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Chase
“Now that’s a sick bitch move right there,” Joel said, referring to Cassidy using Beth’s shampoo to fuck with me.
Seamus just started cutting off chunks from Joel’s copper hair. His hair grew back two or three inches a month. Pierce, Rylan, and I had been here many times for this very reason, and also because Seamus was the best barber in town. There were a few other ones, but they were pricey and notorious for doing rush jobs. There was no way they could handle my hair when it grew out and became unruly. Back home in Vermont, I’d resorted to cutting my hair myself because my hair had looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. I’d seen many of the females come to Seamus to cut and style their hair. He liked to give classic haircuts the best. He’d been in business for twenty years.
By now, everyone knew I was out on my ass. Joel had known that I was angry and frustrated when he’d seen me coming out of the post office after I’d gotten my mail from my PO box. I’d just told him that I’d moved out and what Cassidy had done after he asked me why I wasn’t staying at the Pruitts’ anymore. It hadn’t surprised him, and it had been cool to talk to him. Joel had asked me to accompany him to Seamus’s Barber Shop. I walked with him ten blocks from the post office to here.
“Chase, do I even wanna know what you’ve got yourself rolled up in?” Seamus asked with a hint of a smile in his voice.
“Doubt it,” I answered.
“Hmm,” Seamus grunted.
“I’ll have a word with the other girl if you want me to,” Joel offered, not using Beth or Cassidy’s names. “I think she’s taken a liking to me.” He shot me a long look as Seamus shaped his hair.
“We’ll resolve this ourselves. I’ll leave her be for now.”
Joel bobbed his head.
I cleared my throat. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
Joel chuckled. “Rylan is with his dad, visiting his alma mater in Pittsburgh. Again.”
“I gather he’s not enthused about it,” I said dryly.
“Mr. Harding thinks he’ll get Rylan to go to his undergraduate and graduate schools. And his mom wants him to go to her alma mater in Texas. Rylan wants to take a year off before he goes to college. He’d have the whole year to think about it.”
Seamus interjected, “Then he’ll keep putting it off. He might not ever go.”
“He could mess up his GPA ’cause his heart isn’t into it, and end up taking a year to think things over anyway,” Joel respectfully pointed out.
I motioned my head in agreement and Seamus rolled his eyes. “When he’s coming back?” I asked.
“Tomorrow night.”
“Is he looking forward to it?”
“Hell yeah, he is.”
Seamus turned on his blow dryer and brushed the hair off Joel. The floor looked like a sea of red.
Joel and I looked at Gavin as came into the shop.
“What’s good, guys?” He inclined his head to Seamus. “Hey, Seamus.”
I stood up and we bumped fists.
“We still on for tonight?” Joel asked.
“I cooked dinner an hour ago and Bri started on the dessert when I left the house.”
Joel rubbed his stomach. “Damn straight. She knows I like my apple pies and my flan made from scratch.”
Gavin shook his head and sat down another chair. “Correction: she likes her desserts baked from scratch.” Gavin’s green eyes darted over to me. “We’re just all gonna benefit from it!” He notched his chin to me. “I heard that you moved out and that you were gonna stay at the Oren Inn, which costs a pretty penny, since they’re nothing like the Paloma Hotel. How about the same rent, and you can have most of your meals like we discussed when you were thinking about staying with us? You’d be responsible for all of your guests. And you can’t have more than one overnight guest. Bri and I will take the rent for the next two months by the end of next week in cash. This month doesn’t count. Deal?”
I nodded. “Deal. I’ll have it for you and Bri by tomorrow morning.” I paused for a second and Gavin’s thick eyebrows drew together. “Is Bri really cool with this?”
“It was her idea to have you stay with us if you were still in town. I took a little longer to get here because I was waiting on her. Bri drove Beth to her uncle’s. When Bri got home, we talked about it.”
