Oh, La-la!

Chapter 7. Kayla

“I bet the dress was a huge hit!”

I roll my eyes at Tone and he just grins at me. “I was terrified all night of flashing my goodies,” I whine.

“Pish! It covered the important parts,” he shrugs. “And you can’t look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t feel damned sexy all night!”

I’m not quite ready to admit just how sexy I felt in that scrap of fabric posing as a dress. I don’t know why, but I haven’t told Smash and Tone about the moment Ash and I shared. I guess I feel guilty. I mean, nothing happened, and as we walked around the gallery, Beth had joined us. She didn’t actually say anything, but at least she wasn’t outright hostile. And Ash and I were back to our normal platonic relationship. So what if I couldn’t stop thinking about what it felt like when he hugged me before leaving for the night? Or the way he looked at me when it was just the two of us? Probably, it’s all in my head. I mean, Tone suggested last month that my v*gina was going to heal up if I didn’t have s*x soon, and maybe he has a point.

“You did look hot in that thing,” Smash agrees as she sits down and hands Tone and I a beer each. “I don’t know how you keep that tiny figure of yours when you refuse to exercise.”

“Sculptures are heavy,” I shrug. “Besides, I walk to work every day. Cardio!” She pokes her tongue out at me.

“Alright, alright!” Tone says in his announcer’s voice and holds up his beer, proposing a toast. “To Lala! For having her first successful show!”

I grin and clink my bottle to his. “And to Smash for yet another win for the Demolition Dolls!” I toast.

“And to Tone, who, I assume, had everyone on their feet in that club last night!” Smash added, clinking her bottle to ours before we all took deep sips.

Normally, after a show, Tone is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement, but he’s been oddly quiet tonight. I study him as I start to pick at the label on my bottle. His hair is currently a bright neon green that makes his chocolatey skin seem almost darker. His light brown eyes are clear as they meet mine with a smirk. “Done taking inventory?”

I smile at him. “I just don’t think I’ve ever been in your presence after a gig when I could get a word in!”

He shrugs and takes another sip from his beer. Smash and I exchange worried frowns. This is not like Tone at all! “It was fine,” he says after a pause. “I mean, most of the evening was good. Really good. But… there was a bit of a scuffle when a chicken-legged party bro with too much product in his hair was caught slipping something into girls’ drinks. He was caught before anything bad happened, but it just tinges the night, you know? Like, I’m there for everyone to have a great time! Not so some sick bastard can drug women and rape them.”

His eyes flash with anger and I reach over to touch his hand gently. “At least it’s a good place that looks out for their patrons. You gonna get more gigs there?”

He nods, his smile is tight, but I can tell he’s trying to shake off the darkness from the night before. “Yeah. Besides, the bartender, Preston, is adorable! I need his notch on my bedpost,” he wiggles his eyebrows at me while I roll my eyes.

“You are such a slut,” Smash laughs.

“Well, someone here has to be getting some. I figure I’m picking up the slack between the two of you!”

“I’m busy,” I say defensively. “I don’t have time to babysit some man’s ego and pretend that his needs come before mine. No, thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see,” Tone mutters. “What about you?” he asks, motioning to Smash. “What’s your lame excuse for not having s*x in… how many months now?”

Smash lightly punches him on the arm. “Too many! But you know how hard it is for me to find a guy that’s ok with… this,” she says as she gestures down at herself. Smash is tall, nearly six feet, but that doesn’t stop her from wearing the clunky heels she adores, and she has fantastic posture so she towers over most guys. She’s never been fat, but she is solid, and now that she’s in one of the area’s top Roller Derby teams, she is pure muscle. Honestly, I couldn’t have moved some of my sculptures without her! Her ever-changing hair is currently a deep plum with light blue highlights that compliments her purple floral dress. She kind of reminds me of Ms. Frizzle from those books we read as kids. That is, if Ms. Frizzle’s hair color changed every time you saw her and she was a total badass.

“Guys suck,” I wink at her. “You’re stunning and anyone who doesn’t see that is a f*cking idiot.”

Tone lifts his beer bottle again. “Here here!”

“Ok… changing the subject!” Smash giggles. “What about your work husband, La? Didn’t you say he was going to your opening last night?”

I sputter as I choke on my beer. The thought of Ash going to my “opening” puts way too many dirty ideas in my head. Coughing, trying to recover, I nod. “Yeah, he and his fiancée came. And he is not my work husband!” I hate that term.

“He is too your work husband,” she grins. “So, you met the other woman, huh? What she like?”

