Tenley was still wrapped around me, petting my arm. Her pupils were huge. I worried about what else she might have taken, given the cocktail of narcotics I’d seen in her medicine cabinet.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, unsure how they knew each other.

“I live across the hall. What are you doing here?”

Tenley’s neighbor worked in the strip club Sienna managed. Oh, the irony. “I’m checking on her tattoo,” I said, concerned about the information Sarah might impart to Sienna if given the opportunity, or vice versa.

“You’re doing what? Making a house call?” Her eyes narrowed with distrust.

“Calm down, I work across the street.” I needed to diffuse the situation.

“How do you two know each other?” Tenley slurred.

“Do you have any idea what kind of person he is?” Sarah jabbed her finger at me.

“What?” Tenley rubbed her temple, looking upset. “I don’t understand . . .”

“Your friend here,” Sarah pointed at me, “has quite the reputation where I work—”

I cut her off. “Sienna’s pathological. That’s who you’re talking about, right?” When she just stared, I barreled on. “Everything that comes out of her mouth is skewed. What I want to know is why you think it’s a good idea to get Tenley high and, from the look of it, drunk, when she’s just come out of a four-hour tattoo session.”

“Do you have any idea how hard this is for her? She came knocking on my door in tears because of this.” Sarah motioned to her back.

For the first time I noticed what Tenley was wearing. Her sweatshirt was loose and fell off one shoulder, exposing the cellophane that covered her back. There was no bra. For once I didn’t have an inappropriate reaction.

“That’s why I wanted her to take Tylenol, not get high and wasted. Alcohol is a blood thinner, for fuck sake.”

“I don’t mean how uncomfortable she is, you idiot. I mean why she wants the damn thing in the first place.”

“I can empathize,” I said indignantly. Sarah had no idea what I had been through. I understood Tenley’s loss far better than she could. “Losing her parents would have been painful.”

Tenley’s eyes widened in fear as Sarah’s widened in shock. She looked at Tenley. “Your parents? Is that what you told him?”

Here it was, the secret Tenley was keeping. I knew there had to be more behind her pain than what little I’d been told. And Sarah already knew more than me.

“Sarah, please don’t,” Tenley whispered. She gripped my forearm, ragged nails pressed into the skin.

But Sarah ignored her, and I wished she hadn’t, because it wasn’t how I wanted to know. “She didn’t just lose her parents, you stupid ass; she lost her whole family and all of her friends. She lost everyone, she even lost her—”

“Sarah!” Tenley yelled, and both of us looked at her, stunned to hear her raise her voice.

“Tenley?” I said quietly. The look on her face confirmed what Sarah said.

It was so much worse than I ever could have imagined. My parents’ deaths had been horrible, but this, this was beyond anything I could comprehend.

“Sarah, can you give us a minute,” Tenley asked, sounding empty and defeated.

“I’m not leaving.” Sarah put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow in challenge.

Tenley sighed. “I’m not asking you to, I’m just asking you to give us a minute, please.”

“I’m not going to kidnap her.” It might not have been a half-bad idea at this point.

“I’ll be in your bedroom.” Sarah glared over her shoulder at me as she walked away.

Tenley was staring at the floor. “Please don’t be mad at me.” She was crying. “I couldn’t tell you. I wouldn’t have made it through the outline.”

“I’m not mad, kitten,” I said, because now that I knew how deep her wounds ran, I couldn’t be. But I was mad at myself. This level of loss was exactly the kind of thing I worried about. Tenley was smart, which was likely part of the reason she kept the information from me in the first place. What she didn’t get was that I would have agreed even if I’d known, purely out of selfishness. I needed more answers, but I couldn’t ask questions now. Tenley was far too emotionally unstable as it was.

She buried her face in my chest, shaking as she mumbled apologies into my shirt.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” I kissed the top of her head and tried to reassure her.

The apologies continued, though, her words becoming less and less coherent as her crying escalated into sobs. I was way out of my element. Sarah appeared in the hallway, murder in her eyes until she realized Tenley was clinging to me. I must have looked horror-struck.

“Come on, Tenley.” Sarah tried to pry her away, not that I wanted her to; I just didn’t know what to do to make it better. I’d never felt so useless in my life.

