It’s the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life.
He pulls back, then looks over my shoulder, checking to see if our ruse worked, but my mind is in the clouds. “She’s still there. Across the street, watching,” he says, then leans his head down again, kissing me deeper this time. His fingers delve into my hair, and without thinking, my hands move to his neck, resting there and pulling my body tighter. We kiss and kiss and kiss, and even though I know I will be terribly confused and unsure later, even though with my complex emotions about Graham, I should be keeping my distance, I can’t find it in me to care right now.
It’s the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life, even if it is all fake.
Just my luck.
After long moments, Graham pulls away, looking over his shoulder and resting his forehead against mine. My chest is heaving, though I try to hide how much that kiss impacted me. “She’s gone,” he says.
“Thank you,” I murmur, my breathing heavy.
“That’s what friends do, right?” he asks, a small tip of his lips as we separate, but I can’t even revel in the fact that he called us friends.
Because for me, nothing about that kiss felt friendly.
Not in the least.
Looking over toward where Graham said he saw Cece, I spy the tiniest dot of her hot-pink bikini, barely visible from here. I wonder if she might have started running. If she stopped on the street corner just a minute ago, I can’t imagine she would have gotten that far otherwise.
“What was she talking about?” he asked, distracting me from my pondering. “A mural?” It’s like a bucket of ice water on my body, and I sigh, then I start moving toward the office.
“The town is accepting bids for a big mural in town.” I roll my eyes, irritation filling me at the reminder. “Cece’s dad is on the town council, so she’s kind of got it on lock, so there’s no point in anyone else applying.”
“So because she’s a spoiled brat, you’re not even going to bid?”
I lift a shoulder, keeping my eyes straight ahead. “I’m unqualified, and I don’t know how to put together a proposal, and in the end, it would be for nothing. Chet is just going to manipulate it so that Cece gets the mural.” He’s silent as we walk, and after a bit, I look at him to see he’s watching me, confusion on his face.
“All that luck and you’re not even going to try?”
I scrunch my nose.
“Why do I feel like you keep using that against me?”
He lifts a shoulder. “You force me to be social and accept you as a friend; I force you to take chances. It’s worked out pretty well for us so far, don’t you think?”
I can’t argue, and he knows it. He bumps his shoulder into mine.
“So?
“So what?”
“So are you going to do it?” I scrunch my nose, and he continues. “Oh, come on, June. You have to. No one loves this town like you, and you’re talented. Even the Mayor thinks you’re going to apply.”
I forgot he was there when that happened.
“I don’t know…” I say, biting my lip, but he’s looking at me like he genuinely believes in me, like he’ll be disappointed if I say no. I wonder if this is Graham’s own version of pleading puppy dog eyes. I groan. “I’ll… I’ll work on the sketch tonight,” I agree, defeat in the words, and he smiles wide, nothing like the fake look he gave Cece. This one is all mine, all because of what I did. “No promises, though.”
“Of course not,” he says with a small smile. “But you’ll work on a sketch tonight?”
I nod.
“Yeah. I’ll see if anything feels…natural,” I say, not telling him I already have a concept I love or that I have commissions to work on or how I should be making more canvases for my shop.
Still, that night, like promised, I paint.
I paint for hours, feeling energized and inspired.
But when I paint, it’s not smiles or shorelines or even a mural concept that I work on.
