Page 68 of Balls to the Walls

“Could be, but rarely is. I can’t believe you guys are still pretending you’re bodyguards. With all the housing developments going up, you’re not fooling anyone.”

I grinned at him, wondering if he would ever believe us. The night of the fire at the bar—the night FNG disappeared—the police kept our business under wraps, despite the fact that the bar burned down because of our involvement with Rafe. To this day, it was a wild tale that no one believed. So, we fed the stories, knowing no one would actually believe them.

“So, what’ll it be today?”

I stared at my bald head in the mirror as he grinned at me from behind. “I think I’d like a mohawk today.”

He studied the few hairs on my head and plucked at them with two fingers. “We might be able to do something about that.”

He grabbed a hot rag and laid it over my head to prepare for my shave. I could do this at home, but I liked to support local businesses when I could. Besides, it was good to get out and mingle with the locals. It made us appear more normal.

“Hey, do you have time to do my hair too?” FNG asked.

Tom stared at FNG, shaking his head. “Son, you don’t need a cut. You need a fucking weed whacker.”

“It’s not that bad,” FNG grumbled.

“If you were growing it out for the ladies, you made a serious miscalculation,” Tom chuckled.

As the rag was warming my head, Tom grabbed the oils and lotion. I rested back, trying to relax and enjoy my weekly routine. But FNG just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Do you really think my hair looks that bad?”

“Yes,” I said, not bothering to open my eyes.

“Come on. Be serious.”

“I am. Do everyone a favor and shave it off.”

“I was actually thinking I should try to be more like Lock.”

I squinted out of one eye at him. “You don’t have the hair for it.”

“I do too!” he said indignantly. “My hair is just as good as his.”

“It’s stringy. You look like a fucking drug dealer.”

“Not when I pull my hair back.” He scooped it into a bun at the back of his head and grinned, showing me his profile. Yeah, he looked slightly better, but not enough to keep it styled as it was.

“Like I said, shave it off.”

With a huff, he leaned back in his seat and glared at himself in the mirror. He was completely ruining my day of relaxation. Between training and going out on jobs, there wasn’t much time to treat myself to a good haircut. Well, it was really more of a massage. There was hardly anything to cut at this point.

Tom removed the towel and started massaging the oil into my scalp. I groaned at how good his fingers felt. He was getting a fat tip when I paid.

“So, what’s with you?” he asked. “Haven’t seen you around in over a year.”

“Oh, I was out on a super secret mission.”

Tom snorted. “Right.”

“No, really, I was.”

“And I bet you rescued some really hot woman.”

“Actually, he returned with a wife,” I filled Tom in. “He married her two days before he showed up at our doorstep.

His fingers stopped massaging my scalp and I opened my eyes to see why. He was staring at FNG in shock.

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