The Look of Love (27 page)

Gunnar reached in his pocket and pulled out a black cloth. Until he took off his cap and covered his head, she hadn’t realized he’d had gotten a do-rag. “Got that covered. Hopefully, my mom won’t have a problem with this. I won’t be able to keep why I keep covering my head from her for too long. I need the focus not to be on me before my brother’s game. It should be about my mom and Gideon.”

Eboni nodded. She reached up and straightened out his head covering. When their stares connected, she noticed he started to lower his head like he wanted to kiss her. Her heart started pounding hard behind her rib cage as she awaited this needed kiss.

A ruckus in the salon stopped him.

“Excuse me.” Gunnar moved by Eboni and headed into the salon.

Eboni followed him and saw who’d created the noise and commotion. T-Lite, the young man who’d come into the place before had returned. He held up a duffel bag.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m still trying to get my band to camp. Y’all interested in buying some candy?” T-Lite reached into the bag. “I’m also selling some, uh, special brownies.”

“Get out.” Gunnar stood in front of the young man.

“Oh, look. It’s Guns again. Hey, shouldn’t you take off that rag off in here. It’s disrespectful, right? That’s what you told me.” T-Lite laughed.

“I didn’t stutter. Take the candy and those brownies and get out of this establishment.” He pointed to the door.

“Or what? What are you going to do, old man?”

Oh, no. Did this boy think he could square off against Gunnar? As Gunnar approached him, the slamming of the back door stopped him.

Shay stormed into the salon and went directly to her station. Her large sunglasses still covered her face. When she sat her large saddlebag-sized purse on the counter, it fell over onto the floor, spilling and scattering the contents.

“Shit!” Shay bent over to collect the items.

“
Oh.
She cursed. Are you going to kick her out too?” The young man covered his mouth with a balled-up fist and laughed.

Before Gunnar could address him, the front door slammed open. A man about as tall as the teenage boy in front of Gunnar stormed inside, moved past Gunnar and Eboni, and went directly to Shay.

“Hey, who are you?” Gunnar dropped his attention from the boy and went to this man.

Before any of them realize what would happen, the man grabbed Shay’s arm and pulled her back.

Eboni ran toward them but couldn’t get there before Gunnar had gotten to the duo.

“Excuse me. You need to get you hand off her.” He pointed to Shay.

The man scowled as he looked up at him. “Who the fuck are you? Don’t get in my personal business.”

“Shay is my business. She works for me here.”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, so you’re the dude who took my woman out, huh?” He yanked on her again. This time Shay’s sunglasses fell off her face, revealing bruises around her swollen left eye.

A gasp sounded throughout the salon. Eboni could tell the man might as well have waved a red flag in front of this charging bull.

“Shay is my woman. She can’t disrespect me by stepping out on me. She needs to learn that.” He glowered at Shay. “You thought you were being slick by going to Hampton, didn’t you?”

Shay kept her gaze down to the floor.

“Bitch, I got eyes everywhere.”

Gunnar rolled up his sleeves. “Are you responsible for her black eye? Is that how you like to teach? I like that method.” Gunnar stepped up to the man. “Hit me. Come on. Teach me not to take my friend out to lunch. Touch me. Put one hand on me.” Without touching Shay’s boyfriend, Gunnar managed to get him hemmed up in a corner.

“Gunnar, please.” Shay tried pulling Gunnar back.

Gunnar kept charging. “Come on. Man to man, you teach me something. Put your hands on me. Come on.” He turned his head. “I’ll let you have the first swing. Right here.” He patted his cheek. “Do it. Hit a man. Hit me.” He ripped off the doo-rag and threw it to the floor.

A second wave of gasps sounded throughout the salon, but Gunnar didn’t acknowledge it.

“Gunnar, stop it!” Elizabeth stood in the doorway of her office, holding herself up by gripping the frame.

“You’re fucking crazy.” Shay’s boyfriend stumbled back against Shay’s workstation, knocking down her styling tools in the process.

“You’re right. I don’t respect or respond to so-called men who put their hands on women like they have a right to. You’re not a man if you need to do that. You’re a punk and a coward.” Gunnar continued pressing up against him. “If you’re man enough to hit a woman, then knocking me out shouldn’t be a problem, right? So do it. Knock me on my ass.”

