Page 71 of The Heartbreak List

“Great. Come here.” She grabs his arm and drags him behind me. “It’s your turn.”

“But—”

“Have you ever used clippers before?”

“Of course, but I—”

Her tone is soft and encouraging. “You’re going to do just fine, I promise.”

“Indy.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Are you cool with this?”

It’s weirdly intimate that he’ll be the one to shave my head, but this bucket list has become as much his as it is mine. We’re in this together until the end. I cover his hand with mine. “Yes.”

“Okay, let’s make you look like a badass.” He withdraws his hand.

My eyes sting even as I smile. “Let’s do it.”

He readies the clippers while Sadie wanders behind the bar and helps herself to a bottle of water. One big hand gently tilts my head so that he can glide the shears through the strands. My scalp tingles from his touch and the vibration of the clippers. Tiny bits of my hair fall around me.

A tear slips down my nose when he switches blade size and removes even more hair from my head. He’s become someone who means the world to me. Someone I trust with every part of me. Things I never thought I would do…when he’s with me I feel capable of handling them all. But this whole act is bittersweet.

“Are you doing okay, Indy?” Sadie asks as she takes a seat to watch Theo work.

“I’m just missing my best friend.” If anyone was going to be the one to hold the clippers, I would have thought it would be America.

“She’s not local?” Sadie props one cute motorcycle boot on a chair and pats her baby bump.

“She’s living in the UK at the moment.” I straighten as Theo turns off the clippers. “It’s weird but I always thought she would be here for something like this.”

“It’s kind of a big deal.” She smiles softly at me. “When you have reasons like yours.”

Theo puts down the clippers and turns me and my chair. He brings his face down to mine as he takes in my new ’do. His mouth curves brightly. “You look awesome. Like a badass bowling ball.”

A laugh escapes me. “That awful, huh?”

“Oh my God, you asshole.” Sadie grunts as she leans forward to whack him with her water bottle. “You cannot say things like that. It’s not a compliment.”

“Ease up.” He lifts his hand to ward off another attack, though his gaze doesn’t leave me. “I know it isn’t a compliment. It was to make her laugh. Which it did.”

“It did.”

“You…” he tips my head this way and that with the crook of his finger to my chin, “have me so fucking hard right now.”

“Also not a compliment,” Sadie shrieks.

My chest and neck and cheeks grow hot, but not as heated as the look he’s giving me. Like he could pluck me out of this chair and onto his lap in front of Sadie because he can’t wait to get me alone. As if he likes what he sees so much he can barely keep his hands off me. “I’ll take it as one. This time.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Indy.” He takes my face between both hands and meshes our mouths together. His tongue and mine play wicked games with each other.

I’m about to leap out of my chair and straddle him when Sadie stands up and coughs. “Take her to see while I sweep up.”

“Come on.” He takes my hand and pulls me up from my chair. Tiny pieces of hair fall from the cape onto the floor.

“Hang on, let me.” Sadie moves behind me to unhook the cape and take it away.

I’m practically floating the entire way to the bathroom. My heart skips too, though. What if I look ridiculous? Like a not so badass bowling ball. What if it makes me look as sick as I am? I might have made a huge mistake.

Theo pushes open the door to the bathroom and before I can freak out I’m in front of the mirror. The girl looking back at me… is me. But she also… isn’t. My hair… “It’s all gone.”

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