Bad Girlfriend (First & Last #4) by Kirsten DeMuzio

Poppy.  It was the first home game of th e season, and Ford’s first home game as a coach.  Football didn’t really interest me, but I was going to keep Poppy company.
    I got to the salon before Loraine, which was rare.  While I waited for Leah and Lindsay to arrive, I gathered my supplies and brewed a pot of coffee.  Sitting down in the chair, I twirled around and took in the dated décor.  I had given up on making suggestions for bringing this place out of the '80s.  Loraine liked what she liked.
    I had never had any big extravagant dreams.  Growing up here, I was content to stay.  School was never something I loved or excelled at, so choosing to go to cosmetology school over college was an easy decision.  Besides dreaming of having a husband and a family, the only other thing I dreamed of having someday was my own salon.  I wasn’t very financially savvy, so I had no idea if that was even a remote possibility or what I would do to get started.  Like the husband and family dream, it was something that I wished for but wasn’t at all confident would ever really happen.
    Loraine arrived a few minutes before Leah and Lindsay breezed through the front door.   They both had coffees, and Leah handed me the extra one she carried.  Taking a sip of the steaming latte, sweetened just the way I liked, I closed my eyes and moaned.  This was so much better than the regular old coffee I had brewed in the back room.
    “Better than sex,” I murmured.  When I opened my eyes, both Leah and Lindsay were staring at me like I was crazy.
    Sitting down in the chair, Leah said, “If you think a vanilla latte is better than sex, then you’re not doing it right.”
    Lindsay sat down in the chair at the front of the salon and started flipping through the latest People magazine.  “Definitely not doing it right,” she agreed , taking a sip of her own coffee.
    Ignoring them, I fastened the drape around Leah’s shoulders and fluffed out her shoulder length brown hair.
    “Just a trim today?”
    Leah wrestled her arms free from the drape and ran her fingers through the hair around her face.  “I don’t know.  I’m thinking bangs or maybe some highlights.”
    I studied her reflection in the mirror and shook my head.  “No bangs.  They won’t work with your face shape.  Let’s take off two inches to take your bob back up to chin length and add some chunky caramel highlights.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Leah said.  “Now back to you not knowing how to have sex.  Poppy told us you’re giving up men?”
    I rolled my eyes as I leaned her back to wash her hair.
    “Chet as usual ended in disaster, and I’m just sick of being used and ending up heartbroken.  All I want is to find a nice guy who wants to be with me as much as I want to be with him.
    “That’s all any of us want,” Lindsay said.
    “Yeah, but you guys and Poppy have found that.  What am I doing wrong?”
    I finished washing Leah’s hair and wrapped a towel around her head before tilting her chair back to its upright position.
    “Well, for starters you’re going after total douchebags.  The whole I’m in a band thing, and all the piercings and tattoos.  It’s all very bad boy cliche,” Leah said.
    “Hey!”  Lindsay interrupted.  “There’s nothing wrong with tattoos.”
    Grady had a ton of tattoos, and I was glad Lindsay could appreciate a guy with ink even if Leah couldn’t.
    Leah waved off Lindsay’s prote st.  “Yeah, yeah.  What I’m saying is that you need to have higher standards.  The nice guys are scared off when they see you sucking face with the freaky looking guitar player.  And that’s another thing.  You give it up way too easily.”
    I set the scissors down so I wouldn’t be tempted to stab her with them and gave her a look in the mirror.
    Leah gave me an innocent look.  “What?  I’m just trying to help.  Come on, Brooke.  You know you’re not exactly virginal.”
    My shoulders slumped.  “I know