Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(65)
“It’s my word against hers. There’s no witnesses. Do you want to guess how many people will vouch she was with them on the other side of campus?” I rest my forehead against his chest. “Just please take me home.”
◆◆◆
“You think Thalia or Cass could fix her hair a bit?” Conor asks his brothers when Cody parks on my driveway.
“I’ll do it myself.” I lift my head from Colt’s lap. “Thank you for bringing me home.”
This isn’t the first time Blair destroyed my hair. She stuck gum in it all the time in elementary school and chased me with scissors in kindergarten, nipping whatever she caught between the blades. She clipped my skin, too. That’s when the teacher walked in, finding me hiding in the corner, bleeding and crying, locks of my hair littering the floor.
“I hope you don’t think we’ll leave you here alone,” Colt says, squeezing my hand. “We’re staying.”
“No, you’re not because I’m not staying. I promised Nico I’ll grab a few things and stay with him tonight.”
“Wait till he hears that bitch burned your hair,” Cody says, getting out of the car to open the back. “He’ll lose his fucking shit.” He takes my hand, helping me out.
“He won’t find out. Promise you won’t tell him,” I plead as we enter my house.
“Why the hell not?” Conor asks, jogging to the fridge. “You think he won’t notice your hair’s half the length?” He pulls out a pack of string cheese, hauling himself onto the kitchen counter.
“I’ll make something up.”
“Why?” Cody demands, leaning against the cupboards beside Conor. “Is he being an asshole? Are you afraid of him?”
“What? No, of course not, but he... he...” I trail off, remembering what Nico said this morning. Don’t mention college unless you absolutely have to. “He won’t stick around if I start bringing pointless trouble.”
This is too juvenile for him, and I’m determined to keep my school problems away from his ears.
“He should know, Mia.”
“And how will it help? My hair won’t grow back if I tell him. Blair won’t stop being jealous, Brandon won’t quit thinking of ways to get me in his bed, but Nico will question whether the ten-year age gap is too much. I just got him, Cody,” I mutter, standing there like an orphan. Hayes brothers are loyal to a fault, and lying, or rather withholding information on my behalf, is not something the triplets will take on lightly. “Please,” I whisper. “I don’t want to lose him two days in.”
Three pairs of eyes study me in silence. Cody rubs his face, exhaling a heavy breath, and they exchange the look. “We’ll go with whatever story you fabricate under one condition,” he says, pushing himself away from the countertop to hug me. “Slow down, okay?” He pecks my head. “You’re falling in love with him too fast, Bug.”
My mouth opens to protest, but the contradiction gets stuck on its way out. I am falling in love with Nico. I have been, slowly but surely, since the Spring Break party almost two months ago, and I’ve not stopped since.
“I’ll try,” I say, but I don’t mean it.
Nico makes me whole. Happy. Why would I suppress that? Because it’s too fast? Because we just started dating? We did, but we’ve been spending time together for weeks. I know more about him than I know about my own sister.
“I’ll take a shower, and we’ll see what I can do with this.” I point at my hair. “Feel at home. I won’t be long.”
The coffee maker starts going before I lock myself in the bathroom. I cry again when my damaged hair snaps in my fingers. I wash it three times to rid the burned smell, and once I’m done, the drain is blocked. It takes two handfuls to gather up the hair littering the shower floor.
My back is red where my blouse burned through, but thankfully no blisters. Nothing a few coats of cream won’t fix. I slip into a pair of shorts and hold a towel close to my chest, my cheeks hot when I tiptoe in the living room.
“I can’t reach,” I say, glancing between the triplets. They’re all drinking coffee, looking comfortable in my living room. I hold out the burn cream. “Could you—”
“Come here.” Cody holds his hand out. “You can’t let Blair get away with this, Bug. Fuck...” he whispers, voice thick with emotions as he smoothes the cream on. “How the hell will you explain this to Nico?”
“I’ll lie, but only a little.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Mia
IT'S HALF PAST SEVEN when Nico comes home with a tall stack of takeout food. I sit at his piano, playing everything that springs to mind, tears gone from my cheeks. It’s just hair, and not the first time I lost it.
As bad as it sounds, I got used to the bullying. It hurts, but after years of suffering, I know what to expect. I cry and move on because what else am I supposed to do? Standing up for myself ends with hugging the toilet and more hurt coming my way, so it’s easier to rinse and repeat.
“Hey,” I say when Nico leans over me, pressing his hot lips to the crown of my head. “Do you always work so late?”
“Why did you cut your hair?” he counters, forcing me to scoot forward as he sits behind me, legs boxing my thighs, one hand around my middle.