“I got your note, but it didn’t make sense because last night you told me you didn’t have any plans until this evening.” Levi runs a hand along the back of his neck. “Then I went into the bathroom to take a piss and your hair was all over the sink. I knew something had happened so I came straight here.”
His words melt my heart. “Thank you.” I push up on my tiptoes and kiss him. My mouth traces the seam of his lips until he grants me access, and I sink my fingers into his hair, angling my head to the side. Levi’s arms wrap around my back and he picks me up, my legs dangling beneath me.
“Fuck,” Luke hisses from across the room. “This shit is going to drive me crazy.” Levi laughs, breaking the kiss, and looks over my shoulder.
“Get out, Luke. You’re cock-blocking me,” Levi quips, a wide smile gracing his gorgeous face. Luke mumbles a string of curse words and Benny laughs, pushing him out of my bedroom, leaving Levi and me alone.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his brows dipped low. “I was really worried about you.”
“I’m okay.” I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands and take a deep breath. “I’ll be okay. I just freaked out. I was ready for it, but I wasn’t, ya know?” Levi scoops me up and sits down on my bed, settling me in his lap.
“So what do you want to do?”
“I think I’m ready to shave it. I don’t want to walk around looking like this,” I say, lifting a strand of what’s left of my hair.
“I’ve got an idea.” Levi smirks, tapping my nose. “Get into an old shirt, get the clippers and meet me in the bathroom.”
“Okay . . .” I say skeptically, giggling when he slaps my butt on the way out the door. I have absolutely no idea what he has planned; all I know is that when my head hits the pillow tonight, I’ll be bald. Unlike earlier, I find that the thought of that doesn’t make me panicky. Maybe I just needed to have a meltdown. Maybe I just needed a good old-fashioned cry. Or maybe I just needed these three men to remind me that losing my hair isn’t the worst thing in the world. Losing my life would be, and if one of the side effects of the medicine that may save my life requires me to be bald, then I guess that’s just something I’m going to have to learn to live with.
TEN MINUTES LATER I’M standing in the bathroom, clippers in hand, wondering what in the heck is taking so long. “Are you coming?” I holler, not really sure who I’m hollering at.
“Christ, you’re impatient,” Benny says, walking into the bathroom followed by Luke and Levi. They’re all holding beers and Luke puts a shot glass full of clear liquid in front of me.
“Water?” It better be water. I’m a lightweight, and the last thing I need is to get rip-roaring drunk right before I shave my head. On second thought . . . that might not be such a bad idea. I reach for the glass, tip my head back and cringe as the liquid burns my throat. With my nose scrunched, I hand him the glass.
“Atta girl,” Levi says, popping the top on a bottle of beer and handing it to me.
“What was the shot for?” I ask, taking a swig.
“Just to loosen you up.” Luke gently guides me down onto the side of the tub and peels his shirt off. Standing in front of the mirror, he says, “I’ll go first.” My eyes widen and I set my beer down.
“Luke, what are you doing?” Apparently what I say doesn’t matter because no one answers me as Levi picks up the clippers and runs a straight line over the top of Luke’s head.
“Oh my gosh!” I gasp, my hand covering my mouth. I wait for Luke to turn around and deck Levi, but he doesn’t. He just stands there patiently as Levi keeps making swipe after swipe until my brother’s hair is nothing but a short buzz. I watch in stunned silence as Luke brushes the stray hairs from his head into the sink and pulls his shirt back on. Before I can even form words, Benny yanks his shirt off and Levi makes a swipe down Benny’s head.
“Benny,” I sigh, at a complete loss for words. Levi gives Benny the same buzz cut and then immediately reaches behind his head to pull his own shirt off.
“No.” I shake my head furiously, pushing up from the tub. “This is too much. You don’t have to do this.”
“This isn’t up for discussion, pretty girl.” Levi gives me a gentle kiss on the cheek and gestures for me to sit back down on the ledge of the tub.
“Do you want to do the honors?” Luke asks, holding out the clippers.
“No. You do it,” I say, overwhelmed by how supportive and caring these men are. I expect it from Luke, because that’s how I raised him, but never in a million years would I expect Benny and Levi to follow suit. It hits me all at once that these three wonderful men are doing this for me because they love me and don’t want me to go through this alone. I just know that the women they end up with will be very lucky, and I pray to God I’m that woman for Levi.
A finger snaps in front of my face, and I shake the fog from my head and look up. Levi, Luke and Benny are all standing in front of me with completely shaved heads. The sight alone is enough to bring a grown woman to her knees. When I think of all that they could be doing today, a tingling warmth saturates my skin and my chest feels like it’s expanded. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I know that I’ll never be able to repay the kindness and support they’ve shown me today.
I stand up and pull my brother into my arms. “Love you, Luke.” He whispers the words in return and kisses the side of my head. I slip out of his embrace and then squeeze Benny around the waist, smashing my face into his chest. “Thank you, Benny,” I whisper, emotion finally starting to clog my throat. In true Benny form, he stays quiet, although his arms do find their way around me.
After a minute or two, Levi clears his throat and Benny chuckles. I move to pull away but Benny squeezes me tighter, refusing to let go, which is completely okay with me. Right now, I just need to show each of them how much I love them. Apparently, Levi isn’t too happy with the extra show of affection because I soon find myself being ripped from Benny’s arms and tucked firmly against Levi’s hard chest.
“Come on, Benny.” Luke slaps him on the back. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone.” He turns to us before he follows Benny out the door. “Don’t take long, the pizza will be here any minute.”
“Pizza?” I gaze curiously at Levi.
“We decided to have a party today,” Levi says with a smile. “We’ve already got the beer, and Benny has more DVDs than he knows what to do with. All we needed was some pizza.”
“A party,” I say slowly. “For shaving my head.”