“Thank you,” she says again, before sitting back down and taking Nash’s hand. He tries to cover his frustration with me, smiling at her.
“That’ll be fun—getting your hair done,” he tells her.
“I can’t wait!” She beams.
Feeling oddly out of place and unsure what to do or say, Iadd, “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll research some places tonight.”
Sadie says bye, and Nash ignores me altogether. I feel antsy, so I change clothes and go to the pool to swim some laps. Each stroke takes some of the tension from my body, gives me something to focus on and relaxes me.
When I’m done, I make dinner and we eat together—Nash silent all the way through. It’s not until Sadie goes into the bathroom to shower that he speaks to me. “Don’t try to take her away from me. I was there her whole life, and now you’re going to come in and try to steal her from me!”
“What? No. I’m not—”
“Yes you are. Just…don’t. She’s all I have, do you hear me? She’s all I have.”
“I would never.”
“Don’t let her down either. You made that promise, you better keep it.”
Without another word, Nash disappears down the hallway, leaving me standing there, trying to figure out what happened.
*
“How was yourday?” Sir asks over video call. I’d just crawled into bed. Normally, I’m earlier than this, sitting here waiting for him.
“I don’t even know how to answer that,” I reply, and he frowns.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sadie came home crying after school. Some kids were mean to her because of her hair.”
“What’s wrong with her hair?”
“Nothing. She has beautiful curls. It’s really thick andlong. She’s got a lot of it. We don’t really know how to do it, but that’s no reason to make fun of her.” And by we, I guess I mean Nash because I haven’t even tried, have I? At least he’s attempted to help her. “I’ve been searching for a salon, but I think I need someone who knows curls well, and I’m completely out of my element with this. Not to mention, Nash still hates me, and he accused me of trying to take Sadie away from him. I’m making a mess of this already.” I let out a deep breath, surprised I shared all that with him.
He grins.
“What is there to smile about?”
“You told me all that and I didn’t even have to threaten to take away your orgasms or remind you to be honest.”
True. And weird. And something else I don’t want to dissect.
“Let’s handle this one thing at a time. First, Sadie’s hair. I’m probably not the best one to ask here either, but I agree with finding someone who knows curls.”
“She’s biracial. Her dad was Black. Maybe I should find a Black salon… I wonder if there are classes to teach me how to do it. I watched some videos and—”
“I might be able to help with this,” Sir replies.
“I thought you didn’t know how to do hair?” I tease.
He snickers. “I don’t, but Hannah is Black, and I know she would be willing to help. But also, her girlfriend, Tasha, is Black and a stylist and the owner of a salon.”
“Hannah has a girlfriend?” I ask, then silently curse myself. That’s not what I should be concerned about right now—or ever. While he talks about Hannah often, he’s never mentioned Tasha. Because he’s in love with Tasha’s girlfriend, perhaps?
“Yeah. I never mentioned her? She’s great. She and Han will do whatever they can. I know it.”
The tension in my chest loosens. I don’t want to let Sadie down. “Thank you, Sir.”
