“All for good reasons.” I smiled. “But trust me, it is perfect and decent, but different, and it’s liberty night for you, so we’re going with it.”
“Liberty night is not a real thing.”
“I know, but it’s our thing now.” I smiled.
“Okay,” he responded, a light tone in his voice to show that he liked it. He liked “our” thing.
“Great, now I just gotta figure out what to do with my hair.”
His gaze moved to it, and then he raised his hands, his wristwatch glinting in the light as he brushed the wavy mess back. “Would you like my help?”
I raised a brow in inquiry. “Can you help?”
“Irrelevant question; I would not have asked if I couldn’t.”
“A simple yes, Elio, just a yes was all I needed.” Walking back toward the mirror, I groaned, and he followed behind me.
“Stop asking irrelevant questions, and I will stop giving irrelevant answers.”
“You’re too much.”
“I am not.”
“You always have to get the last word in, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” he said, pinning me down on the stool in front of the mirror.
I met his gaze in the reflection and smiled, and he returned it with a small one as his hands fell to my hair. “It’s longer than it used to be.”
“Yeah, I haven’t had the time to cut it.” My hair grew fast, and I always made sure to stick to my preferred length, but these past few months had been, well, too much.
“I like it like this. I like long hair,” he said.
“Well, good for you?”
“Will you let it grow more?”
“I most certainly do not plan to.”
I caught him nodding. “That’s a shame.” He met my gaze in the mirror, his hands falling from my hair. “Before I start, I have something for you.”
“What?”
He dipped a hand into his pocket, and I frowned, wondering what he was pulling…
My thoughts stopped as a silver necklace surfaced; it was shiny, with a butterfly pendant. My lips parted, but I didn’t utter a word. I couldn’t.
He got me a present?
He cleared his throat. “I got this the day you went to get your tattoo. It came in a small necklace case, and it was not very expensive because I could not go far after I left the car.” He cleared his throat again. “Long story unnecessary, I could not find the right time to give this to you, but I reckon it would look good with your dress.”
I smiled, meeting his gaze again as I moved my hair out of the way. “Put it on me?”
He nodded, placing the necklace around my neck, andGod, it was beautiful, and I knew then and there that I was never taking it off.
I touched the pendant once he had hooked it together.
“It’s beautiful, Elio.”
