“You know I am, but the poor guy was… you know.” She waved her hand up and down my length. “I just wanna make sure you’re not giving him unnecessary stress.”
“She is,” I quickly answered. “But she’s making up for it too.” I bent and kissed Chelsea, nipping the corner of her mouth before standing to my full height. Riley’s eyes bounced between us, a full-on smug smile appearing out of nowhere.
Then she motioned between the two of us. “You guys are good? Like good, good? Like together finally?”
Her last three words were drawn out, waiting expectantly for one of us to respond. I wanted to shout, “Finally,” but I wanted my girlfriend to answer.
My girlfriend. I loved the sound of that. Long time in the making.
I elbowed Chelsea in the arm and she finally spoke up. “Yes. Ace and I are together. He’s my boyfriend now. You happy?”
“Very,” Riley responded.
“What the hell?” Natalie groaned from across the salon. “Now he’s off the market, too? Is there anyone left?” She didn’t even wait for a response from anyone before she was on her phone, chatting away with whomever was calling at nine in the morning.
The youngest of the hairstylists, Natalie, was flirtatious, outspoken, and guy crazy. She hit on everyone, old and young alike. Sometimes I thought she did if more for effect to get a reaction out of people. She was attractive enough with her thin figure and dark hair, but she wasn’t my type.
“Chelsea,” Riley said in warning. “You know how she is. She’s harmless.”
Memories flooded in of our big blowout and how the woman next to me misunderstood what I said about Natalie. I supposed it was safe to say Chelsea didn’t particularly care for her.
“I know. Besides, if Ace even looks at another woman the wrong way, I’ll kill him.” She smiled but I knew she was serious. She’d hand me my balls for sure.
“You’re too sweet, babe.” I gave her another quick kiss before reminding her of the new rules. “Make sure you don’t leave this place until either I’m back or one of the other guys are. Understood?”
She mock saluted me, much like she’d done back at my house when she first arrived last night. “You got it.”
I turned and moved toward the exit, overhearing a quick exchange between the two friends before I stepped outside.
“You seem happy.”
“I am. He wore me down,” my woman responded, making me smile.
I’d take the win where I could get it.
28
I refused to chase the thought of what could’ve happened to Ace for the thousandth time because all that did was hype up my anxiety to a level I was unfortunately used to, although it seemed to be lessening in the past twenty-four hours. I would’ve thought it to be the opposite, given the potential danger surrounding everyone right now, but I trusted he’d do everything in his power to make sure I remained safe, as long as I listened to him, of course, which was something else I was getting used to. I wasn’t known for following orders well.
“I’m so happy for you two,” Riley said for the third time since he left two hours ago.
“So you’ve said.” I gently massaged the shampoo into my client’s hair, losing myself to the repetitive motion while my thoughts drifted between Ace and what I was gonna pack up from my place to take to his. “I agreed to stay with him for now, too. You know, until things….” My words trailed off because I didn’t want to say anything in front of anyone else present.
Riley clapped her hands together, the smile so wide on her face I thought for sure the indentations would freeze like that. “Yay!”
“You need to calm down.” I chuckled, loving my bestie was genuinely happy for me but wanting her to dial it back a bit. “It’s just for now. Your brother and Maddie are going to stay at my house until this all blows over and I go back home.”
“If you go back home.”
“When I go back home,” I corrected. “I just agreed to be with him. There is no way I’m moving in with him permanently.”
“Why not? I did.” Riley shrugged as if shacking up with a guy was a normal everyday occurrence. It wasn’t for me, and it hadn’t been for her either before she moved in with Kaden.
“You were also in a relationship with him years ago, so there’s a history there.”
She readjusted her top bun, pieces sticking straight out but looking as if it was done on purpose. “True.” Her shoulder bounced once more. “Still.”
“That’s a good argument.” I rinsed the rest of my customer’s hair, added conditioner, massaged that through as well and did a final wash before gathering her hair in a towel. “You can go sit in the second chair over there, Lisa,” I said, pointing to my station. She was a new client, someone I’d never seen before, and while she appeared a little rough around the edges with her heavy makeup and sleeve tattoos, mixed with an appearance of hard partying, which I couldn’t quite accurately describe because it was a certain look, she seemed nice enough, smiling every time we made eye contact.
Over the next half hour, while I dried and styled her hair, we chatted about men, movies, and our favorite places to eat. The restaurants she named I’d never heard of, so I assumed she wasn’t from directly around here.
“Thanks so much.” Natalie checked Lisa out at the front counter while she waited for her own client.
“Nice to meet you,” I responded. “I’d be happy to have you come in again.”
“Oh, I’ll be back.” She smiled at me once more, then walked out the door. For some reason I watched her as she strolled toward her car, but when she walked to the end of the parking lot, then disappeared around the corner, I thought it odd. But I chalked it up to her possibly living within walking distance, which wasn’t a high probability, or maybe she was meeting someone somewhere close by. Why I even gave it this much thought baffled me, until Riley added her two cents.
“She was a little strange.” Not the words I would’ve chosen, so I took the bait.
“How so?” I busied myself straightening my station for my next customer, who was due to arrive in twenty minutes.
“Just a feeling. Plus, she kept looking around the salon like she was casing the joint.”
“Really?”
“I agree,” Natalie said, lifting her head, and tearing her focus from her phone for the several seconds it took her to add in those two words.
“I didn’t get that feeling.” Now it was my time to shrug. “I thought she seemed okay.”
The chime above the door rang, Kena walking inside, her oldest son, Harrison, right behind her followed by Roman, Braylen and Ryder’s son.
Kena used to stop by more often to visit her sister but as of late, she’d been busy at her family’s restaurant, which she was in charge of running. And for as many hours as she’d put in at work, she didn’t look physically affected. She had a glow about her, her shoulder-length dark hair containing a shine I was envious of.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted, ruffling Roman’s dark and unruly hair when he was close. He gave me a quick side hug then took a seat against the back wall, pulling out his gaming device.