Presto Change-o-Written by KatyDid

Chapter 9

I follow North out of the bathroom and into the living room.

He'd asked me what I thought of it, and the only reply I could come up with was, "I'm surprised," followed by a bright smile.

I'll let him interpret that as he will.

When we walk in the room, the guys are looking over movies and chatting, having all changed into their sleep clothes. For a moment, I forget about my hair and take in how stupidly gorgeous they all are. How on earth I became so lucky to have them in my life, I'll never know, but I won't question it.

Victor's the first one to see me and gives a nod, "Miss Soren...son." His eyes go wide for a split second as he takes in my fabulous doo.

His greeting catches the other's attention, and that's when all heck breaks loose.

Kota, Owen (yes, Owen!), Nathan, and Luke burst out laughing.

I feel North bristle behind me.

Silas gives a grin and Sean tries to suppress his laughter, his eyes bright with glee.

Poor Gabriel looks like he's about to have seizure.

His beautiful crystal blue eyes bug out of his head, then his face contorts into an expression of pain.

"Oy! What are you all laughing at?" North demands.

Owen's holding his belly, tears forming in his eyes. "Oh my god. What did you do to her hair?!"

"What do you mean what did I do? I fixed it!"

I risk a glance at North and see the thunderous look on his face.

Kota snorts mid laughter. "Who are you, and what have you done with Gabriel?"

The laughter gets louder at that.

"Poor, Pookie!" Nathan laughs. "Did you go for a ride on North's bike without a helmet, in reverse, and hit a cyclone on the way?"

North glares at Nathan. "Shut up. It doesn't look like that."

They all go silent for a moment, then the laughter starts again.

I look over at Gabriel who has remained silent, sitting on the couch.

It's killing him.

His eye is twitching and knees are bouncing as he pulls at his own hair.

Kota knowingly smiles at Gabriel. "What do you think of it... Kota?"

He removes his hands from his hair and sets them on his knees, furiously drumming his fingers, "It's... (eye twitch, eye twitch)... interesting." He clears his throat, his eyes fixed on the hay-like halo around my head.

Silas nods. "I think she should wear it like that all the time." He smiles at North. "Great job, Gabriel. It's the best style you've done yet."

North nods, clueless, and runs his hand through his hair. My eyes dart to the exposed muscular mid drift from the motion. "Thanks. I haven't done Trouble's hair lately, but it came out better than I thought." He grins. "I'm awesome."

Gabriel jumps to his feet, his arms gesturing in a flurry. "That's it! I can't take it anymore!" He holds his arms straight up in the air, looking at North. "Holy shit on a stick! You have got to be kidding me! There's no way in hell you think that looks good!"

North steps forward. "What the hell's wrong with it? I dried and brushed it."

Gabriel's eyes bug out. "With a vacuum?!" He runs his hands over his face and shakes his head. "She has the hair of a two dollar hooker that's already gone fifty rounds."

North clenches his fists. "You watch how you talk about S-Trouble!"

Gabriel stands tall, filled with righteous indignation. "I'm telling you the damn truth! It's not my fault you can't do hair worth sh*t. How the hell can you mess up drying and brushing someone's hair?!"

He stomps over and grabs my hand, leading me away. "Come on, I have to fix this."

"Hey, Gabe!" Owen calls.

Gabriel turns around. "Yeah?"

"You're out."

Gabriel solemnly glances at my hair. "There's only so much a man can take." And with that pulls me to Nathan's bathroom.

Gabriel's muttering to himself as he brushes my now washed and dried hair, then let's out a sigh of relief. "That's so much better." He runs his hand through my silky soft locks.

I press a finger to my lip looking at him in the mirror. "But you lost."

He lays the brush on the counter and spins me around, facing him, our bodies close and his hands holding my upper arms. "I may not get the winner's kiss tonight, but that's okay because you can bet that one day I'm going to kiss the shit out of you"—his eyes darken—"and it'll be a kiss you'll never forget."

I stare into his eyes that are filled with so much promise, and know what he says to be true.

"Now." He grins, ending the moment. "I'm going to make it my f***ing mission to knock North the hell out of the game."

I giggle.

This should be fun.