A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Chapter Nineteen

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," Kayla muttered, more to herself than to Louis. She glanced over at him, rummaging through drawers in search of scissors. With every second that passed, her nerves spiked a little more.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," he reassured, his voice muffled as he opened yet another drawer. Finally, he let out a triumphant sound.

"Found you!" Louis grinned in childish excitement, holding the scissors up like a prize. Kayla watched, amused, shaking her head lightly.

"I hope I don't regret this," she murmured.

Louis rolled his eyes. "I've done this tons of times before."

"But have you ever cut hair like mine?" she shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"No... but I'm sure I can manage."

"Manage?"

"Relax, Kingston. I won't mess up," he said with a smirk as he approached her, she was sitting on his bed, she propped herself up watching as he cleared his desk with swift, fast movements. He waved his hand, signaling for her to take a seat. She obliged without arguing, taking a sit on the wooden chair that creaked every time she moved slightly.

"If this goes wrong, I'm going to kill you," Kayla threatened, though there was a hint of nervous humor in her voice.

"I'll haunt you in your sleep," Louis shot back with a smirk, wrapping a towel gently around her neck. She straightened. With no mirror in sight, she was completely in the dark about how this would turn out.

"Shouldn't we do this in the bathroom?" she suggested, her brows knitting together.

Louis paused, glancing at the bathroom door, then back at her, his brow raising in amusement. "When you put it like that, it sounds wrong."

"Like what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Like that." He flashed her a pointed look.

"Oh." There was a beat of silence, and then Louis burst out laughing. His laughter was infectious, and before she knew it, Kayla found herself laughing along with him.

"You should've seen the look on your face," he said between chuckles, running a hand through his blond hair. The lightness in his tone was teasing, but his eyes held that mischievous glint she was beginning to recognize.

"Don't tell me you're a virgin, Kingston?" Louis added with a grin, his voice full of playful sarcasm.

Kayla's cheeks flushed instantly, and she struggled to find a quick comeback. 

"Hell no! I'm not a virgin!" Kayla exclaimed, a little too obnoxiously, her tone defensive. The truth was, she was probably the biggest virgin to walk the face of the earth. She'd never even held hands romantically with a boy, let alone doing anything further than that. What she said wasn't just an exaggeration; it was a complete lie.

Louis raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Exactly what a virgin would say."

"I am not," Kayla insisted. Louis chuckled, leaning back against the wall, arms folded across his chest, his eyes narrowing with a mixture of amusement and skepticism. 

"Yeah, sure. Not a virgin. Totally believable, Nathan," he said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

 "I mean, you really sold it there."

Kayla's face heated up, and she tried to mask her discomfort by rolling her eyes. "I don't need to prove anything to you," she said sharply, hoping to end the conversation before it spiraled further.