Page 28 of Tanner

And, when I grab the blue paint, it’s only to show the color of her eyes before I step back to take in the mural I painted.

It’s missing just one thing. I reach for the lavender, shaking it for a few seconds before writing, You’re welcome, across their bodies.

7

HARPER

“Please tell me how is it I’m still scrubbing paint off my grout!” April says as she sashays out of the bathroom.

I’m standing in the kitchen, popping a coffee pod into the Keurig. “Sorry about that.”

“I wish you had let me see this body paint before you let it tint my porcelain pink.” She’s laughing, which is a relief. Most people wouldn’t be so kind to their futon-crasher making a mess of their bathroom. Especially since I’ve been evading her. When I woke up on Friday, I went straight to work and avoided her inquisition, and then I went straight to my parents’ house.

I grab my filled mug and take a sip. “Trust me, by the time I got home, I was all crusty and smeared. I looked like a bad Picasso.”

“It’s not every day your best friend has a one-night stand with an artist and then keeps all the goodness to herself.”

“Pardon me for visiting my parents this weekend,” I tease.

My dad needed some help with taking care of my mom, and it was a good excuse for me to hide from Aaron, who has been blowing up my phone since he saw Tanner kiss me.

“Smart idea. Your ex came by here twice. Apparently, he doesn’t take lightly to you being manhandled by hot guys in bars.”

I make a face of disgust. “He should have thought of that before he put his dick in another girl’s panties.”

April makes a proud face. “Look at you, using profanity like an adult. I like this new you. I bet it’s because you got freaky this weekend.”

“Dick is hardly profanity. And I didn’t get freaky.”

“It’s okay. One-nighters are supposed to be freaky.”

“It wasn’t a one-night stand. We didn’t even have sex.”

She takes a dangling earring from her palm and puts it into her ear. “Oral play counts as a one-night stand.”

I shake my head. “Too much body paint.”

She pauses. “Finger play?”

I don’t say yes. I don’t say no either. I just take another sip of my coffee and place my papers that were sitting on the counter inside my tote bag.

With her earrings in place, she curves her brow and tilts her head to the side. “So, you finger-fucked like teenagers, and then you Coyote Ugly’d him?”

I flinch. “You make it sound so scandalous.”

“Did you or did you not sneak out in the middle of the night?”

“Yes, Prosecutor. In my defense, there was nothing to stay for. It was a great night.” An amazing night. “I’d just gotten out of a relationship, and I’m not looking for anything serious. Staying would have been awkward.”

April slides her coat on. “He probably wasn’t looking for anything serious either. He was pretty young.”

“He wasn’t that young.”

She grabs her briefcase from the floor. “He was a baby.”

“Shut up. He was at least twenty-six, twenty-seven.”

She points down. “Lower.”