Page 109 of Pucking Revenge

Beside me, Brooks smiles and runs his hand through my hair again. “You too. Looking forward to meeting you in person.”

I hang up and keep my head down while I pocket my phone, but I can feel his eyes on me.

“Hey.” He gently grasps my chin. “What was your brother talking about? What appointment?”

Fighting back tears, I let out a frustrated growl. I’m so angry with myself. And disappointed that I let my vindictive side get the best of me. I dyed my hair blue to piss off Seb without even a thought about what really matters. “I was supposed to donate my hair to charity tomorrow but now…” I tug at my blue hair, and a pang echoes in my chest where my heart should be.

God, how could I be so dense? So selfish? I’ve been growing it for over a year…

“Is mine long enough?” Brooks steps in front of me, his expression serious and so sincere.

I startle back a step. “What?”

He tugs on the tie holding it back and combs through it with his fingers, almost like he’s showing it off. “Will mine work?”

“You’d cut your hair?”

He lifts one shoulder in an easy shrug. “Sure.”

“But you love your hair,” I argue. “Everyone loves your hair. It’s, like, you.”

“Is it important to you?”He ducks his chin and scans my face.

“Your hair?”

With a sigh, he shakes his head, no doubt exasperated with me. “No, the donation. It seems like it’s important to you.”

Still protective of my reasoning, I school my expression. “Yes, but?—”

He brings his forefinger to the underside of my jaw, forcing my mouth closed. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”

Is he kidding me? I take him in, noting the sincerity in his expression and the tender care in his green eyes. He can’t be real. How does a man like him exist? And how do I keep him?

“Are you, uh…” I stutter. “Are you saving yourself for, like, a special moment or night or something?” My heart pounds in my chest and my fingers itch to touch him.

Brow furrowed, he considers me. “What? No, all I need is you. Why?”

“Because when we get home, I’m really going to need to fuck you.”

He laughs in response to my statement, but I’m not kidding. He’s willing to cut his hair for me. Just because. He swooped in as my fake boyfriend that first night. Just because.

The man is too good. I’m so fucking turned on I can barely hold back from jumping him right now.

“Brooks, I’m serious. I’ve never needed someone the way I need you.”

He leans in close and wraps his fingers around my neck loosely, holding me in place. “That, Sar. That’s what I’ve been saving myself for. I’ve been waiting to find the woman who needs me as much as I need her.”

I take a moment to admire him, to study every line of his face. And I know now, without a doubt, that I need him far more than he needs me. It’s bone deep and dangerous. Carved into my very being. But I want it. I want him.

“Good, you’ve found her.”

THIRTY-NINE

BROOKS

“You’ve found her.”

Sara’s words play in my head on repeat for the rest of the evening.

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