Page 115 of The Enemy Face Off

Yeah, he can say that again.

Charlotte gets to work, and I sit next to him, watching in a stunned silence.

Just when I think I couldn't have made any more wrong assumptions about the guy, he goes ahead and does something amazing like this. The thing I didn't like and would tease him about so much is actually the nicest, sweetest thing he's doing for sick kids.

When Charlotte excuses herself to get something, I lean forward and ask, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted my haircut to be a surprise."

"I don't mean the haircut. I mean the reason why you grew your hair long in the first place."

"What? And risk you liking me? No way."

He smiles, and while I appreciate he's trying to make me feel better, it doesn't work. I feel bad, and I should feel bad. I deserve to.

"What made you do it?" I ask.

"Hockey teams visit sick kids in hospitals," he explains. "One day, I was speaking with a nurse who mentioned how expensive human hair wigs are. It got me thinking, since I have such wonderful hair, why not grow it out and put it to good use? This will be my third wig."

I almost topple out of the chair. "You've done this twice before?"

"I have." He pauses. "And stop looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're making this into a thing."

"It is a thing."

"It's not a thing. Or if it is, it's a tiny, minuscule thing. The kids who have to endure chemotherapy,they'rethe heroes. I'm just some guy whose hair grows quickly and can pull off—wait, sort of pull off—a man bun."

Charlotte returns, robbing me of the chance to correct him on both counts.

One, he can pull off a man bun.

And two, he's a hero, too, regardless of if he's willing to admit it or not.

Whether it's adapting to sudden and unexpected fatherhood, rushing into a crumbling building to save lives, or growing his hair out for sick children, Milo Payne is my hero.

And as I sit here, watching Charlotte transform him into a new man right before my eyes, something else dawns on me.

Something that should be scary…but isn't.

Something I can pass off as new…though it's not.

Something that I could try to deny…but won't.

I, Beth Moore, am head over hardcover in love with Milo Payne.

"You said I have the whole afternoon off, right?" I ask a newly short-haired Milo once we're on the sidewalk.

"That's right."

He glances at his reflection in the storefront window and plays with his hair. "You really think it looks okay?"

It looks way more than okay. "You look incredible."

"I think she left it a little too long at the top. I don't want it to be too stylish."

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