“It doesn’t feel right,” I said, throwing away my juice box. “Taking something for free. Like I’m stealing from you and Bay.”

Will scowled at me. I wasn’t prepared for it. Will was usually all sunshine, but right now he was pure thunder. “Lou is Bay’s sister and my friend. She brings me coffee. Sometimes cookies. If you hug her right, she squeaks, and it’s delightful.” He jerked his chin at me. “You work here, and you’re also my friend. I’m not sure if you squeak yet, but I’d like to find out. You’re one of us now, whether you like it or not. So you are going to sit down, shut up, and let me help you.”

I’d never seen Will without a sense of humor. He carried a general air of happy contentment wherever he went. It was completely absent now. This Will could crack skulls, take names, and not give a single fuck.

“Do you know how long you two were out?” Will asked, leaning close. “Look at the clock, Dec.” His face shifted then, relaxing into anguish. “I called Mama Ami. Told her what was going on. Thought I’d see—see if I could help. I couldn’t.” A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I watched you both struggle, knowing there was nothing I could do to help you, for almost thirty minutes.”

I looked at the clock. Son of a bitch. He was right.

“I don’t care if you’re feeling cavalier about the whole thing. I’m not.” He stepped back, holding an arm out as an invitation to enter his workspace. Very meekly, I did what I was told.

The piercing room was compact and neatly organized, with several labeled drawers full of needle packs and jewelry, all sterilized and ready to go. A cushioned exam table, like the kind you see in the doctor’s office, except it had been reupholstered a deep purple, sat in the middle along with a tall metal tray that held everything Will would need. The room was painted a soothing lavender and smelled like antiseptic and incense.

“As long as your only objection is monetary, I don’t want to hear it.” He waited a second to see if we had any arguments. When we both shook our heads, he continued. “Good. Then let me do my job.” He waited for Lou to hop up onto the table. “Pull up your hair, please.”

Now that he was doing something, Will’s demeanor had shifted away from anger to something steadier, calming himself so that we’d relax in turn. “I’m going to do two surface piercings.” He turned his attention to Lou. “That means the piercing is going to sit flat against the skin—in this case, the back of your neck, which will put the stone of the jewelry in contact with the dermis.”

He held his hand out flat, parallel to the floor. “Pretend this is your skin. Piercings usually go through the plane, like this.” He poked a finger down next to his flat hand, pointing down to the floor. “Surface piercings use a different kind of jewelry, which follow the plane of the skin.” He traced a line under his hand. “Understand?”