I just stare at him for a second, this quiet, gentle man who built a world in his backyard to keep me here a little longer.
The thought comes tumbling into my mind in this small, quiet moment.
If love looks like this?
If home feels like this?
Ineverwant to leave.
Swirling my brush in pastel yellow, I try to pretend I’m focusing on the canvas rather than on how Reed sits beside me, his legs spread, shoulders relaxed, his arm warm against mine every time he moves.
He squints at his canvas as he paints.
“What are you painting?” I ask, sipping my iced coffee.
“A surprise,” he answers, which… suspicious.
“Reed Hayes,” I warn. “If that’s a stick figure with a cowboy hat?—”
He smirks but doesn’t deny it.
“It’s abstract,” he says, seriously. “You wouldn’t get it.”
I gasp dramatically, smirking. “You’re starting to sound like Catalina.”
He chuckles, a deep, warm sound that sends vibrations down my spine, before dipping his brush into bright green paint, suspiciously.
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t even think about?—”
His brush taps the tip of my nose with a perfect neon dot.
I freeze.
He freezes.
Then he laughs, this deep baritone laugh that’s so unfiltered, raw, and real, and it’s something I could listen to forever. This man has burrowed his way into my heart, and I never want to let him go.
“Oh!” I say sweetly. “War!”
Before he can react, I swipe my brush across his forearm,leaving a streak of sky blue on his warm skin and over his scar-ridden tattoos.
His eyes go wide. “You did not just?—”
I’m already scrambling back, giggling, because yes, yes, I did.
He lunges playfully, and I scream-laugh, waving my paintbrush as he gently tackles me onto the blanket.
“Say you’re sorry,” he demands, waving his brush over my cheek.
“Never,” I reply.
He lines a streak of yellow along my jaw. I leave a pink handprint on his chest. He strikes my upper arm with turquoise. I smear lavender across his jaw.
We’re a mess. A colorful, giggling, gorgeous mess.
I can’t breathe from laughing, my cheeks flushed, heart so full it might burst.
He’s still leaning over me, both of us breathless, staring at each other, paint smeared all over, grinning like idiots.
