my neck. But now? Oh, god, I’m scared to look. I haven’t had it noticeably shortened in, god, like fifteen years.”
Lindsey pried my hands away from my face. “Look at yourself, Jay. You’re beautiful.”
I sighed and opened my eyes, heart in my throat. I gasped. I looked totally different. Like, completely altered.
I interrupted my own thoughts to tell myself to stop talking like Lindsey, who, at twenty-two, had a tendency to still say “like” in every sentence.
I turned my head from side to side, marveling at how much lighter I felt. I shook my head, laughing as my hair bounced around, now hanging just above my shoulders. She’d cut away a good bit near the front so I had springs of curls as bangs that drifted across my cheekbones. It was a perfect cut for me, I realized, emphasizing my heart-shaped face and accentuating my eyes. It sharpened my jawline somehow, and brought out the curve of my throat.
Plus, there was still a good bit of hair left, so Chase could do his thing.
I pulled Lindsey into a hug, and felt my eyes prick. I cried at the drop of a hat these days. A Hallmark commercial had me bawling just the day before, and it was driving me nuts.
Lindsey pulled free and unsnapped the apron from around my neck. “So you like it?”
I nodded happily, sniffing back the traitorous tears. “I love it. I really do.”
“And you think Chase will like it?” She grabbed a nearby broom and started sweeping up the mess of hair on the floor.
I took a deep breath. “I hope so. I think so. He’ll be surprised, but once he gets over the shock, I think he’ll be happy. I’ll find out in a few hours, I guess.”
Lindsey’s gaze sharpened. “They’re in town? The whole band?”
I nodded, wondering what her angle was. “Yeah, they’re playing the Garden.”
Lindsey crouched to brush the hair into a dustpan. “Is it sold out?”
I laughed at the hopeful tone in her voice. “Who do you have a crush on?”
Lindsey blushed, her fair skin going pink across her cheeks and on her nose. “Gage.”
I nodded. “You and half the country—the half that isn’t in love with my husband.”
“I met him by accident the last time they played New York. He was being dragged around by some girl, a groupie, I think. She dragged him in here and got him to pay for a cut and color. I felt bad for him. She was, like, heinously obnoxious, and he was realizing it, I think. She was hot, in a bimbo sort of way. He was really nice to her, though, despite the fact that she was, like, clearly a gold-digging fame whore. He was really classy about it.”
I nodded, having gotten to know Gage pretty well by that point. “That’s Gage for you. He’s got some rough edges, but he has a great heart, if you can get him to show you his real personality. He’s got this whole hardass rocker persona that he puts on, but it’s not really him.”
Lindsey nodded. “I kinda got that same impression.” She blushed again. “I like both sides of him.”
I laughed. “The front and the back, you mean?”
Lindsey turned red. “That’s not what I meant!”
I elbowed her playfully. “Sure it’s not. You know you were checking out his ass.”
She rolled her eyes, then leaned in to whisper to me. “Actually, he was wearing these tight, ripped jeans that hugged him, like, all over. I couldn’t stop staring at him.” She dropped her voice to almost inaudible. “He sat so I had this crazy crotch-shot of him, and I swear, I nearly cut a chunk out of his bimbo friend’s ear because I was staring at his bulge the whole time.”
I laughed so hard I snorted. “Would’ve served her right. But, while he’s not my husband, Gage is pretty hot.”
“Yeah, he is,” she muttered, her tone wistful.
I waited for her to ask, but after a few moments, it became clear she wasn’t going to. “You want to come with me?”
She looked up, hope gleaming in her eyes. “Oh, god, really? You have an extra ticket?”
I