Chapter Forty-three

The kiss was beginning to get intense; Gwen had unconsciously parted her lips, inviting his tongue to wine and dine with hers. He poked his wet tongue in and flirted with hers for a bit before running it over her teeth and cupping her buttocks. Suddenly, the colorful darkness she had closed her eyes to when she immersed herself in the breathtaking kiss now turned into the pitch-black abyss that felt like it was closing in on her and restricting her airflow, and then, his face appeared in the middle of the darkness and the prisoner that had been caged for many years flashed in the depth of his gray eyes, clawing at the steel bars with half-broken fingernails that looked dirty and untrimmed.

Instantly, she withdrew from the kiss breathlessly and sat up, gently pushing down his thighs so she could sit on the couch.

"Paris," Gwen swallowed, holding her chest and feeling a burning sensation at where her jewelry lay. "I can't do this."

"Why?" His eyes burnt with a desire that could only be shown and not said because words wouldn't be enough to express it. "Did I say something bad?" He sat and reached for her cheek, but she slightly moved away from his reach and his face fell flat. "What is it?"

"I can't." Gwen throatily pinpointed, shaking her head furiously to evict the tenant, who was living rent-free in her head–Mihai. "Get out!" She mused, hitting her head with her palm, and Paris got off the couch with confusion.

"Okay." He picked up his phone and exited the apartment. Gwen held her head and rocked back and forth on the couch, muttering, "leave my head." Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt sick in the gut as pain wracked her body and turned her bones into water.

Abruptly, the door was creaked open, and Paris slid in carefully not to tick her off any further. She raised her head and met the inquisitive gaze of a confused man, standing in a black vest and check-shorts.

"Wait," he furrowed his brows and scanned the living room. "This is my house."

"Did I send you out?" She asked, pouting with teary eyes that highlighted the boldness of her two most priceless jewels and he nodded in response, closing his door. "I'm sorry. He flashed in my head again."

"It's fine." He shuffled to the couch she was seated on, unsure of what else to do.

"Paris, I just got out of a relationship, and I don't think I can handle all of this right now," she explained, gesturing with her hands as she stared into nothingness, feeling his eyes bore holes into the side of her head. "I don't want you to be one of my exes and get hurt."

He paled at her last words and shoved his hands into his back pockets, listening to the words of pain she threw at him.

"Gwen?" He interrupted gleefully, gripping her hand. "You know what you need?" Wendy pursed her lips and shook her head. "A hair wash from me."

Gwen darted her gaze to his face and a look of humor raced up her cheeks, Paris smiled. He was good at wearing a mask and hiding his emotions as his number one principle was to be happy no matter what.

"From you, how?" She asked, feeling a little light-headed.

"You'll see." He dragged her off the couch and picked his keys from a little basket that sat on his table. "Let's go."

"Let me get sandals or something to shield my feet." She lifted a leg to walk but Paris snaked his arm around his waist and asked her to wear his slippers. "No, it's not my size..." She whined, watching as Paris crouched and helped her slide on the slippers. "But-wow!"

She looked appalled, eyeing her feminine feet that screamed sexy as she wiggled her toes, enjoying the comfortable and soft feeling it possessed.

"You like it?" He asked, clutching her hand and leading her out of his house. She replied with a nod, feeling goofy as she occasionally kicked the air or asked him if he found her feet attractive.

After driving for twenty minutes, they arrived at a salon with transparent glass doors, and behind it were hairstylists, attending to other women.

"Shall we?" He held the car door open, and she alighted from it, still scanning her environment.

The minute they reached the glass door, he pulled it and the bell above it chimed as he held it open for her.

They exchanged friendly expressions before she walked in and waited for him to join her.

"Paris!" A girl who looked to be Gwen's age exclaimed, launching into his arms for a warm hug, and he lifted her, sandwiching her to his body and Gwen wondered why he never gave her such hugs. She tossed her gaze away to the woman whose hair was being dyed all white and it looked super good on her, went well with her elderly looks.

"Hello." Her silvery tone snapped Gwen out of her trance, and she jolted, immediately flashing the girl a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Hi." Gwen sized her up and found her small figure cute. She looked like what could be balled and tossed into the heavens.

"I'm Kim and you don't have to tell me your name, Paris wouldn't shut up about you." She rolled her eyes then smiled sheepishly like she was being forced to before walking away with zero handshakes.

"Nice to meet you, Kim." Gwen maintained her smile.

"So can I start now?" Paris asked Kim and she nodded, drying someone else's hair. "Here you go, my lady." He led Gwen to a chair then got a towel from its holder and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Now, relax."

Gwen leaned into the hair wash basin and stared at the ceiling, gripping both sides of the towel and fisting them to her chest. He turned on the faucet and balls ran down her hair, making contact with her scalp and she jerked, fighting her grip on the towel as the cold water soaked her entire hair, stirring up the hairs on her arms and legs.

