Page 68 of People Skills

‘Um.’

It doesn’t look how I imagined it would. It’s a little…lopsided. And bowlish. Very bowlish. I should have watched a video on how to cut hair. I just assumed men’s hair was easy. That you couldn’t tell if it was crooked. It turns out, you absolutely can.

‘I see panic in your eyes,’ he says.

‘I’m not panicking. No one needs to panic,’ I say.

‘It looks bad, doesn’t it.’

‘Define bad.’

‘Is it worse than when you started?’

‘It’s different from when I started.’

‘Show me.’

I reluctantly hold up a mirror. He examines himself from one side then the other. He takes the scissors and cuts one side, but he makes it worse.

‘Let’s shave it,’ he says.

‘Shave it,’ I say with horror.

‘It’s hair. It’ll grow back.’

‘Do you have clippers?’

‘I do.’ He smiles at me, and hands me the scissors. ‘But first, hack it all off,’ he says.

‘I don’t hack.’

‘Your hacking got us to this point.’

I start cutting, and it’s fun now there’s no pressure to make it look good. But I’m so attached to his hair, I feel a bit sick looking at the pile on the ground.

He goes and gets the clippers and shows me how to use them, and what attachment to use (number four) so that he’ll still have some hair, just buzzed short.

I shave his head down, and gently brush the hair away from his neck and he makes a noise in his throat.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing. I’m just ticklish. Keep going.’

I finish and I can’t resist running my hands over his head, feeling the soft brush of his short hair.

‘How does it look?’ he says.

I stare at him for a moment. He’s all eyelashes and stubbly cheeked jawline, handsome in a whole new way. No, handsome was before. This new, buzz-cut version of him is hot in a primal, almost unbearable way.

‘Good,’ I say, clearing my throat, trying to make sure my face isn’t revealing the thoughts going through my mind right now. ‘You look nice.’

I hand him the mirror and he looks at himself for a few seconds, and then hands it back.

‘Well done.’

‘My first attempt was just a ruse to get to this.’

‘It’s the chess—you’re always two steps ahead,’ he says.