“She seemed… nice,” it’s a tiny lie. Actually, she was distant and a little cold, but I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m not sure how I would feel meeting my fiancé’s ‘friend from work’ who was half naked. I groan.

“Nice, huh?” Tone can sense I’m holding back.

“Honestly? Can you blame her with that dress you made me wear? I swear, I thought she was going to claw my eyes out when I hugged him!”

Tone laughed and Smash just shook her head with a smile. “You hugged the man?” Tone managed between chuckles. “I bet you didn’t even use the double-sided tape I gave you!”

My brows draw together as I look at him in confusion. “I didn’t know what it was for. I thought you put it in there by mistake.”

His laughing doubles and he wipes tears from the corners of his eyes while I scowl at him. “For the neckline!” he cackles. “You were supposed to put the tape on the neckline so you didn’t flash anyone!”

“You didn’t tell me that!” I yell, horrified.

Now Smash is laughing, too. “Geez, no wonder you were worried about showing your goodies! How many people did you flash?”

The memory of when Ash asked if I was taped or glued into the dress hits me and I blush hard. “Tone! That is the last time I let you dress me!”

“Baby doll, I will be dressing you until we are causing trouble in a retirement home,” he says, catching his breath. “Hell! Girl, I’ll be dressing you even then! I’ll just have to remember to make time to teach you how to wear what I pick out for you.”

I huff, still trying to decide if I had actually flashed anyone. I don’t think I did, at least no one said anything about it. Other than Ash asking… my cheeks burn as I wonder just how much he saw while trying not to embarrass me.

“Are you actually blushing right now?” Smash giggles out. “La-la, may I remind you that you pose nude for art classes all the time?”

“First of all, it’s not all the time. Secondly, posing for a class is different. People are mentally prepared to see… skin,” it’s lame and I know it, but I keep talking, trying to explain my embarrassment. “Flashing someone in a dress, when they’re unprepared… it’s just… it’s… deviant.”

Tone and Smash look at me with their mouths hanging open for a moment before they both dissolve into laughter at my expense again. I drain my beer and get up to get us another round. Normally, I don’t drink very much, but the thought of possibly showing Ash my n*pples has me blushing again and fighting off a panic attack. How can I face him at work? And it’s not like I can waltz up to him and say, “Hey, buddy! By any chance did you see my n*pples on Friday night?” I hand the bartender my card and groan as he gives me a sympathetic smile, almost as if he can read my mind.

“I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed thinking some rich guy maybe caught sight of a little more boob than you intended,” Tone says dryly before I can even sit back down. “Maybe it’ll help your sales. They say showing a bit of skin can be quite the selling feature.”

“Ew,” I wrinkle my nose at him. “I’m not some meat market. And it isn’t the people I don’t know,” although the idea of flashing that severe woman, Mrs. Burkes, gives me the heebie jeebies. “It’s more about the people I do know.”

Smash c***s her head to the side. “Well, we weren’t there, and we’ve seen your ta-ta’s plenty of times!”

“Yeah, and I’ve met Cecelia, and believe me, she would not mind!” Tone agrees.

“Oh! You mean your work husband!” Smash suddenly exclaims as realization dawns.

“Yes, my work hus- no! Ash,” I hiss. “Don’t call him that!”

“Ok, yeah, that could be awkward,” Smash concedes as Tone nods in agreement. “But you said he’s pretty chill, and completely devoted to his fiancée, right?”

“Yeah, and he’d be a gentleman about it,” I think out loud. “But how can I look him the eye not knowing if he’s been unintentionally nipped?”

“Geez, I hope you didn’t bend over,” Tone mutters into his beer.

“Why?” I ask slowly, knowing I’m not going to like his answer.

Smash makes a weird muffled snorting sound, and I glance at her while she fails to hide her smirk. “That skirt was a lot shorter than the ones you usually wear,” she says.

My eyes go wide as Tone adds, “I said not to wear a bra, but I didn’t think I’d have to give you panties.”

“Ok, can we maybe try to talk a little quieter about my undergarments?” I whisper as I notice several people turning their heads in our direction. “And I wore underwear. A thong,” I add quickly before Tone can berate me for visible panty lines. “Besides, I don’t think I bent over. I was too afraid of falling off my stilts or flopping a boob out.”

“Well, then, I’m sure it’s fine,” Tone tries to reassure me. “And you’ll find out on Monday morning if your work husband saw nirvana based on how nervous he acts.”

The idea isn’t exactly reassuring.