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“Someone help!” Karen shouted, laughter following. “I’m stuck.”
We both looked up the dock, finding her in my t-shirt and Xavi’s cut-off sweatshorts, a hairbrush sticking out the side of her head.
“The bird sanctuary claims its first victim.” I laughed, tugging Xavi to his feet.
“Bet you a hundo bucks that’s not the first victim.” He cracked his knuckles. “I got this.”
But Xavi did not have it. I didn’t have it. Karen didn’t have it. When we went to Garron Park with the brush half broken, not even Naomi or Seth had it. Devon shook his head at her and told her to give up while she was ahead, and then Maddox grabbed the clippers.
“It’s time,” he told her, turning them on to buzz around the yard ominously. “Karen, this is a rescue mission for all things lost in that hair.”
“Excuse me,” Xavi scoffed, taking them from Maddox. “I am the designated buzz-cutter in this family. Karen, you trust me more, right?”
Karen looked at Maddox, who subtly warned her to say yes, and then she smiled. “Fine. But only if I get to do yours, too.”
No. The fucking horror.The dread. The hatred that filled me for this loveable girl. Did I growl?
“Not mine. You can do Nate’s,” Xavi said, laughing at my expression. “He likes grabbing my hair while he f—”
“She's fifteen!” Maddox barked.
“—orces me to watch teenage supernatural shows,” Xavi finished, honestly looking innocent.Was he really going to say that?
“I’m a fifteen-year-old who’s been to juvie and lives in a group home. Not a nun with an abstinence pledge.” Karen grabbed the clippers from Maddox. “Alright. Do your worst,” she dared Xavi. “And hurry up about it because I have to check the food.”
“Are you sure?” I blocked Xavi from starting to hack at her hair. “Like, one hundred percent? Can’t come back from this, sunshine girl.”
Karen sat on a lawn chair, looking fearless. “I like teenage supernatural shows, too,” she said, tugging the abandoned brush from her hair. “I’ll look likeEleven, and I can’t think of anything more badass than her.”
“Ohmigod! Watch that one with me,” I begged her. “Xavi says no.”
“And you call yourself dominant,” Devon scoffed at me.
I glared at him.
“Xavi’s a piece of shit,” Karen teased.
Xavi’s eyes met mine, bright with happiness. He’d said he’d take in a teen, they’d call him a piece of shit, he’d agree with them, and they’d bond over it. I laughed, loving that he considered this a win.
“I really am,” he agreed with Karen.
Xavi took great pride in his work. When Karen’s hair was buzzed to an even half-inch, he surprised her with option two. Neon green hair dye. Her eyes lit up like his sandals, and soon enough, my buzz cut was forgotten. Maddox and Xavi slathered pharmacy-brand dye all over Karen’s head while she laughed the whole time. Seth tried to keep her forehead clean, and Naomi watched with a fond smile and a tetra pack of wine. I rinsed her off with the garden hose, and by the time she was glowing green, she needed to get going on dinner. Maddox went to help her while he growled at everyone else to stay the fuck out of their way. Especially Devon and Naomi.
From behind, Xavi’s hands wrapped around my neck and slid down my chest. “You want yours cut, daredevil?” He kissed my cheek and nuzzled his face into the side of my neck. “You wear purple underwear for me. You gonna wear my favourite colour in your hair, too?”
I wasn’t as badass as Karen and probably couldn’t pull off green hair. I turned my face, lips brushing his cheek. “What do you do for me?”
“I told you, I’m getting your name on my knuckles,” he reminded me. “Permanently.”
I tugged him until he plopped ungracefully onto my lap. “Sounds like a talk you can’t walk.”
“Want me to go right now? Bet Keith is smoking a joint in his mom’s shed.” He raised a brow, showing me he’d do it.
“You need someone better than him. Knuckles are hard to tat as is, and he’ll fuck it up.”
“I can’t afford better than Keith,” he said, rubbing all over me, hands on my chest, in my hair, on my abs. “Fuck, I love touching you.”
I blushed from feelings, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. Before I could tell, Xavi grabbed my chin and made me look at him.
