Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,67

over? This may be one of the few chances we have to be together without having to hide it from Nate."

"I have a friend here cutting my hair, but we're almost done. You could head over soon."

"Okay, see ya."

"Who was that?" April asks as she grabs the scissors. She does my hair instead of my mom because April cuts it the way I want it. When my mom used to do it, she'd cut it the way she wants, which would end with us fighting and me hating my hair until it grew out again.

"A guy," I tell her, purposely being vague.

"You're not going to tell me?"

"I'm trying to keep it a secret."

"I won't tell Nate," she says, snipping the long layers around my face. "I promise."

April knows about Nate telling me he loves me. I told her the next day at work. She wasn't surprised. She said everyone knew he loved me except me. I still don't know how that's possible.

"Is it someone I know?" she asks.

"You've met him."

"So it's someone who goes to the salon."

"He only went one time. You were the one who cut his hair."

She stops snipping and her eyes widen. "You're not talking about Nate's cousin, are you?"

I cringe. "Maybe?"

"Riley!" She slaps my arm. "Are you insane?"

"I know, it's bad. But Brad's the best guy I've ever gone out with. He's nice, easy to talk to, and he actually listens to what I'm saying. And the way he kisses?" I sigh, dreamily.

"Riley, you cannot date Nate's cousin!"

"I'm not. I mean, technically we went on one date, but it was just dinner and a movie."

She eyes me. "Did you have sex with him?"

"No! We kissed. That's it."

"So it's not happening again."

"Um, it might. But I'm not telling Nate, and neither is Brad. We agreed to keep this from Nate until some time has passed."

"Riley, you can't tell Nate this. Not EVER. The guy loves you. He wanted to marry you. He is never going to be okay with you dating his cousin."

"For the record, he didn't ask me to marry him. And Nate and I never dated, so why is this so wrong? I made it clear to Nate that I didn't have feelings for him, but because he has feelings for me, I'm not allowed to date anyone?"

"You can date. You just can't date his cousin, or any other member of his family."

"It's not like I did this on purpose. It just happened. And Nate's the one who kept pushing me to spend time with Brad. That whole first week he was here, Nate invited me out with them so I could get to know Brad."

"Get to know him, not date him."

"Yes, but the more time we spent together, the closer we got."

"That's just because he reminds you of Nate."

"He does, but only in the good ways. He reminds me of the Nate I used to know. The one who was fun and didn't constantly judge me and tell me what to do. Nate's changed. He's not the guy he was a few years ago. Honestly, sometimes I don't even want to be around him."

"So that's all this is. You miss the old Nate, so you're replacing him with Brad."

"No, that's not it at all. Brad isn't Nate. They have some similarities, but Brad is also really different. I'm not explaining it right. There's just something about Brad that makes me...I don't know...light up inside."

"Light up?" She laughs. "Like get all hot and bothered?"

"That's part of it, but not what I meant. It's like when he's around me, I feel like someone turned a light on. Like things aren't as dark anymore. I feel hopeful. Happy."

She stops cutting my hair and looks at me. "You really like this guy, don't you? Like REALLY like him."

"Yeah."

She sighs and continues snipping the layers of hair around my face. "So what are you going to do?"

"Not tell Nate."

"I mean after the summer. Brad's leaving, right?"

"Yeah, so I really shouldn't be getting involved with him. But then I thought I may never feel this way again, so what the hell? Why not be happy for a few months? What's the downside?"

"You fall in love. And then he leaves."

"I won't fall in love. He's only here for a few months."

"My parents fell in love in two weeks." She goes behind me to trim the back of my hair. "They've been married for thirty years."

"Two weeks? That's crazy," I say, and yet I wouldn't say it's impossible. Not after meeting Brad.