Page 21 of Mason Wilder
“You’ll be fine in a few days.” Alyssa handed her a mirror. “Take a look.”
Tessa opened her mouth and admired her new jewelry. She imagined showing it to Mason and the expression on his face, and, hopefully, some erotic images it may conjure up in his head.
Next was Sindy’s turn, which turned out to be a little more dramatic, but she got through it. They sat side by side on the small couch and took a selfie of their matching piercings.
Tessa’s mom and Audra entered the room to inspect their new jewelry and Tessa and Sindy both opened their mouths.
“Very nice.” Tessa’s mom stuck out her tongue to show off the same silver ball sitting in the center of her tongue. Then Audra did the same thing, and, lastly, Alyssa.
Tessa and Sindy looked at each other and laughed, but their laughter was overshadowed by loud voices and heavy footsteps from inside the apartment, and everyone turned toward the doorway.
“They’re all here?” Alyssa asked. “I swear those guys are lost without us.”
Tessa heard discernable voices. Damien and Jimmy. Her dad and Papi. Was that Lucas? Oh God, it was, which meant Mason was here too. She wasn’t ready to see him so soon after her piercing. She had a pronounced lisp and her tongue felt as if it didn’t fit inside her mouth.
“Where are you?” Damien called, looking for his wife.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. “In here.”
A blue Mohawk poked through the doorway. “What’s going on?” He looked at everyone and displayed an evil grin. “Who got pierced? And where?”
“The girls got their tongues pierced,” Tessa’s mom boasted.
“What?” Tessa’s dad pushed past Damien and into the room. “Alyssa, you pierced my daughter’s tongue?”
“Relax, baby,” Tessa’s mom put her arm around her dad’s shoulders. “It’s not a big deal.” We all have our tongues pierced. It seems to be a rite of passage for the women in this family.”
Jimmy suddenly invaded the room and looked around with a wide dimpled smile. “I’m having such a flashback right now.” He put his hand to his temple and closed his eyes. “Tour bus. Audra’s first go round as Immortal Angel’s tour manager. The back bedroom.”
Audra’s hand flew to her cheek and the rest of them laughed.
“What’s he talking about?” Tessa asked. She’d heard a million stories from when Immortal Angel had toured the world, but didn’t know this one.
“I pierced Audra’s nipples,” Alyssa said. “It was before the two of them were a couple. We were in the back bedroom. Me, Audra and your mom. As usual, the guys couldn’t be away from us for five minutes, and they all barged into the bedroom. Just like now. Poor Audra was wearing a big oversized white T-shirt, braless, trying to cover her boobs with her arms without irritating the new piercings, and Jimmy couldn’t take his eyes off her chest. He knew exactly what was going on.”
“I was so embarrassed!” Audra let out a lighthearted laugh.
“Where did everyone go?” Papi’s voice came from outside the room.
“What’s everyone laughing about?” Now Lucas. If Mason joined them Tessa was running out of the room and out the front door. This wasn’t how she planned on showing him her piercing.
Relief flooded her when she realized Mason wasn’t with them, so she slipped out of the room and left everyone behind. Before she found Mason, she went to the fridge and filled a glass with crushed ice. As she took a big mouthful in order to soothe her raw tongue, she heard Mason come up behind her.
“What’s going on back there?”
She swallowed the ice, turned toward him and smiled with her mouth closed. She stuck her tongue out, briefly, and clamped her mouth shut while Mason still had his eyes locked on the jewelry.
His gaze shot up to her eyes. “Let me see that again.”
She tried to tone down her smile and opened her mouth again for a few seconds while he leaned in to inspect it.
“You got your tongue pierced.”
It wasn’t a question, just an observation, and Tessa couldn’t tell if he was intrigued or surprised. Not wanting to sound silly in case she lisped, she simply nodded.
“Does it hurt?” Mason asked.
“No.” It sounded more like she said “dough”, and she immediately thought of Homer Simpson and his comical catchphrase.
“Open your mouth again.”
This time, he held her chin in his hand when she stuck her tongue out. His gaze went from her mouth to her eyes and stopped there. She closed her mouth as a shiver ran down her back. His hand dropped from her chin abruptly and his cheeks turned bright red.
She swallowed and waited.
He took a step back. “It looks good.” Then he practically ran from the kitchen.
It wasn’t exactly the reaction she anticipated, but something obviously stirred inside him. And that was the reaction she had hoped for.
