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“I’m not selling to Don.” I paused to slide the razor blade around the pieces on my picture’s ears. “I still have to sell.”
“So I’ll buy it.” Maddox swept his brush in smooth, straight strokes toward the center of the canvas, creating a gradient.
And now we were back to this. “You don’t want to run it.”
“But you do,” Maddox said.
This wasn’t getting us anywhere. “I’m moving to Arizona. I own a store there, too.” I slid my blade along another line, focusing on the intricate cuts. I didn’t want to turn into a broken record on this store thing.
“But you aren’t selling the house.” Alys kept her attention focused on the tiny stencil in front of her.
“No, I… It’s the family home.” I bought it from my parents when they retired and moved. “I need to grab a black and white Alys from the dark room. Can we at least hold this until round one of the paint is drying?”
Maddox sighed. “As much as I hate it, Onyx has a point.”
“Thank you.” I also didn’t have any answers. It didn’t matter how much we rehashed the subject, the outcome didn’t change.
As I fetched the now-dry photo of Alys, for the Follow the Leader cover, I looped over the conversation, despite not wanting to. It had never occurred to me to sell the house. Xander brought it up once, and I brushed it off. I’d told him A decision for another time.
But…
I settled into my spot at the kitchen counter again, to do more cutting. I’d been planning this move for months. How was I having doubts now that I didn’t before?
“You know what we need?” Maddox asked.
Alys glanced in his direction. “A time machine?”
“Almost. A montage.”
I chuckled. “Since neither one is a thing…”
“You sure?” The challenge in Maddox’s retort was impossible to miss.
But that didn’t change my answer. “Positive.”
“Hey, Xerxes,” he called to my smart home device. “Play montage music.”
“When did you—?” My question was cut short by Jawbreaker by The Cruel Intentions.
Maddox grinned. “Months ago.” His voice barely carried over the music.
Fuck I loved this man as much as I did Alys. How was I going to leave them?
The fast paced, high-volume music kept us going, and we worked until we’d run out of things we could do until the paint dried.
Maddox sank into a kitchen chair with a slump. “You know what makes me sad?”
I had a few guesses, and it wasn’t a long list.
“Emergencies keep interrupting our lunch. I’m hungry.”
Maddox’s answer was so perfectly him, it made me smile. “What do you want for dinner, and I’ll go get it. Anything you want.”
He rolled his head to the side to give me a look of disbelief. “They don’t sell anything I want in Haddarville.”
“Then you have something specific in mind,” Alys said.
“Remember that place we went to celebrate the first time we lost the contest?” Maddox sat up a little straighter. “New place. Amazing curry.”
