Right?! Your hair’s so long now and it’s been ages since you had a change. I was thinking if you cut this to just below your shoulders it’d look amazing.
Me: Book it in!
Alexa: OK, what’s happened to my friend? And who are you?
Me: What?
Alexa: You never make spontaneous decisions like this.
Me: A girl can change. I’m doing it. God knows I need a change in my life.
Alexa: Gah. I’m excited!
Me: Are you changing yours too or just getting a cut?
Alexa: IDK. Still looking for inspo.
Me: OK, I’ll look too.
Alexa: Perfect. Lock in Tuesday. I’ll try to get appointments for us at 2:00 p.m.
Me: Sounds good. I’ve gotta go, Joe’s just come back.
Alexa: Hope you guys are having a great weekend xx
“Are you going in?” Joe asks as he joins me and dries off.
I shake my head. “I don’t feel like swimming today.”
Sitting on the sunlounger next to me, he faces me and runs his gaze over my body before eyeing the photo on my phone. “What’s that?”
I glance at it. “Oh, a new hairstyle I’m going to get on Tuesday.”
He reaches for the phone and looks at the image before passing it back to me. “I don’t want you to cut your hair.”
“What?” I heard what he said, but it stunned me into shock. Surely he doesn’t think he gets a say in my hairstyle. I should know by now, though, that he thinks he gets a say in everything to do with me.
“I like your hair the way it is. Don’t cut it.” He says this so finally, like he’s done with the conversation and expects no argument from me.
I stare at him. I want to punch him. I’ve never felt the kind of wild energy that’s pumping through my muscles right now. Not even when I had my angriest fights with Mason did I feel this intensity of desire to lash out.
I’m about to let loose on him when he receives a call.
Keeping his eyes on me, he answers it. “I’m around the back of the house. Come down the side gate.”
My lips press together. So much for getting into it with him.
He ends the call and moves off his sun-lounger to sit on the edge of mine. Leaning over me so he can rest one hand on the other edge, he traces a finger along the top of my bikini bottom. The shiver that runs through me is not from desire.
“That glare you’re giving me leads me to believe we’re going to have a problem with your hair.” His finger dips under the edge of my bikini. “Are we?”
I curl my fingers around his wrist, stopping his progress. “I’m not fucking you now, Joe.”
“We don’t have anything else on this afternoon.”
“You’ve got someone here to see you.”
“That won’t take long.”
The sound of someone approaching draws my attention, and I almost jump at the sight of Griff and Mason. My heart speeds up as I lock eyes with Mason. I hate that he’s walked in on us while Joe has his hand in my bikini.
I attempt to push Joe’s hand away, but he fights me, keeping it right where it is as he looks up at them. “Give me a minute.”
Griff nods while Mason turns and walks back towards the gate they came through.
Joe finally removes his hand and leans his face to mine. “I’ll be back in a minute. I expect you to have come to your senses by then.”
With that, he stands and leaves me to speak with Griff.
I risk a glance in Mason’s direction. He’s standing near the gate with his back to us. He’s tense; I can tell by the way his shoulders look like they’re carved from stone.
We haven’t spoken since the day spa. I’ve seen him a few times when he’s shown up at the house to see Joe, but I do my best not to run into him. It kills me not to see him, but we both need this. That last encounter proved that to me. The hurtful things we said to each other were awful.
I can’t sit here a second longer. Not with Joe determined to come back and force his demands on me, and not with Mason’s thunder rolling in over me.
Moving off the lounger, I grab my phone and cut across the lawn to slip inside the house. I run up to the bedroom and change out of my bikini into a dress before grabbing my car keys and bag, and heading out to the garage.
Five minutes