s going to be fun to watch.”
“There’s nothing to watch. It’s like the world’s longest homework assignment, or therapy session, by someone who isn’t qualified to diagnose me when there’s nothing broken.”