“You wouldn’t know what to do with Quinn Brinkley,” Rylan says, staring out the window.
“And you’d know what to do with Calista Bailey? You can’t even get up the nerve to ask her out.”
Rylan says nothing.
I hold up my hand. “I want to set the record straight. I am not with Gavin Price. Once I found out he was running against Mom, I made it clear that I didn’t want anything to do with him.”
“By throwing a milkshake in his face. Classic.” Rylan gives me a slow clap and Declan laughs.
I have a feeling these two will have a couple of milkshakes thrown in their faces during their lifetimes.
We reach downtown and I catch Fisher, his girlfriend Allie, and their twins walking into the downtown area.
“Oh shit!” I make a quick turn into one of the parking lots that surround the downtown square.
“What?” Rylan asks, looking at me as though I’m losing it.
“I’m doing Allie’s hair today for a family photo session. I almost forgot.”
“I hate photos. My mom makes me wear a damn Santa hat every Christmas,” Declan complains.
Maybe this is why he and Rylan are best friends. Rylan is the quiet type and Declan can’t stop talking.
“You guys have this handled?” I ask Rylan as I park.
“Yeah, we’ll just walk home after.” Rylan exits my car.
My chest squeezes. Rylan seems so downtrodden. I make a mental note to talk to him later or send over one of my male siblings. Anyone but Xavier. I’m not sure I know who he is these days, and I can’t chance him giving Rylan bad advice.
“Thanks, guys!” I wave as I rush off.
The bell rings when I enter Fringe.
Malia raised eyebrows says she’s surprised to see me.
“Yeah, I forgot I’m doing Allie’s hair.” I quickly put on my apron.
I’m tying up the back as the happy family comes in. Everyone in the waiting room ohhs and ahhs over the twins. Fisher watches them like a hawk while Allie kisses his cheek and heads over to me.
She plops down in the chair. “I’ve been waiting for this forever.” She sighs.
The woman needs a masseuse, not a hairstylist. Raising twins has got to suck every ounce of energy from you.
I put my hands on her shoulders and squeeze. “Just relax and enjoy.”
Fisher grunts as another woman enters the salon and tries to put her hand in the stroller. “I’m out. I’ll be back to pick you up, Allie.”
Without another word, he pushes the double stroller out of the small waiting room and back out to the streets of Sunrise Bay.
“He’s so protective of them.” Allie looks at me through the mirror.
I color and cut Allie’s hair, giving her a fresh look. We chat about this and that, but she’s respectful enough not to ask me any questions about Gavin Price or the election. Instead, we discuss the trials of raising babies with an overprotective partner like Fisher, which we chalk up to the fact that he’s the sheriff.
Fisher returns as I’m finishing with Allie, and he heads to my office to change into his clothes for the photo shoot. It says a lot that Allie got him to agree to this.
Allie disappears after Fisher while everyone in the waiting room coos over the babies. I’m annoyed when sex sounds leak out of my office. Especially the pounding on the wall. The worst part isn’t that they’re having sex in my office, it’s that I want to be the one having sex in my office. It’s been over a year since I’ve slept with anyone, and he was a mediocre partner at best.
Finally they emerge, Allie’s cheeks red and Fisher looking like the prize stud at a horse auction.
“Did you know that Gavin Price moved in next door?” Fisher asks, thumbing in the direction of the shop next door.
Irritation fires up like a struck match inside me. I toss the brush in my hand on the counter. “What?”
“He’s setting up his campaign headquarters there, I think. There’s a bunch of Vote Price signs stacked along the wall.”
I hope for Gavin’s sake that Fisher is mistaken.
I stomp out of the salon, hearing Fisher laugh behind me while Allie reprimands him for telling me.
I get to where our two shops meet and lean forward to get a glimpse into the storefront beside my salon. Sure enough, there he is in a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of slacks. Gavin’s arranging papers on one of the desks and that guy is with him again. The one who was sticking signs around downtown.
My mom’s words ring in my head.
“Play nice, Posey,” I say to myself.
I straighten my back and open his office door. There’s no bell, so I overhear the two of them talking about going door-to-door until the assistant spots me from the corner of his eye. He hits Gavin, then Gavin’s gorgeous blue eyes are on me.
My knees grow weak under the force of his stare. I can’t deny the feelings he evokes inside me. There’s no explaining it.
“This is your new headquarters?” I look around.
“Yeah, it’s not nearly up to snuff yet though.” Gavin walks toward me. “Erwin, go get some coffee,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. Then my name comes out of his lips as if I’m his savior and his tormentor all in one.
I’m familiar with the feeling.
“I just wanted to…” My apology gets stuck in my throat.
“It’s all on me. I wanted to tell you. Erwin wasn’t supposed to put up those signs when he did. You were so excited for your mom and our date was going so well… I didn’t want to mess it up.”
How very selfish of him, but I’m going to play nice because my mom asked me to.
“It’s fine, Gavin.” I look at the right side of his head where there’s a long strand out of place. I must’ve somehow missed it when I cut his hair last week. I step forward and his eyes fall to my lips. We’re millimeters apart and the scent of his cologne stirs my arousal. I motion to the piece of hair. “I missed this piece last week.”
His hand goes to it and my breath hitches, desperate for him to touch me. “I parted it differently. I was in a rush.”
“Let me fix it,” I say softly, my eyes locked with his.
“Okay.”
A knock on the window pulls us away from one another. We both turn to find Erwin there.
“What kind of coffee do you like?” he shouts through the glass.
Gavin groans and waves him in. “Forget the coffee, just keep straightening everything up. I’ll be right back.”
Gavin follows me into Fringe. All movement and gossip halts at our entry. But I ignore it.
I seat him in the chair, put the cape over him, then take him to the shampoo bowl. Probably because I want to torture myself while I watch his facial expressions that show just how much he loves it when my fingers weave through his strands and rub his scalp. As he did the time before, his eyes close and he makes the cutest little sounds of enjoyment.
Once he’s in the chair, all eyes remain on us. I comb out his hair, positioning his part.
“Your hair grows fast,” I say, deciding to clean up the entire hairstyle.
“Yeah, I usually have to go every two and a half weeks.”
I clip the little ends to freshen up his cut. My phone rings and I set everything down to answer. Usually I would never, but this is Gavin, after all. He can wait. Mandi tells me that Fisher and Allie just got engaged down by the bay. I’m happy for them, but a touch of melancholy festers inside me. I’m starting to doubt that I’ll ever get what they have.