Tenley became more hysterical when Sarah tried to peel her off me. She wasn’t even holding her own weight anymore. Afraid she might damage the fresh ink, or herself, I slid one hand under Tenley’s knees and picked her up. Her grief and anguish spilled onto my shirt as the storm inside her swelled and exploded. It was bound to happen. Committing that much ink to her skin could make old wounds feel new again. Add a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, and a breakdown was assured.

I carried her to her bedroom. Sarah followed, obviously not pleased with the situation, but I didn’t care. It was her fault Tenley was messed up in the first place and my fault she sought that kind of escape.

Tenley stayed that way for a long time, curled up in my lap, hands fisting my shirt as tears poured out of her. I wanted this to help her, but I was all too familiar with how little difference it made. Finally the tears stopped and she hiccupped little, stunted sobs. Her body relaxed as her breathing evened out.

Sarah turned down the covers and helped untangle Tenley from me, and together we laid her down on her side. TK snuggled into her hair immediately. Tenley’s face was red and blotchy; a heavy line creased her brow right above the bridge of her nose. Even in her sleep she looked haunted. Pulling the sheets over her, I dropped a kiss on her cheek. When she was settled, I followed Sarah into the hall.

“What’s going on between you two?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” If Tenley wanted Sarah to know, she would have told her. And besides, I didn’t know how to define what we were. I wasn’t just her tattooist, and we definitely weren’t just fucking. At least it didn’t feel like fucking. It felt better.

“Oh, that’s where we’re going to disagree. I think it is my business. Your friend practically lives at The Dollhouse right now, and I’ve heard some stories about you that aren’t very flattering.”

I moved into the living room, farther away from Tenley in case the discussion got more heated.

“From Sienna?” I asked, bitter that no matter what I did, that part of my past kept coming up.

“Among others.”

“Look, I care about Tenley. I know she’s been through a lot. Until tonight I didn’t know how bad it was, but I won’t take advantage of her.” This was not how I’d expected things to go this evening. I’d wanted to crawl into bed with Tenley and stay with her through the hard parts, not defend myself against a past that kept kicking me in the balls. “I know what the rumors are. I can’t and won’t deny that some of them are probably true. I was a screwed-up kid, and I’m not proud of some of my choices. Sienna enjoys messing with people. I haven’t had anything to do with her in over a year, despite what she might tell you.”

“You know how bad she makes you out to be?”

“Sienna likes to play the victim, but believe me when I tell you she’s not. And when she is, it’s only because she chooses to be, and it’s usually at the expense of others.” I dropped down on the couch.

“You shared a lap dance the night you were at the club.”

“That was coercion, not choice,” I said. My regret over it made my stomach turn.

“I’m sure that girl forced you to sit there while she dry-humped your lap.”

I barely knew Tenley when that happened. Not that it made a difference. I still wanted her then. “My friend Chris, the one who’s stalking you? He was there to see you. He bought me the dance even though I told him not to, repeatedly. I didn’t want to offend the girl. I know it doesn’t make me look good and I get that, but I can’t take it back. Tenley’s important to me, more than you know. Why do you think I’m here?”

“For reasons other than the obvious? Why should I believe you?”

“Heard anything at night lately?”

“What?”

“Tenley has nightmares. Have you heard anything lately?”

“Not lately, but what does . . .”

“You want to know why that is? Because I’ve been here with her. I’ve been taking care of her.”

“I’m sure you have,” she said sardonically.

“You’re twisting my words. That’s not what this is about. She needs me and I need her. Don’t try and take her away from me.” The thought made my chest uncomfortable.

She glowered at me. “I’ll have you castrated if you hurt her.”

I nodded, not bothering to argue the case for my dick. Besides, Sarah had information I needed. “Was the accident less than a year ago?”

“It’s been close to eleven months now.”

“Fuck.” So, Tenley had been honest about that part. “How many people did she lose?”

I did and didn’t want the answer to this question. Sarah’s silence was suffocating, and after several long moments I looked up to see her twisting her hands in her lap. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “Nine.”

She had lost so much more than her parents.