Page 63 of Still Love You

"Follow me." Her tone is more business-like now that she thinks I'm his girlfriend. She turns and walks quickly past the row of other stylists to the shampoo area at the very back of the building.

"Have a seat," she says to Silas. He sits down, leaning back into the sink. She shampoos his hair, and just as I predicted, her breasts are right over his face. The shampooing seems to take longer than it should as she slowly massages his head in long, drawn-out strokes. I'm about ready to tell her to hurry this along but then she turns on the sprayer and finishes up.

She takes him to her station and I sit in the chair beside him.

"So what are you thinking?" she asks, looking at him in the mirror, running her hands through his hair.

"I want it short," he says, "but not too short. Willow, describe what we were talking about earlier."

"He wants most of the length cut off," I say, "but leave it a little longer on top, shorter on the sides. He doesn't want to have to style it. He needs something easy. More of a wash and wear look."

Alex picks up some strands of his hair, holding them out. "With your hair texture and the way I'm going to cut it, you shouldn't have to style it. Just let it air dry and it'll be good."

She gets to work. It's not even my hair, but I feel nervous seeing big chunks of hair falling to the ground. The haircut takes about a half hour and when she's done, I admit, she did a really good job. It's much shorter, but not too short. God, he looks hot. No wonder girls are always flirting with him.

"What do you think?" Alex hands Silas a mirror so he can see the back.

He takes a quick glance at it, then hands her the mirror. "Looks good. What do you think, Willow?"

"I love it. It looks great."

We go to the front to pay and Alex hands him her card. "You want to make an appointment for next time? Maybe in three weeks?"

I'm thinking he'll say no because this place charges twice as much as his barber does.

"Sure. Put me down for the same time, if that works."

She checks the computer. "Yeah, that'll work. I've got you down. See you then." She smiles, only at him, ignoring me.

When we get outside, he rakes his hands through his hair. "It's going to take a while to get used to this."

"You don't like it?"

"I do. It's just different. Do you like it? Be honest." He stops and faces me so I can see it.

"I really like it. I liked it the old way too, but I think it was time for a change. You can always grow it back if you decide you like it long." I tousle the hair on the top of his head. "I like how she gave it some movement and texture. She did a good job."

"Yeah. I liked her."

"Liked her as a hairdresser? Or more than that?"

He chuckles. "Willow. Don't ask me that. I told you I don't like talking about other girls with you."

"Why not? We're friends."

He leans down and lowers his voice. "Friends who fuck."

"That was one time."

"So it's not happening again?"

I glance to the side. "I don't know. Probably not." Who am I kidding? I know it'll happen again. It shouldn't, but I'm sure it will. We can't seem to control ourselves around each other. I look back at Silas. "So are you going to ask her out?"

"I just met her. I haven't thought about it."

This is so infuriating. Why did I ever tell him to date other girls? Because I'm not dating him, that's why. He's not mine.

"What if she calls and asks you out?"

---