“Don’t think I won’t,” her boyfriend challenged.

“Then do it! Knock me out. But if you don’t, oh, partner, if you don’t, no one will be able to get me off you.”

“Gunnar!” his mother shouted.

“Tillman, do something,” Shay said in between her tears.

Gunnar kept his laser-like focus directly on Shay’s boyfriend. Eboni knew if someone didn’t get in between these two, no one would be able to stop Gunnar.

Eboni ran to the men and put her hands on their chests in an attempt to push them back from each other. Shay’s boyfriend definitely wanted to get away, but Gunnar felt like an immovable statue.

“Gunnar, stop fighting. Please.” Eboni stared into his face until he finally broke his gaze from Shay’s man to acknowledge her.

A look of realization crossed Gunnar’s face. He turned back to the boyfriend. “If Shay comes back in here with even a split end, I will come find you. Are we clear? You will never, ever touch her again.” He took one step back and stood there, expecting Shay’s boyfriend to squirm his way around him and leave.

“You’re crazy. All of you are crazy.” He pointed to Shay. “You keep your ass here. Don’t come home.”

Gunnar turned and charged toward him, a motion that got Shay’s man to sprint out of the salon.

* * * *

Gunnar had been oblivious to everything that happened around him until the man left. Like when he fought in the ring, he’d had that tunnel-like vision where this jerk had remained in his focus. Had he touched Gunnar, Gunnar would have choked him out.

When he turned and faced the people in the salon, he saw what his hotheaded nature had done. Eboni held Shay, who couldn’t stop sobbing. When he panned his gaze over to the office, he saw his mother standing there breathing heavily like she’d been holding her breath for hours.

Alicia’s crying caught his attention. Gunnar peered down to his side and saw the child clutching her father and crying into his neck.

“Gun-Gun scared me. Don’t like it.”

Gunnar started to kneel down to her but Marc shook his head as he rocked his child.

“Damn, that was amazing,” T-Lite said as he held up his camera-phone to capture the intense moment. “I didn’t know you’re a No Equal.” He held up his fist and turned it around so that Gunnar could see a similar tattoo on the back of his hand.

Gunnar’s biggest fear confronted him. His past had caught up with him. He couldn’t escape. He would always be that thug, fixing problems with his fists.

“Get out now.” Gunnar did the same thing he’d done to Shay’s boyfriend. He approached T-Lite and forced him to back up to the door and leave without uttering a word.

“But we’re the same. We’re supposed to look out for each other.”

“I’m nothing like you.” Gunnar pulled the door closed once T-Lite had stumbled outside.

With the two toxic forces out of the salon, Gunnar turned to the employees and customers. “I apologize for my actions.” He looked at his mother. “Excuse me.” He snatched his doo-rag from the floor by Shay’s station and walked out of the back door.

He needed to clear his head. It had been a long time since he’d felt the need to fight anyone outside of the ring. He wished he hadn’t lost his temper. When he’d seen Shay’s black eye, it had reminded him of his mother when she had been with that asshole who thought putting his hands on her had been his right.

Gunnar had done a lot of things in life. Hitting a woman in anger had never been one of them and never would be. Queen had taught him and his brothers that. He’d used that lesson at fifteen years old to try and protect his mother against her abusive ex-husband. The fight hadn’t gone over well for Gunnar, but that hadn’t stopped him from doing the right thing.

After an hour of walking around, Gunnar, with tail firmly tucked between his legs, went back to the salon. After today, he wouldn’t return to it.

He crept through the back door, making sure not to slam it behind him to alert anyone. Not that it mattered. He would have to cross the salon to get to the office to get his jacket. As soon as he pulled the curtain back, a barrage of applause and whistles hit him.

Gunnar blinked as he looked around. Clients all stood on their feet and clapped for him. It felt surreal, like he had been transported to one of his matches.

He turned to Shay. She glared at him as she approached him. Standing a foot away from him, she stared at him for a beat before she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried against his chest.

Gunnar held her as he looked for Eboni for a response. She kept her arms around her body as she nodded.

“Thank you. Thank you.” Shay gripped his shoulders.

“It’s okay. I wished you had said something earlier. We could have helped you.” Gunnar patted her back.

