and Pine Sol.
Nathan Ink put the tattoo gun down. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but she could tell he had finished the design when he rubbed salve across the tender skin. Faye stood on her tiptoes and tried to get a peek at the tattoo. No luck. Nathan covered it with a loose bandage, and the young man pulled up his jeans, looking dazed. The woman smiled, took his offered card and ran it through the credit card machine. A few moments later, he left the shop, bumping into Faye as he passed.
Curt. His name spilled from his mind with ease when he brushed her shoulder. Self-conscious, he straightened his blue flannel shirt and moved away, leaving a sweet scent behind that reminded her of being in a bakery.
“Nice cologne. Not very masculine, though,” she muttered and debated whether or not to follow him.
Faye looked back at the shop. The woman was busy cleaning up, but Nathan stood at the window staring at her. He tilted his head to the side, and a little prickle of heat ran up the back of her neck. He tried to get inside her head.
She smiled, shook her finger at Nathan and then followed the young man, wondering which of the deadly sins he would fall prey to.
Curt meandered up Sixth Street, his gait unsteady. She couldn’t decide if he was drunk, or if it was the pain from the tattoo. Deciding to pull Azal’s trick, Faye opened her mind.
Damn thing stings. What was I thinking? The thread of his thoughts were sluggish, slurred.
She almost lost him in a throng of laughing young women celebrating a bachelorette party, but his thoughts floated easily in the air above the garish, heavily made up faces of the women, and she was able to hang on.
Bitches. Fucking bride. Probably looking to get laid one last time. Maybe I should help her out. Bet that faggot from earlier wouldn’t make fun of me now. Got a real cupcake tattoo tonight. Faye pushed through the girls, smiling and congratulating the bride who swayed on her feet. With a push of the mind, Faye suggested to a bridesmaid it was time to take the future bride home. As the bridesmaid sang her new idea to the bridal party, Faye picked up the thread of Curt’s thoughts once more.
Hope this tattoo helps me get laid. She’s a fucking beauty. Proves I’m not a damn queer.
She quickened her step and found her target in line outside of Hoek’s Pizza. The black lights attached to the front of the walkup window gave the young man’s face a wan look, and illuminated the dark circles under his eyes. Restless, he shifted back and forth on his feet and then too quick for anyone else to see, a glow of light pulsed through his body. He stilled. Faye watched him reach down and gently touch the covered tattoo. Then he leaned forward, and she could have sworn he smelled the hair of the woman standing in line before him.
Would love to run my hands over her body…she’s got a fox tail too. Bitch must work at that strip club…maybe she’d like a little extra cash.
Curt reached forward as if he meant to carry his thought out, but then stepped back.
What the fuck! Can’t go around touching women. She wouldn’t be interested, anyway.
A second pulse of light flickered through Curt. The woman in front of him turned around, her eyes glittering in the black lights. She wore a skin tight blue dress, leaving nothing to the imagination. A miniature fox tail, about the size of a lucky rabbit’s foot, hung from a bracelet on her wrist. Faye recognized it as the emblem for the strip club, Foxy’s. The dancers employed at the seedy club roamed Sixth Street on the weekends, often passing out the little fox tail ornaments to help drum up business. Rumor had it they occasionally worked out side deals with the customers for other favors.
“You smell so good,” the woman whispered. Confusion grew on her face and she reached out to touch the man’s chest, causing the strange light to flicker through him again. “So…yummy, like vanilla icing. My name is Heidi. What’s yours?”
“Curt.”
“Curt. I like it.” Heidi smiled, though her eyes were murky and baffled. She tilted her head, causing her glossy black hair to drift to the side. “Want to go back to my place for a private dance?”
“But I don’t know you.” Curt took a step back. Faye grinned. Though his thoughts traveled a sexual path, Curt reacted as if he were unused to the attentions of a woman as worldly as Heidi.
“So get to know me.” Heidi closed the small gap he’d put between them, touching his chest again.
Curt stepped back, repulsed.
What the hell’s wrong with this guy, Faye wondered. I bet that’s not the usual reaction Miss Hotsie Totsie there gets.
“C’mon.” Heidi grasped his arm, and Curt shuddered at her touch, but followed her out of the line.
Intrigued, Faye shadowed them to an alley, listening to Curt’s thoughts.
She’s actually into me! So why am I so turned off?
Faye peeked around the corner of the alley.
“I can’t wait. Screw the dance. I need this right now.” Heidi pushed Curt against the wall with a possessive kiss, rubbing her lithe frame against his. She touched his lower body, and another burst of light shot through him. He moaned, and encouraged by the sound, Heidi grabbed his arms, pinning Curt against the building. “That smell is driving me crazy!”
Faye stepped back and heard Heidi giggle as she pounced on Curt again. A little late night porn was fine in the confines of your home, but a peep show in the alley…not her thing. She shouldn’t have followed Curt in the first place. The pulse of light charging through him had probably only been his hormones reacting to lust. It was the sort of thing her special skills allowed her to pick up on from time to time, and not always something she cherished. It didn’t mean anything odd was going on. Faye had seen stranger things happen on Sixth Street. After all “Keep Austin Weird” was the city’s motto.
“Dammit, Azal.” She leaned against the wall outside the alley, frustrated.
He’d done it to her again. Piqued her interest enough to investigate something that was none of her business. She’d sworn off this stuff a long time ago. Time to call it a night.
“Goddammit!” Heidi’s curse rang out from the alley. “What the hell is your problem?”
Faye peeked again. Curt looked down at his crotch, a bewildered, embarrassed expression on his face. Heidi stepped back, stamping her foot.
“I don’t believe this,” she said, and gestured to Curt’s pants. “You wanted me. I know you did. I felt it. You don’t dance for men every night and not know when they want to fuck you!”
“Yes…yes, I did…I do,” Curt said, fumbling for the words. “This has never happened to me before.”
Heidi lunged toward him, trapping his mouth in a lurid lip lock. Curt’s hands reached up and shoved her away.
“Stop,” he said, panting.
Heidi, her face red, stalked out of the alley. Curt’s thoughts floated in the chilly night air.
What the hell happened? I couldn’t…damn…and she
