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“And that’s what’s making you blush?”
“I’m not talking about it. Are you sleeping with him?”
“I’m not talking about it either. I don’t know what it is. We’re friends. We’re enjoying spending time together.” I paused. “I kissed him.”
She screamed, putting her cup down and throwing her arms around my neck, making me drop the paintbrush I’d been holding. “Kissed… I mean, really? You never kiss. When even was the last time you kissed someone? It’s sacred, special… you save it for people that matter. Is that what this is?”
“He needed something to distract him. I kissed him. Don’t make a big deal of it, Lea.”
“Fine, we’ll pretend this isn’t the greatest news sinceTake Thatgot back together, but Nee, you kissed him. I told you that the universe would send you your soul mate if you asked.”
I bent to pick up the paintbrush, wielding at her like a weapon threatening to cover her in cerulean paint. She held her hands up in surrender, laughing as she moved to look at what I was working on.
“Whoa. You kissed him, and now you’re painting him? You’re in deep, girl.”
I shook my head. “It’s not him…” Lea rolled her eyes.
“No one else would know, but I’ve seen the tattoos on his chest and I know you’re obsessed with him, soIknow who you’re painting.”
I stared at the canvas where I’d painted an abstract version of Archer I thought no one would recognize but now Lea knew it was him, I wondered if I could use it in my collection.
I’d painted Archer as if I was standing above him. His arm wrapped in a thick rope, bound in shibari knots, but unlike the scene we’d played out in real life, this rope wrapped his arm to his body, circling his chest. I’d left the tattoos off his arms, but you could partially see three points of one of his star tattoos along with his prominent Adam’s apple. Even now, looking at it, it stole my breath. I could imagine his body reacting to the ropes, his shallow breaths, the way he would have to force himself to swallow as he got more aroused like I’d seen him do so many times since I’d met him.
Lea was right; I had it bad for him, but I knew what he wanted and what he could and couldn’t offer. He’d been clear about it from the start and, if I was being honest, I wasn’t sure I was capable of anything more either. Sex I was good at; the emotional stuff that came with it… not so much. I guessed that was what happened when your mum went to the shop one day and never came home.
“Are you coming to Fox’s with him tomorrow night?” Lea asked, dragging me from my fantasies.
“What? He’s not asked me, but I’m seeing him later. Are you?”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m seeing them again later too, so probably.”
“Seriously, you are screwing them both, Lea?”
She held up her hands. “Hey, we promote body positivity and a woman’s right to choose. They are both hot as hell and they don’t mind sharing. And as it turns out, I’m happy to be shared.”
I dabbed paint on her nose, making fake gagging noises as my friend turned around, picked up her bag and coat, wiping the paint on a cloth before she left. “See you tomorrow, beautiful.”
“Don’t mention the kissing or I will hurt you,” I yelled after her.
“Don’t mention the sharing or I will return the favor.”
The buzzer for the studio’s front door sounded, and I pressed the button to unlock it, knowing who was coming up. A few moments later Archer bounded up the stairs, stepping into my top floor space, his guitar case slung over his back.
“Hey,” I called out as his smiling face appeared in front of me.
Pressing a kiss to my lips, I tried not to overthink what the intimate gesture meant, as he pushed his hands into his pocket, looking adorable.
“Hey yourself. How’s your mum?” It had been a week since she’d shown up at his house and thankfully she seemed no worse than she’d done before, so the doctors had agreed to send her back to the care home she lived in. Archer had found some new nursing staff to help out and his sisters and him had worked out a schedule to see her over the next few months, that meant none of them were exhausted and they could get on with their own lives to a degree.
“She’s okay. How’s your day been?”
“Good. I’ve been here all day. I need a shower, some fresh air, and maybe some food.”
“You smell amazing,” Archer whispered, burying his face in my hair and breathing in deeply as if to prove a point. “Now, are you going to show me what you’ve been working on?”
He stepped away and stared at the new white canvas that had a dark pink line in the middle of it.
“I don’t mean to criticize the artistic process, Nee, but did that one line take you all day?”
