Echo sits to my right and looks around the salon with the same sharp, assessing attention he gives every room he enters. Which is kind of funny, considering the shop is drenched in pastel pink and is probably the least dangerous place he’s ever stepped foot in.
The technician helping him pulls out the color samples and hands them to him. He looks at them for a second, then turns to me.
“What’s your favorite color, Bambi?”
I furrow my brow. “Why does that matter?”
“Because I need to pick one.” He says, his gaze dragging over my face. “And I don’t make decisions without factoring you in.”
I roll my eyes and try to ignore the way his words make my stomach flutter.
“You can just get clear.”
He tilts his head. “Is clear your favorite color?”
“Of course not.”
“Then that would be pointless.”
I audibly sigh and point to the pastel yellow color that’s been my favorite color ever since I was little. “That one.”
“Buttercream.” He says softly, staring at it like he’s committing it to memory. “Buttercream is it.”
I glare at him. “You’re really going to put that on your toes?”
He smirks. “Of course.”
“Why?”
His eyes lock on mine, and my stomach does that stupid little flutter thing that I hate. “Because I want you, Bambi.” He pauses, licking his lips. “On me. All the time.”
I swallow hard. “That’s not intense at all.”
Echo smiles. “Intense would be carving your name into my fucking chest. This is me showing restraint.”
On my left, Fallon chokes on her smoothie, then tries and fails to disguise it as a cough.
I don’t look at her. I already know what her face is doing, and that so will not help the situation right now. I open my mouth, then immediately slam it shut.
How do I even respond to that?
An hour later,the three of us are walking down the street with our toes freshly polished, and Fallon is checking her phone with that focused frown she gets when something is going on at work.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, it’s just—” She looks up. “I’m on call today and it looks like they need me there ASAP.”
Fallon is pretty chill about most things, but when itcomes to her work as an ER nurse, she takes what she does very seriously. After watching her work her ass off for the last four years, I don’t think it’s just a job for her anymore. It’s a calling.
“I totally get it,” I say, nodding my head. “Do you have time to drop me off first?”
Fallon winces. “Shit, I forgot we rode together.” She says, running a hand through her long blonde hair. “The hospital’s the opposite way, so it’ll add like an hour to my drive. Do you mind hanging out in the waiting room for a bit?”
“How long is a bit?”
“I don’t know, an hour. Maybe two?”
“I can take her.” Echo offers.
