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Once inside, she had the strange urge to lock the bathroom door, but since it was a community one with several stalls, she didn’t want to raise an alarm. She stepped into a stall and locked that door, feeling marginally better.
As she pulled her phone out of her purse, her hand shook, her heart racing. Blowing out a few deep breaths, the same kind she used when calming her nerves before a performance, she then sent a text.
Where are you? I miss you.
Too much? They’d already been intimate together. Saying ‘I miss you’ shouldn’t be stepping over any boundaries. And she wanted to make this relationship real. Starting by being honest had to be the first step toward that, especially to let Brick know she wanted more with him.
She tapped her foot incessantly, waiting for him to reply. Anything. Even a simple ‘hey’ which seemed so impersonal to her.
Oh, shit.
She had sounded way too desperate. Like she couldn’t handle this morning alone with her mother and Bradley.
But was she handling it well?
No, she wasn’t. She let Bradley hold her hand for far too long like he had a right to. She should’ve put a stop to it right away. Sure, she could’ve done it on the sly, slipping her hand out from his without saying anything. Or she could’ve been blunt and to the point. ‘Nothing is going to happen between us.’
But she wasn’t that kind of person. She tried to avoid confrontation at all costs, especially when it came to her mother. And now Bradley. All other kinds of conflicts, she could normally handle. She dealt with some uptight, selfish performers before. If she didn’t want to be run over by other performers, she had to hold her own.
This was why she hated dealing with her mother. She just couldn’t handle it. She was too weak, too much of a coward.
She fiddled with her phone another minute or so, hoping, praying, begging for Brick to respond, yet nothing appeared. She couldn’t stay in the bathroom stall forever. The last thing she wanted was her mother coming to look for her and giving her a speech about how wonderful she and Bradley looked together. No doubt she’d get it later.
She washed her hands and exited the room, taking her time to find Bradley. He was the lesser of the two evils and she preferred his company over her mother’s. She found him standing in front of another abstract painting, this time the brushes more subtle and subdued. Still vibrantly beautiful, but not as wonderful as the first one. That painting had spoken to her heart, to her erratic emotions. Telling her it was okay to feel out of sorts and not herself.
Ugh. Maybe it was time for her to go. She was making way more of these paintings than they really were. It was a bunch of paint splattered on a canvas and that was that.
“What do you think of this one?” Bradley asked, his easygoing smile telling her nothing had changed within her short bathroom break.
She kept her hands folded together in front of her to prevent him from grabbing her hand again. Sure, childish of her, but she didn’t care.
“It’s lovely. The first one is my favorite, though.”
“I thought so.” His eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief and intrigue.
Hmm. Did she want to know what he was thinking? No, she didn’t. The less she encouraged him, the better.
“So, I thought this afternoon, we could—”
“Oh, excuse me,” she said, hating to interrupt him as her phone buzzed in her purse. Pulling it out, the smile that spread across her lips couldn’t be subdued as she read the text.
I missed you more. Turn around, sweetheart.
Swiveling, she saw Brick standing not more than ten feet away with a delicious grin that said he had missed her. The heat and desire reflecting in his bronze-colored eyes had her insides melting with pleasure and wishing they could find an empty room and do very naughty things.
She walked away from Bradley, not missing the sharp intake of breath from him. Then she was in Brick’s arms, feeling like her world was back on its proper axis and everything would be okay.
His lips met hers, yet it was short and brief. They were in a public place. Some people didn’t like public displays of affection. She figured the stuffy, uptight people who frequented these kinds of places especially didn’t.
“Everything go okay this morning?”
His smile dimmed. She regretted asking.
“Went how I expected. How is it going here?”
She wanted to know more, dig deeper into his turbulent mood. She could feel the slight anger vibrating below the surface. Wherever he went, it hadn’t been pleasant. Yet she couldn’t insist on him telling her more. One, hello, public place. Two, she didn’t feel comfortable enough that she had a right to insist with him. Fake relationship and all.
“It’s been nice. My mother has stayed in her own space while Bradley and I walked around. It’s been a nice breather from her.”
