Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
SINCLAIR
“ I need to ask you a huge favor.”
Elise and I are in our dorm room, getting ready to start our day. I’ve wanted to approach this idea with her since August mentioned it in his incredibly rude way and while I know deep in my soul that I shouldn’t give this man what he wants, I’m tempted. I’m more than tempted. I’ve already made the appointment and I’m hoping against hope Elise will go with me as moral support.
She’s applying mascara to her eyelashes, her gaze finding mine in the reflection of the mirror she’s currently in front of. “What do you need?”
Taking a deep breath, I blurt, “I want you to come with me to my first waxing appointment.”
“Ow.” Elise nearly pokes her eye out with the mascara wand and she drops it, turning to look at me. “Well, that was the last thing I expected you to say.”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know, but not that.” She’s grinning, despite the streak of mascara beneath her right eye. “When is your appointment?”
“Later this afternoon.” I sink my teeth into my lower lip so hard, it stings. “I’m nervous.”
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not so bad.” Elise shrugs.
“You’ve done it before?”
Nodding, Elise grabs a Q-tip and turns toward the mirror once more, dabbing away the stray mascara. “Plenty of times.”
I’m not surprised. She’s far more daring than I could ever be. “Are you completely bare or do you leave a little strip?”
“I’ve done the strip. I’ve gone totally bare. I’m bare now, though it’s growing back in a little.” She grimaces. “That can be itchy, just to warn you.”
I don’t even care about itchy. My biggest hang-up is the fact that someone is going to have their face down there. A stranger. And that’s weird.
You let August shove his face down there. He had his mouth and tongue all over you and you didn’t protest. As a matter of fact, you were sad when it was over.
That naggy little voice in my head can be a real bitch sometimes.
“Why are you doing this anyway?” Elise turns to look at me again, grinning. “For Tim?”
I frown. I almost ask who when she said his name. Then I remember everything that’s happened between all of us—specifically Elise, Rafe and Tim—and I roll my eyes. “Stop trying to make Tim happen. It’s never going to happen.”
Her smile fades. She doesn’t even mention my Mean Girls reference, which is disappointing. “Come on, Sinclair. You know I feel guilty about all of that.”
“And it’s fine. It really is.” I mean it, though she never believes me. I’m not interested in Tim anymore. I never really was, especially once August reentered my life and proceeded to rock my world. Not that it could happen again. I’m probably waxing my entire vagina for nothing. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about me. “I don’t care what you three do.”
Elise’s gaze is full of guilt. “You’re such a good friend. I don’t deserve you. Anyone else would judge the shit out of me and I wouldn’t blame them. I’m a total ho.”
“You are not a ho.” I go to her and wrap her up in a hug and she clings to me for a minute, her face pressed against my shoulder. “I envy how—free you are.”
“Free?” She pulls away slightly, frowning. “Free like I spread my legs too much? Is that what you mean?”
“No, of course not.” I keep my tone gentle. This girl beats herself up a lot. Makes me wonder if people judged her in the past. “I envy your sexual freedom. You’re not afraid to experiment, Elise. Most everything you do, I could never.”
“Well, college is the best time to let go and be free. Trust me.” She’s smiling again, her earlier worry forgotten. “I’ll go with you to your appointment.”
“You will?” I’m actually touched and surprised. I’m so used to doing most things on my own, not wanting anyone to help me. Especially since I never want my parents around or involved that much in my life. They’re embarrassing. My mom talks too much and makes everything about her. When they sent me away to boarding school, it felt good to get away from them all the time. Once they came into the money, they became completely overbearing. Especially my mother.
“Sure. Maybe I could get a wax there too. We can do it together! It’ll be fun.” Elise grins.
Do it together? Is she serious? That doesn’t sound fun.
Not at all.
I made the appointment online at The Wax Studio, which was the closest waxing salon to our campus. Since I scheduled it at three, that gave us plenty of time to walk over to the strip mall where the studio is located when we were finished with school for the day .
