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His rumble of laughter soothes my nerves. “Alright, girl, I got ya. Let’s get these consent forms signed.”

I introduce Randy to Rusty and watch the look of excitement on Randy’s face as he grips Rusty’s hand and shakes it with both of his.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been wanting this for so long, and it’s taken Laney far too long to set up.”

“Uh-huh.”

I roll my lips to hide my smirk as Rusty squeezes Randy’s hand until he winces before letting go.

“Let’s get these forms signed and get started.” Rusty leads us back to his room, passing Kendal’s open door where she sits at her station waiting for me.

“Take a seat, Randy.” Rusty motions to the chair where Randy will get his work done, and Randy grins at me.

“So you understand how this works? Laney has designed something for you and you’re blindfolded until the reveal and then she gets whatever you designed?”

Randy nodded. “Yes.”

This was never something I would’ve agreed to, but for this instance, it works and I have no intention of signing any consent forms. I’m just going to chat with Kendal and wait for the reveal when I can finally let this asshole have it.

Once everything was signed and Randy was in the chair, with his shirt off, and his shoulder and chest exposed, I fitted the blindfold for him.

“I can’t wait to see this, Laney babe.”

“Me either.”

Rusty winks at me and I walk out to wait with Kendal.

“Hey, girl.” She hugs me tight, her petite frame a direct opposite of her huge husband, but she and Rusty worked, they are one of the best couples I know and have been so supportive of Lucas and Sam through Joey’s illness, which is how I’d become friends with them. It seems the whole family has adopted me and I like it. Being the only child of older parents has made me feel isolated and alone for so long.

“How’s Joey?”

“Getting there. They might let him home at the end of the week, but he needs a kidney and that’s the reality.”

Kendal purses her red lips and shakes her head. “It sucks that this is happening to him. Sam and Lucas must be beside themselves.”

“It does, and they are, but all we can do is support them and we’re doing that.”

Kendal wipes a tear from her eye, careful not to smudge the heavy kohl lining them. She’s dressed in ripped, skintight black jeans and a Kiss vest, her dark hair long and wild down her backand I want to be her so badly. Not her looks necessarily, but her confidence, her grit.

We chat for a bit about Joey, and how we can best support Sam and Lucas and then she shows me the tattoo Randy had designed for me. It was his name in a swirling script with his family crest underneath. It was a brand more than anything and so indicative of him, that I wince at my own stupidity for staying so long.

Kendal asks about my plans for the future, as she tears the design in two and tosses it in the bin. She never would’ve done it anyway, it was her one rule never to tattoo a man’s name on a woman like an ownership tag.

“So, this is gonna blow up in about fifteen minutes. Do you have a plan? A place to live or work? I know you just got your degree in Public Relations, right?”

“Yep, graduated Magna Cum Laude.”

“That’s impressive. Congrats, girl.”

“Thank you. It was hard work, but worth it, I hope.”

“So, what are your plans now?”

“Find a place to stay, I have a friend Christie who might let me crash at hers for a bit Find a job and have both close to Sam and Lucas. I want to be there for them.”

“That's why you stuck it out with pencil dick for so long?”

I giggle at her name for Randy. Kendal has made it clear she didn’t like him from day one, and she’s only met him once. In fact, none of my friends liked him much, and Lucas and Sam had been relieved when I told them we were breaking up, even though I left some of the details out for Lucas. My friend would kill him for what he’d done to me, and he needed to be with their son, not in jail.