When she pulled back from him, she gave him a kiss on his cheek before going back to her station. Without her sunglasses, even with her swollen eye, she looked stronger than ever. She looked like a survivor.

Gunnar faced the people in the salon. “I need to apologize. I should have handled that differently.” He looked at Marc, who held his child’s little hand as she sat in Eboni’s chair. “I didn’t mean to frighten Alicia.”

Marc stood and used his hands to cover his child’s ears. “When I saw what he’d done to Shay, I wanted to punch him myself.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re here. We already all said that if that asshole tries to have you arrested, we’ll testify against him. You can’t mess with one of Queen’s employees and think it’ll fly.”

“Yeah. We feel safer with you here, Gunnar.” Tisha smiled.

“I shouldn’t have met violence with violence.” He turned to the office where he saw his mother standing. “My mom taught me better than that.”

“That’s nice and all, but some jerks need their bell rung. He was one of them.” Monica gave Gunnar a thumbs-up sign.

Gunnar patted his head. “And as far as what you saw on the back of my head. I had that put on a long time ago when I was young and dumb. I’m not affiliated with them at all. Now that I know that T-Lite is one of them, he definitely will not be allowed back in here. You all do not need that type of energy in here.”

At the time Gunnar had joined the No Equals, he’d thought it made him a big man. The gang had claimed that no one could equal them in anything--looks, power, and danger. It hadn’t taken Gunnar long to see that he had aligned himself with a group of cowards and had broken free from them, another great reason he hadn’t wanted to come back home. He had to face his fears.

“I can’t go home now.” Shay shook her head. “All of my stuff is at his place.”

“You can stay in my apartment.” Gunnar offered.

“Excuse me?” Eboni immediately asked.

Gunnar shook his head. “I’ll sleep on the couch in the main house.” He faced Shay. “Maybe if you’re with my mom, you’ll come to work on time.”

A ripple of laughter sounded through the salon.

“Oh, you got jokes.” Shay cocked a smile at the corner of her mouth.

“Let’s go now to get your stuff.” Gunnar turned to Tillman. “You got my back?”

Tillman grabbed his coat. “Let’s bounce.”

Monica stood from the desk. “Then I guess I’ll be shampoo girl for a day. Go on and do your thing.”

Gunnar went to the office. Before he crossed into it, he gave his mother a knowing look. She said nothing. She nodded and let him go by. Before leaving the salon, he had to do one last thing.

Gunnar wrapped his arm around Eboni’s waist and pulled her in close. He kissed her gently at first, merely brushing his lips against hers until he pressed his full mouth on hers until she moaned.

When Gunnar broke from the kiss, he said, “I’m crazy about this woman.” He smiled as he pulled back from her. “I don’t care who knows.”

Eboni smiled. “I’ll get you for that later.”

Gunnar gave her another quick kiss before leaving with Shay and Tillman. Today had been the first day he felt respected and needed at the salon. He felt like these people had become his friends.

Now that he’d brought his and Eboni’s relationship out in the open, he knew they could go to the next level. If he could get his career in line and fix his mother’s health, everything would be perfect.

Eboni had skipped going to Gunnar’s for dinner last night. She found it hard to reconcile the whole situation in her head after what had happened at the salon. Eboni felt anger on behalf of her coworker, but she never wanted to see that violent side of Gunnar. Although she hated to admit it to herself, seeing that violent side of Gunnar had frightened her.

Eboni knew his reaction had come from a desire to protect Shay. That didn’t take away the fact that Gunnar could snap at any moment. At least she could be assured that he would never hit her. She believed every word he’d said when he said men should respect all women.

With it being Super Bowl Sunday, she couldn’t avoid him anymore. He and Queen Elizabeth expected her to be at Queen’s house for the party. She’d already told Elizabeth she would help her with the food and getting her house ready.

“You’re leaving?” Craig asked from the couch.

“Going to a party.” Eboni slipped on her coat.

“Have a good time.”

Eboni headed to the door.

“Be sure to tell your baby’s daddy hi.”

She turned to him. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any children.” Eboni swallowed hard, knowing that her cousin had found out her secret.

“I know. Not now. Now how do I spin that? Did you lose Guns’s love child, or did you abort it? Which story will get me more pay from that tabloid website?”