“Oh, this place looks cute,” Elise says as we approach the building. The front of the studio is nothing but glass windows and while I’d normally agree with her that it looked cute inside, I’m too nervous about what’s going to happen. It’s like I’m tongue-tied and I can’t speak.
Elise rushes forward and opens the door for me and I walk inside, not daring to look at the various women who are waiting in the lobby. I approach the sleek white desk and sign my name on the check-in form.
“Do you take walk-ins?” Elise asks the woman sitting behind the desk. She looks about our age and has the most perfect eyebrows I’ve ever seen.
“Sometimes. Depends on the schedule. What do you want done?”
“I’d love a Brazilian. Every hair down there, gone.” Elise makes a whistling noise as emphasis, waving her hand toward her crotch and my face heats with embarrassment.
The receptionist doesn’t bat an eyelash at Elise’s response. “Have you had one before?”
“Yes.”
“Then it probably shouldn’t take too long.” The woman smiles at Elise, her gaze shifting to me. “Did you two come here together?”
“I’m her emotional support.” Elise leans over the desk and whispers loudly, “She’s never done this before.”
My face is now on fire. I jab her in the ribs. “Shut up.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine. We just need you to fill out this paperwork first before you go in.” The woman hands me a clipboard and I take it from her with a murmured thank you.
The woman hands Elise a clipboard as well and we settle into the pale pink chairs, sitting next to each other. I start filling out the form, my embarrassment slowly dissipating. Maybe Elise is trying to make me feel better. Trying to get me to relax. This isn’t a big deal. Women get waxed all the time. The estheticians who work here have probably seen hundreds of vaginas. Maybe even thousands if they’ve been at this place for a while.
Once we finish filling out the information form, we’re told we have to wait.
“Want me to go back there with you if they let me?” Elise asks.
I hurriedly shake my head. “It’s not necessary.”
“Come on. Look at you.” She waves a hand at me. “You can’t stop bouncing your leg.”
I immediately stop. It’s something I do when I get nervous. “I’m fine.”
“It’s not like I’ll be staring at you down there anyway.” Elise laughs and I turn away from her. “Oh come on, Sinclair. Don’t be such a prude.”
“Fine, you can come into the room with me.” I cross my arms, feeling stupid. She’s right. I don’t need to act like such a prude. Again, this is no big deal.
So why the hell do I feel so nervous?
My knee starts bouncing again but thankfully, Elise doesn’t seem to notice.
Ten minutes later and we’re being led into a private room. There’s a bed/cot-looking thing in the center of the room with a folded robe sitting on top of it.
“Change into the robe, please. Make sure you’re not wearing any panties.” The woman smiles and leaves the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
“Did you ask for a full Brazilian?” Elise sounds shocked.
I nod. “May as well get rid of all of it.”
“Well, that’s not all of it.” Elise taps her finger against her pursed lips as she watches me start to take off my shorts. “What about the hair on your butt?”
I pause, lifting my head to meet her gaze. “My butt?”
“Oh yes. We’re furry down there too. Want me to check?” She bursts out laughing at what I know is a horrified expression on my face. “I’m kidding! But you might want to add the butt wax to your services.”
Good lord, this is growing more complicated by the minute.
When I’m in the robe—still wearing my T-shirt and bra thank you very much—I’m sitting on the edge of the table when there’s a knock on the door. A dark-haired woman in black scrubs enters the room seconds later, a pleasant smile on her face.
“Hi, Sinclair. Such a pretty name.” Her smile grows when her gaze lands on me.
“Hi.” I curl my hands in my lap, winding my fingers together.
“My name is Debbi. I see on your personal information sheet that this is your first time getting waxed.”
I nod and of course, Elise starts talking.
“She’s never done it before but she’s in college now and may as well make it look nice and clean down there, right?” Elise glances over at me.
I send her a pathetic smile, regretting my choices.
“You’re not doing it for a certain man in particular, are you?” Elise’s gaze narrows and I hurriedly shake my head.
“Not at all,” I lie. “This is for me.”
And August, if I get lucky and run into him again. The probability of that happening is probably less than one percent but hey.
A girl can dream.