Tender (Book 1 - Complete)

Chapter 28 - Lynn

Just a reminder: the completed version of this story is on Inkitt now. Just click the link in my bio to read it without having to wait for updates on wattpad. :) Enjoy!

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I watch Jamie's face slip from neutral to sickened within seconds. As I've come to realize with him, he's crap at hiding his emotions. There's clearly something bothering him, but I don't ask. Instead, I wait it out, hoping that he'll come clean about whatever is bothering him. But he doesn't.

If I hadn't caught on to the fact that something was wrong before, then the stiff, sloppy way in which he applies the vaseline would have been a dead giveaway. I can't tell if he's pissed or distracted, but either way, he's ignoring me.

He starts applying the hair dye, and I close my eyes as his fingers weave themselves into my hair. Goosebumps explode down my arms and I shiver, a bubble of laughter leaving my lips.

"That feels too good," I tell him, my eyes still closed. "I've always loved having people play with my hair. It feels like you're tickling my brain cells and I love it."

He chuckles beside me, his breath fanning my ear and causing another wave of goosebumps to take a ride along the skin of my neck and down my spine. He's so close that it's almost suffocating. Even though he's no longer off limits, I don't dare act on my desires to question him about the tension that's suddenly sprung up between us.

"Done," he announces, and I open my eyes to find him already standing at the sink as he removes his gloves. He doesn't look at me for several seconds and I'm a breath away from asking him what the heck is wrong when he plops down on the edge of the bathtub and rests his forearms on his knees.

"How long do we have to wait?" he asks, his crystal blue gaze boring into mine.

"You've got about another fifteen minutes," I tell him after checking the time on my phone. "I can't wait to see how goofy you look with pink hair."

"Hah!" he laughs. "You'll be drooling all over my pink-haired sexy self."

"Riiight," I drawl. Truth is, he could have puke-tinted hair while sporting a greasy comb-over and I'd probably still find him sexy. How pathetic is that? Oh, my poor, silly heart.

When the time comes, Jamie rinses out his own hair and then starts blow drying it while I rinse out mine. We've promised not to look in the mirror until we've both finished, and that time has finally come. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, eyes closed, we count to three.

"One, two, three," we say in unison, and then peer open our eyes.

"Holy crap!" I cry, the sound muffled behind my hands.

When I realize that Jamie is silent beside me, I turn to face him. His eyes are wide as he takes in his new appearance and I can't tell if he's horrified or pleasantly surprised until the edge of his lip begins to tilt up into a confident smirk.

"Not bad," he says, combing his fingers through his new look. "I like what you did with the pink tips."

I want to respond, but instead, I just take him in. I'm not gonna lie. He looks good. Ridiculously good. Like, no man should ever look this appealing with pink hair, but Jamie looks real good. Something about the color gives him a whole new level of confidence, and goodness gracious if it doesn't have my toes curling with the need to run my fingers through it.

"Dang," I mumble, reaching up and playing with the pink-tipped strands. Guess I didn't have the strength to deny my hands what they truly wanted. "You look hot."