A Little Dinged Up (gxg)

Chapter 22

The room was just as I left it, with the exception of Queen Nefertiti curled up on the pillows of the bed, she had evidently missed Ava's scent as well. As soon as she heard the door, she lifted her head, and then let out a meow before trundling to the side of the bed where Ava scooped her into her arms with delighted cooing. Titty was in heaven!

"Oh, my sweet little baby. I missed you so much little girl!"

"Damn, I hope you missed me a little bit too."

"I guess. Maybe just a touch." She gazed at me over the little kitty she was nuzzling, and I could see in her eyes just how much she missed me. Something told me there would be a kiss in our very near future.

"Ava." I tried to keep my voice steady, but I didn't want to wait to tell her everything I was feeling. "I missed you too. I hated it when you left, even though I knew why you did it. I hope you think it was worth the wait. I needed the closure with Trish, though it wasn't quite what I expected, and you've been so patient with me. I'm ready if you are when it comes to finding out what we can be."

"But she gave you an answer that led you to me?" Ava put Titty back on the bed, and walked closer to me, her hand taking mine.

I nodded slowly. "She stopped trusting me. She believed that the girl that pushed us in the pool was my side piece because Juliette and the others told her that, and then just cut me out of her life and expected me to chase her while she blocked me on all her social media. She never gave me a chance to explain."

Ava frowned as she thought about that, and I felt her grip on my hand loosen as though she were letting go, but I tightened mine so she couldn't. "But that means you didn't do anything wrong. Why aren't you with her? Why are you here at all?"

I stepped right up against her, wrapping my other hand around her waist and looking into her eyes. "The short answer was that I realized that even after all our time together, I didn't want to fight for her. I didn't think we could ever get back to what we would need to be in order to be happy again. It turns out that what I wanted was the person who pulled me back from my personal oblivion and helped me be happier. The woman who got me back into therapy and renewed my spirit while doing crazy things with me. I wanted the woman on the video who watched me get a tattoo with the sexiest expression I've ever seen. I wanted to fight for you, not her. In the last four months, you have put my heart back together, and made it better than before. My body may still be dinged up, but I think that my heart isn't because you're the mechanic that helped heal it."

Her face broke into a huge smile and tears pooled in her eyes. "You really mean that?"

I nodded at the corner, where a huge suitcase lay, still filled with clothes. "I packed my cat and as much other stuff as I could to stay here with you as long as you'll have me. I want to be yours. I want to make this work. I want to take you on dates and find out all the little things about you that I've yet to learn. I want to share my past with you and meet your family and all that good stuff. I know it won't be fast, but I want to take my time with you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that is pretty perfect!" she nodded happily. "But does that mean I can look at your ribs to see how bad I hurt you when I hugged you?"

"Oh, that wasn't my ribs." I dismissed the worry. Honestly, I had become good at ignoring that pain. And downing a lot of Advil!

"Then what was hurting?" she wondered with a frown.

Oh shit. Well, I guess it was time to show her the rest. "I might have gone to visit Liv again."

She immediately bit her lips and purred a little. Damn. We might not make dinner. No! Go slow Lylah!

"You got a new tattoo?" she raked my body with her eyes, as though she had x-ray vision and could see the hidden ink. "Can I see?"

"Among other things." I pulled her hips closer, trying to lean back to protect my sensitive nipples.

Her eyes shot wide open. "Lylah, what did you do?"

"You seemed to like the belly button piercing, so I might have gotten a few more," I admitted.

She knew exactly what I meant, and her eyes shot down to my breasts. "Are you serious?" she whined. "Can I pretty please see them? And what is the tattoo? This is torture!"

"You really want to see? Isn't that a little beyond where our relationship is?"

"If Liv got to see them, then I get to too!" she demanded.

"Be my girlfriend." I countered.

"Wha... what?" she stammered, her face turning crimson.

"If you're my girlfriend, I'll show you whatever you like," I assured her. "I want to be yours regardless."

"I had already planned on being your girlfriend as soon as you told me you were coming here, so of course I will be! Now, whip them puppies out!"

I started pulling my sundress over my head, but I was evidently too slow, and she helped pull it off quicker, leaving me in a pair of black low rise panties that didn't rub my back tattoo, and a black sports bra.

"Damn, I missed that!" She ran her hands lightly over my black lotus tattoo, then up to just under the sports bra.

"Hold on, let me." I lightly gripped her hand. "They're still really sensitive, and the sports bra protects them." Moving carefully, I got the bra off to reveal the little white gold bars with the black onyx ends that matched my belly piercing, and her eyes almost burst from her head.

"Oh fuck! Damnit Lylah, that is so not fair! Those look amazing!" She reached out to touch them, then pulled her hand back with an audible gulp, then lowered her hand to run her fingers lightly over the bruise on my ribs. Her fingers were so light and feathery, I really never wanted her to stop touching me, and I might have closed my eyes and let out a small moan. Her fingers stopped, and then I heard her shift until a feather light kiss was placed on my ribs. "We need to get you healed up so I'm not afraid to touch you!"

I snorted. "That might be a bit, my nipples need nine months to get better."

"What?" she exclaimed. "I have to see those for nine months and I can't do anything?" She was sitting on the bed looking very upset now.

"I didn't think it would be a big deal. I thought we weren't there with our relationship yet, so I thought I had time to help heal," I explained. She didn't look happy, but she nodded.

"Well, that makes sense. Still doesn't seem fair though." She pulled out her phone and made a quick call. That was kind of surprising considering I was standing there in nothing but a pair of panties and a pair of purple Converse. She held the phone to her ear, and then held up a finger at me. "Don't move, and don't say anything!"

I nodded quickly, willing to do anything that made her happy at this point.

Her eyes glazed over when the call was answered. "Liv, how quick can you get to Nashville to pierce my nipples? There is no way I'm going to last nine months staring at Lylah's nipples unless she's in the same boat!"

There was a bit of a smile for a minute as she listened to the answer. "Perfect! I'll have a car ready, and I'll get you a room. I can't wait to see you both!"

She listened a bit more, and I started to shift from one leg to the other, trying not to be uncomfortable with my breasts on display. "No, she hasn't shown me the other tattoo yet!" her eyes lit up now, and I could only shrug. It wasn't my fault she got distracted by my nipples!

"Okay, fly safe! We'll see you soon!" She ended the call and looked me in the eye. "Turn around and let me see your ass!"