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It surprised her, but she nodded. “Okay.”
Hunter shrugged and relaxed into the chair. “I don’t know how long I’ll be away from my team, and it’s hot here. So let’s just get rid of the hair.”
Translated from Hunter language, this meant,I don’t want to fuss with this.That had always been Hunter’s way. When they were younger, Trent would come to her with magazine pictures of famous people and their haircuts for her to try on him, while Hunter had always taken the approach that she could do whatever she wanted. Or high and tight.
She began doing his cut, trying to focus on the work. Measure, cut. Measure, cut. He did have thick hair, so she combed out each section before cutting.
Hunter stared at her in the mirror. They’d always had a way of communicating without words. He was as intense as a stalker; she’d teased him about it many times when they were younger. She wouldn’t tease him today.
She didn’t want to stare back, so she kept her eyes riveted on the work. The work was her protection from the pain, protection from their kiss the night before. She was feeling so vulnerable and raw and almost embarrassed that they had been kissing like that. She knew Hunter felt the same way. Unlike Trent, Hunter wasnota ladies’ man.
Amy. What was the story there?
“So Trey wants me to go through a box of Trent’s things,” Hunter said.
“Oh.” She met his gaze. It would be horrible to go through Trent’s things.
Hunter shrugged. “It was stuff from his last mission. I mean, most of his things are in Virginia Beach at our house. But there’s a box the military sent to my brother’s house.”
Cheryse nodded and kept cutting. She didn’t know what to say or how to say it. “Okay,” was all she could come up with.
“Would you like to come over later and do that with me?”
“What?” Her hands stilled as she processed his invitation. She paused and met his gaze, staring into the same vulnerability and rawness that she felt in herself. “Ah, of course.”
It made sense that she would go help her friend, her best friend, go through his brother’s things—her other best friend’s things. Of course she could do that.
“Thanks.” Hunter relaxed again.
“What about Liberty?” Wouldn’t Trent’s wife want to do that with him?
“She took off last night. She told everyone she would stay with her brother, Tom, in Massachusetts for a while.”
“Shoot,” Cheryse said, feeling even worse. “I should have talked to her yesterday. I was just …”
“It’s fine.” Hunter reached back and touched her hand. “We all have to deal with this, and everyone can deal in their own way.”
Cheryse didn’t want to fall apart, so she focused on the haircut. “I guess that’s true.”
She was shaving his neck when he spoke again. “Are we okay?”
She hesitated. Even though she might have seemed closer to Trent in many ways, she and Hunter had always understood each other. He could sense any mood she was in and soothe her. “We’re good.”
After ten more minutes, she was done, and she escorted him to the sink to wash and rinse. He sat, and she could feel his eyes on her as she massaged in the shampoo. When she rinsed his hair, butterflies took residence in her stomach. Confusion plagued her as she thought about their make-out session last night. She’d liked it way too much.
“The salon looks good,” Hunter said. “I like the new paint job.”
Of course Hunter would notice that. He was the handy one, and when he was home, he often came down to her place and fixed whatever she needed fixing.
“Thanks.” She rinsed the conditioner out, and then he sat up and she toweled him dry. “So, Amy left?”
His hand circled around her wrist.
Startled, she jerked around to face him.
“She left.” He let go of her arm, his eyes intense. “Do you care about that, Reese?”
She paused. What could she say? “Uh, well, I guess I was just taken by surprise that she was there.”
