“You don’t like it?”
“No, I do.” My eyes track the way he runs a hand over the now shaved side. “It looks really good, way better than how I did it, but I thought you said you liked what I did. I would’ve done it better if you told me you hated it.”
“I didn’t hate it. I had an unfortunate garage accident yesterday, so I needed an emergency appointment to fix the mess I made.”
“An emergency?”He’s one-hundred-percent, absolutely, without a doubt lying.“What happened?”
“You don’t wanna hear all about that.” He brushes me off like I’m not dogged enough to come back to the subject. “Are you excited for our trip?”
“No, I really do wanna know what happened.” I turn and fold my arms. “I tried really hard to do your hair up nice, so I want to know what happened and who I have to hurt. They messed up my work, and you know me better than to think I’d be okay with that. Was it Chuck? It’s been so long since I last kicked someone’s ass, and he’s not a giant or anything, so I could start there.”
“Umm…” Ang sucks under pressure; it’s the very reason he was contracted to drive us around when we were younger. I knew if I just asked often enough, he’d buckle. “So, there was this incident…”
“Was it Chuck?”
“No! No, it was just me there.”
“Okay. So what happened when it was just you there that you lost most of your hair?”
“Umm…” It’s almost cruel how hard I make him work to bullshit his way out of a bad haircut. “I was working with a blowtorch, and a wrench… and soap.”
I narrow my eyes. “A blowtorch, a wrench, and soap? Angelo… Do you need a minute to get your story straight?”
“It’s true!” he blusters. “Just shush. I had an incident that resulted in an almost scalping. Really, I’m lucky to be alive, so stop focusing on the incident and let’s move on to the fact I’m still alive. It’s a miracle!”
Lips twitching, I reach up and run the tips of my fingers over the short side, pretending it doesn’t make my heart race. “Well…” I tilt my head. “It looks nice. I like this look on you.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh. It’s better than the shitty haircut I gave you, and it looks kinda…” Braver than I’ve been in longer than I care to admit, I jump in the way the old me would have; carelessly, fearlessly. “It looks sexy, Ang. Truly sexy. I really like it.”
He gives an awkward cough and steps back until my hand drops.
Most girls might expect a witty retort, or something a little less… rejection-y. But that’s not for us. Instead, he turns back to lean against the car, forcing me to pretend I didn’t just make an idiot of myself.
“You’re here on time.” I stare out at the street, because I can’t maintain eye contact. “It’s early, huh?”
“Not so early.” He gives a stiff shrug. “It’s gonna be a big day today; are you ready for the long trip?”
“Uh-huh.” Turning away, I rifle through the plastic bags in the backseat and pull out six packets of sour worms. “All set.”
He laughs in small, silent, chest bouncing movements that makes his arm brush against mine. Accepting a bag of the sour candy, he lifts a heavy brow. “Really? You’re driving, you’re our only hope on the open road, and this is your fuel?”
“And coffee.” Am I flirting? Am Itryingto flirt? It’s been so long… “Don’t forget the coffee.”
“Of course.” Turning back, he tosses the candy over his shoulder and crosses one ankle over the other. “Coffee, white, one sugar. How many did you already have today?”
At the sound of something crashing in the house, followed by Jess’ surprised yelp, I look up into Ang’s silver-gray eyes and grin. “Not as many as Jess. I don’t know if she actually slept last night. She’s a little wired up and ready for a beatdown in every town we pass through.”
“Of course she is.” His lips tighten ever so slightly, like he’s trying to hide a little smirk. “She’s gonna be wild on this trip, you know that, right? Bish is a bad influence on her.”
“But that’s what everyone used to say about me;Iwas the bad influence once. Now I’m the goodie goodie that forgot what the sun looks like.”
“Nah.” He reaches across and taps a finger to the ball of my bare shoulder. “You got your tan back the last few weeks. Color has always looked good on you, it makes your eyes stand out.”
Scoffing, I try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. “I’d hardly call it a tan. It’s more like, translucent with a side of shimmer.”
“Top down, music up, open road.” He’s so close, and his voice is so rough and quiet in the early,earlyhours of the day. “You’ll color up a bunch before we get where we’re going.”