Slowly, it became warm, and she closed her eyes, while he applied some vanilla shampoo and kneaded it into her scalp, and she fought back a sigh of pleasure. It relaxed her nerves as he raked his fingers a little too hard in her hair, scratching out the dirt and turning off the faucet. He massaged her scalp slowly and turned on the faucet again, the warm water absorbed her pain and washed her heartache down the drain.

After washing intensely, he wrapped her head in a towel and led her to one of the chairs in front of the full-length mirror that displayed her wet and sleepy hair. Kim plugged in a hand dryer and Paris stepped aside, leaning on an empty chair next to Gwen. The dryer blew normal temperature air on Gwen's hair and strands of it flew in different directions, getting into her eyes.

Gwen's eyes darted to the girl next to her on blue hair dye with a dark-skinned woman behind her, working magic on her hair. Her gaze involuntarily shifted to Paris, and he flashed her a small smile, looking at her intensely with a lot of love. Gwen returned the smile with one of hers, feeling the show crawling of heat up her neck. She blinked her stare away from his face and kept them on her thighs.

"So..." Kim began, tugging on Gwen's string of attention and she gazed up at her through the mirror. "Are you guys dating?"

"Ye-" Paris started but was cut short even before he said half of the sentence.

"No..." Gwen drawled, feeling the hot air, enveloping her scalp. "We're just friends."

"Well, I like him," Kim said, glancing at his face with a sad countenance and Paris looked back at her, widening his eyes a little at the discovery. "But he has his eyes on you and I've never been bold to tell him," she continued, returning her gaze to the hair and Gwen watched them carefully, noticing a little chemistry in the way their eyes locked on like magnet and her stomach twisted into knots for a reason she didn't know.

"It's always Gwen, Gwen, Wendy." She pushed the dryer closer to Gwen's scalp and Gwen felt the distaste in her words. Gwen jerked, sinking into the chair as she felt the hot hair, burning her scalp. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Gwen replied with a close-mouthed smile and sat back up, keeping her head in place and Kim oiled it.

"We're just friends," Gwen assured Kim with a small smile and darted her eyes to Paris' face. His face appeared flat, and his lips were pinched into a frown of discomfort as he nursed his arm then scratched his hair.

"Excuse me." He dry-toned, storming out of the salon and the last thing Gwen saw was his red face and eyes that flashed with different emotions she couldn't explain.

"He likes you," Kim repeated and Gwen adjusted on her seat, watching as her feminine hands packed her properly, washed and oiled hair into a middle bun, bringing out her face.

"Not sure about that." Gwen replied and Kim clapped her hands, announcing she was done with the hair. "Thank you."

The moment Gwen rose, Paris returned with the brightest smile, one that looked like it took a trip down the rainbow. He gave Kim a hug and patted her back for helping him out.

"It's my pleasure." Kim smiled ear to ear at him. Her body language showed just how much she liked him, if only he would consider her.

After the exchange of pleasantries, they hopped into his car and zoomed off, while Kim stood in front of her salon and waved them goodbye with blown kisses.

The ride was silent, and Gwen stole a glimpse at the side of his face, noticing how focused he was on the road. Unconsciously, her eyes fell on his knuckles, and she watched as they slowly turned white from clutching his steering too hard.

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked in concern, placing a hand on his shoulder. His jaw ticked and she snatched her hand away, blinking rapidly. "Did I say something wrong?" She questioned but he shook his head in respond, refusing to meet her eyes.

Gwen nodded, gulping and staring out of her window, enjoying the cool breeze that slithered out of the car's air condition. She watched the birds fly from the trees they ran past and counted the houses she saw.

"Why did you say no?" Paris asked, sounding deeper and gravelly than he used to.

"When?" She knitted her brows into a frown, taking a peek at his face.

"When she asked if we were dating." He cleared his throat, releasing his grip on the steering and taking a quick gander at his rear-view mirror.

"Because she asked, and I was only saying the truth." Gwen pointed out, averting her eyes to anywhere but his face. "Why?"

"Gwen," his tone softened and so did his gaze, they watered with emotions he couldn't convey. "I really like you." He placed his hand over hers and she looked at the two hands that seemed like they were specifically made for each other. "I can't stop no matter how I try."

Gwen pulled her hand away, feeling a squeeze in her heart as she gripped her chest, feeling his finger burning its way into her thigh as he rubbed it in circles.

"I just got out of a relationship, Paris." Gwen croaked, feeling heavy in the throat. "I can't deal with another right now."

"I know you're not ready, but I’ll wait till-"

"No... We can only be friends, please." Gwen grasped his hand and gave it a light squeeze before he pulled it away and placed it on the steering with disappointment written all over him.

"Okay, just friends." He nodded.

He stayed silent for a while before he tossed his gloominess out the window and conversed with her like never before. He was good at hiding his feelings and Gwen gave him accolades for it.

"Thank you for the hair wash, it helped." Gwen flashed him a smile and he nodded once again as he pulled up in front of their apartment.