“I was trying to get your attention, but you didn’t see me.”
There goes whatever scrap of chill I’ve assembled.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
He runs a hand through his overgrown hair. “I like your haircut.”
“Do you want something like this?”
“Just the usual.” He considers me for a second. “Though…maybe you can update it a little.”
I direct him to the washbowl, and he settles in, then huffs out a laugh. “This feels like déjà vu.”
I chuckle. “I promise to actually cut your hair this time.”
“Thanks. I’ve been a mess.”
His happy expression reminds me that I didn’t handle things properly. “I do owe you an apology for how I handled myself that day.”
Rami wrinkles his nose. “You don’t have to apologize for telling me to go. It’s your shop.”
Shaking my head, I run my fingers through his thick, overgrown hair. “What we did… Uh, it was really intense, and?—”
“Good intense though, right?”
I smile. “Yes. Good intense. But it was also the kind of intense that requires some care afterward, and I didn’t do that. I should’ve, but I had to get you out of here before… That doesn’t matter. I should’ve treated you with more kindness than I did.”
His cheeks flush and I want to pull him in for a kiss.
Easy, tiger.
“It wasn’t like a scene. You didn’t beat me with pain sticks. Iliked it,” he says with a shy expression. “I didn’t love being told to leave right after, but I was okay.”
“I’m glad to hear it, but the apology remains.”
His shrug is small, as if to dismiss my concern. “Apology accepted.”
“Thank you.”
I go silent as I wash his hair, the energy between us quiet and intensifying.
In the middle of the conditioning treatment, he says, “I agreed to this appointment because I have questions for you, but I don’t know if you have answers.”
I bury my fingers in his soft hair, massaging his scalp. “I might.”
Questions and calculations go on behind Rami’s pretty eyes for a few moments.
“You were right about my fathers. They were bugging our common areas. How did you know that? What else do you know?” He stares up at me. “But maybe I should wait until after you’re finished.”
I tighten my grip on his hair, just a little, and his small inhale makes my low belly go tight.
“Nah, you’re safe.”
“I just… I know they’re hiding something from me. From all of us. What do you know?”
“Quite a bit.” I turn on the warm water and rinse his hair. “Not gonna lie, I resent having to be the one to tell you. This is something your dads absolutely should have come clean about years ago.”
