you love me less without it?”
“Of course not,” she said. “Don’t be silly.”
“Remember that.” He reached up and she felt the clipper travel the same path along her scalp.
Robbie lifted the long dark strands away and tossed them into the trash can. “Want to look?”
“Now?”
Robbie looked completely ridiculous and she imagined she looked the same.
His grin grew. “Seems a shame for you to miss it. When do you think you’ll ever have a reverse Mohawk again?”
“Fine.” She took a deep breath and turned to face herself in the mirror.
She covered her mouth with her hand, then forced herself to reach up and touch the bald spot. “It feels weird.”
Robbie gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Wait here.”
Where the hell else would she go? He hadn’t finished the job. Hell, he’d barely started. She had one damn bald stripe running from the center of her forehead to the crown. She looked ridiculous.
Robbie returned with his phone and she knew instantly what he planned. “Oh, hell no.”
“Come on. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. We need to mark this momentous occasion with photos.”
“Robbie Granger, I will kill you if you snap a picture of me looking like this.”
“It’s just for us, Zoey. Just for fun.”
She considered his words. This wasn’t supposed to be fun. She glanced at their reflections again and laughed. Dammit. He made it impossible for her to feel sorry for herself. “Fine. Take the picture, but if you show anyone else, I will retaliate in ways you don’t even want to imagine.”
They posed in the mirror, making funny faces as Robbie snapped the shot. Then he picked up the clippers and took another swipe at his hair. He shaved two lines on each side of his head, above his ears, and then he did the same to her. After each new ’do, they posed for a picture, laughing and making up ridiculous names for the styles, including Zoey’s personal favorite, the bald mullet.
Finally, Robbie removed the last piece of hair from her head and put the clippers away. She stared at her reflection for a very long time trying to get used to this new person. “I guess it could be worse,” she said at last. “At least I don’t have a lumpy head like you.”
Robbie burst into laughter, shaking his head. “Bullshit. There’s not a lump on my noggin. Hell, I think I’m rocking this look. May keep it like this forever.”
“Don’t you dare. I love your hair.”
He shrugged. His nonchalant attitude toward being bald was working its way into her soul, easing her own fears. “I’ll grow it back eventually.”
His comment resonated with her and she realized he would be bald for as long as she was. He hadn’t admitted as much, but she still knew. It was the greatest gift anyone had ever given her.
He scratched his chest. “I’m itchy. What do you say we pop in the shower and wash the stray bits of hair off?”
She followed him into the shower, both of them taking turns soaping and washing each other. They kissed, touched and explored. Robbie cradled her bare scalp, nuzzling against her. “You look hot this way.”
“Liar,” she whispered, more grateful for his compliment than she wanted to admit.
“I’m serious. It’s sort of a shame we bought that wig. You have the perfect face to pull this off. Big soulful blue eyes, high cheekbones. Your hair was hiding how beautiful you really are.”
Zoey tried to respond, but couldn’t find the words. She swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat, perfectly aware she had more than made up for a lifetime of no tears during the last few weeks. Her emotions had been on system overload, fluctuating between fear and sadness as well as love and the purest, most genuine happiness she’d ever experienced.
Rather than speak, she leaned closer, letting her kisses prove to him how much he meant to her. She couldn’t imagine her days if he weren’t with her. She didn’t even want to think about it.
Robbie’s
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