“No,” Levi retorts. “A party to celebrate your bravery.”
“I like that.” Pushing up on my toes, I fuse my mouth to Levi’s in a sensual kiss. “I love you,” I whisper, and his arms tighten around me. Waiting a couple of seconds, I give him the chance to say it back, but once again he doesn’t. It’s okay that he hasn’t said it back, but I’ll keep saying it to him anyway. In fact, he’ll probably get sick of hearing it, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this whole experience, it’s that our time here on earth is limited so you have to tell people how you feel or you might never get the chance.
“Okay.” I pull from Levi’s warm embrace and clap my hands together with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. “Let’s do this.”
“You’re so strong, baby.” He picks up the clippers and I spin around to face the mirror. “Take your shirt off or you’ll get hair everywhere.” Stretching across the small space, Levi flicks the lock and I lift my shirt over my head then toss it to the floor. “Ready?”
I nod once and close my eyes as the soft buzz of the clippers gets closer to my head. At first contact, the vibrations tickle and I scrunch up my shoulders as Levi runs the shears over my scalp. I concentrate on breathing in and out, pretending that with each pass I’m letting go of my insecurities. It’s cathartic really, and by the time Levi is done, my anxiety level is about as low as it can go.
Levi runs his knuckles down the back of my head and then twirls me around. His strong, warm hands cup my cheeks. “Open your eyes, beautiful girl.” My heavy lids peel open and I come face to face with two deep pools of swirling water. He blinks twice, his eyes shining with a soft glow, and kisses me several times before whispering, “I’m so proud of you, Lane. So proud.”
I reach up and grip his forearms in my hands. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“Not amazing,” he counters, shaking his head. “Enamored. I’m in awe of your strength and perseverance. Not many women could do this with the grace that you have.”
A quick laugh bursts out of me. “I wouldn’t exactly call it grace. Did you see my meltdown earlier?”
“You had a moment,” he shrugs, pulling my shirt over my head. “That’s to be expected. It’s the way you pulled yourself through and pushed on. You knew what had to be done and you accepted it, which is one of the many things I find so endearing about you. Now turn that gorgeous head of yours around and check out your new ‘do.”
Levi flicks the lock on the door and cracks it open, letting the boys know we’re done. Slowly, I turn toward the mirror. I run my fingers along the top of my head, loving the way the peach fuzz feels against my skin. I’m aware that, in time, even the stubble will fall out, but for now, this isn’t so bad. “What do you think?” he asks.
My eyes snap to Levi’s in the mirror. “I think you need to grow your hair back out.”
He looks at me, brows bunched low and mouth tipped down. “Why’s that?”
Turning back toward him, I rub my hand over his head. “You know how I feel about hair tugging,” I say, waggling my eyebrows. “If you can’t wrap your fist around mine when we make love, then I want to be able to grip yours.”
Levi’s face splits into a wide grin and I nip his bottom lip playfully. A loud groan comes from the hallway, and we both turn to see Luke walking away with his hands covering his ears.
“Good God,” he yells. “Tits and hair pulling. Damn it, I do not need to hear this shit.”
Levi smirks and I laugh as he wraps me in his arms. “Come on, let’s go pick on your brother some more.” He drops his hand to the small of my back and follows me into the kitchen, where we find Luke and Benny sitting at the table.
“Bal
d looks sexy on you, Lane,” Benny says, earning himself a vicious growl from Levi and a slap against the back of the head from Luke. “What?” he asks innocently. “It’s true. Not many women can pull off the bald look, but she can.”
“Thank you,” I answer, walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek. Luke kicks out a chair at the table for me and I sink into it, rubbing my hand across my face. My eyes land on the pile of bills in the center of the table, and I cringe at the thought of opening them. Screw it, I say to myself. A girl can only handle so much in one day—I think losing my hair is my limit for today. Bills can wait until tomorrow, especially since it’s not like they’re going anywhere.
There’s a soft knock on the door. “I got it.” Benny jumps up. “It’s probably the pizza.”
“Where on earth did you guys find a pizza joint that would deliver at ten a.m.?” I ask.
“Ask your boyfriend,” Luke says, gesturing in Levi’s direction. “He’s the one that pulled it off.”
“I called in a favor.” Levi gives me a cheeky grin and plops down in Benny’s vacant chair.
Faint bickering filters through the air. Levi gives Luke a knowing look as I stand from the table to go investigate. My feet don’t even make it into the living room before I’m bombarded. “Mia,” I gasp, catching her tiny frame in my arms. “Oh my God. Mia!” Her arms wrap around my neck tightly and she squeals, bouncing around on her toes.
“Holy shit, did I miss you,” she says, pulling back to look at me. “You’ve lost weight.” She yanks me back into her arms. “I’ll fatten you up, I promise.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask, gasping for air when she squeezes me too tight.
“Sorry,” she giggles, untangling herself from me. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be away from you when you were going through this, and I couldn’t work for Daddy anymore. This is where I need to be.”
“But Mia, what about—?” She waves a hand, cutting me off, and I know there’s more to the story than what she’s telling me. She gives a subtle shake of her head, which I recognize as the I’ll-tell-you-later sign, and I nod my head to let her know the message was received. “I’m so glad you’re home. I’ve missed you so much.”
She squeezes my hand and offers me a soft smile. “Not near as much as I missed you, doll. Nice hair, by the way,” she says, rubbing a hand over the top of my head. “All I did was think about you and worry about you. You were texting me so much right after I left, and then it started to die off and I couldn’t help but worry.”