Read Online What a Girl Needs by Kristin Billerbeck - Free Book Online

you had your eyes checked lately? It’s really bright, Ashley.” Then, she sets the bags down and swallows me in an awkward, engineer hug. “I so missed your crazy self! If by ‘nice change’ you were meaning an ode to clowns…did you by chance arrive in a tiny car with lots of others?” She looks outside.
    “It can’t be that bad?” I feel my hair, and it’s a wee bit crispy. The way you’d like your chicken, not your hair.
    “It’s much worse than you think it is, but I never was a fan of hair color that doesn’t exist in the real world. Well, this planet anyway.”
    “Is this your way of telling me how much you love me?”
    “If the lawyer thing doesn’t work out, you could apply at the local tattoo parlor in Philadelphia.”
    I sigh. “I got sucked into this 48 Hours on the OWN channel and had to find out who killed the woman and I kind of forgot to set the timer for my hair.”
    Kay gives me a look of pity. “Well, if you had to know who killed her…”
    “I don’t have time to fix it, do I?”
    Kay shakes her head. “You should stick to your bad reality shows. This is proof. It’s God’s way of telling you that you don’t have the attention span for serious television.”
    Kay made a funny.
    “I thought maybe I was more adventurous when I was single and living here. I thought it was time to take a risk. Then, maybe I wouldn’t feel as invisible in Philly.”
    “Oh, you are definitely not invisible. Cal-trans wants to hire your head for their ‘Men Working’ road sign.”
    “Rude! When did you get such an attitude?”
    She ignores my question. “The dinner guests will be here soon. I’m making a fresh shrimp salad, so preparation won’t take long. I’m assuming you don’t have any hair dye to fix this disaster anyway?” Kay bites her bottom lip for a second as she contemplates my current disaster. “That might take a professional.”
    I grin sheepishly. She knows me too well. “Do you have a summer hat I can borrow?”
    “A summer hat?” Kay laughs. “Have we met? You’ve seen my closet, and even if I did have a summer hat—it’s not going to fix that. I could see it through the towel. You know what it reminds me of?”
    “Dare I ask?”
    “When you’re a little kid and you mix all the ice cream flavors together and then it ceases to be appetizing. It’s like a lump of brown with swirls of color in odd places?”
    “I get it,” I snap. “It’s awful. Could you just – not? I need a break, Kay. I came here for a respite, and I really need one. I need to understand that I’m not the biggest loser on the planet. Just for today, all right?”
    Kay’s expression softens and she picks up the grocery bags. “Come help me put the bags away. People will be too happy to see you to notice your hair anyway. One crisis at a time.”
    Kay’s an engineer and has the typical engineering personality with a side of obsessive-compulsive disorder. So I’m certain she’s exaggerating about my hair. At least, that’s what I’m going with to get through the next few hours where I get to play third wheel to my ex-boyfriend Seth and his wife Arin—again.
    As Kay walks into the kitchen away from me, I’m shocked at how thin she’s gotten. “Kay, what have you been doing? You’re so tiny!”
    “I’ve been running. I’ve found it’s a good way to get my mind clear. You know, take my mind off all of the stuff that needs to be done around here.”
    “Nothing needs to be done around here. You just can’t sit still.”
    She turns and faces me, a slight blush across her cheeks. “Did you see the pergola I’m building in the backyard?”
    “I saw Matt Callaway building your pergola.” I raise my brows, but she turns without giving me a reaction. “When were you planning to tell me he’s still hanging around? I think we missed that topic on Skype.”
    “Matt’s a friend. Since when is that news?”
    “He answered the door looking like a member of the Village People. That