Page 149 of Infatuated as They Come
“And then we have this one,” I said, moving on to the fourth one. “Brodie’sfavorite since he witnessed this moment.”
She laughed. “I like it a lot too.”
“I guess I get caught up in staring at you sometimes, but there you were with me, and you could have been anywhere in the world, but… you chose my place. I really like days like that. Where we don’t even do anything some people would call special. We’d just watch a movie or talk or kiss all afternoon, but to me, that’s the best thing in the world. When I get to just be with you, that’s the best feeling ever.” And then I brought her to the next one. “You’ve already seen this,” I said. “Just made it ‘cause you’re beautiful.”
She sighed, pressing her face into my arm. “Stop.”
“And there’s this one,” I said as we moved along further. There she was in painted form: hair in her eyes as she slept, and how lucky was I that I got to wake up to that? “That’s all I could ever want. Falling asleep next to you means I get to wake up to you. I made too many mistakes these past few months and I don’t ever wanna risk you again. I look at this painting and all I can think is: how could I have been so damn stupid? How could I miss out on this, when it’s all I need?”
Then there was the next one: her in our apartment, lying down on the couch, one of her many college books grasped in her hands as she read, doing something so simple but still looking so damn beautiful. Then we were on to the eighth one that showed off her putting on the necklace I had given her, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Holly grasp at the pendant.
“And then we have…” The one I was the most nervous about showing her, the one that I didn’t just want her to like, but love. The one I wanted to rip out off the wall and make real in a second flat. “The last one.” I heard her soft gasp and felt her fingers tighten around mine some more.
“Wait…”
“I don’t know if I captured it perfectly.” I stared ahead of me, taking in all the details. The little white house and the setting sun that casted off an orange glow against the green grass and the lemon tree in the distance. There in the windows the lights were on, and you could just barely see two figures, two shadows, two silhouettes pressed together, and I could imaginein my head, could see it and practicallyfeelit: us in that house forever.
“That’s…” Holly’s voice trembled, and the sound had me turning to look over at her. Bambi eyes glassy with tears, I could feel her fingers fidgeting against mine.
“I want to give you that one day,” I said. That and more. The house and the tree and the permanently bright sky—I wasn’t sure how I’d do it, but I’d keep the sky that perfect shade of blue for her if it made her happy.
“I love you,” she said, voice sounding on the brink of breaking.
“I love you too. I—Holly, baby, stop crying,” I said with a laugh.
“You can’t do this and expect me to not cry. They’re all beautiful. They all look amazing and I’m so proud of you.” She pressed her face into my chest. “You deserve to have more nights like tonight. And I want that too. That life, that house. It sounds so lovely as long as you’re there…”
“Love you so much.” I gave the top of her head a kiss, squeezing her tight.
Damien was in front of me, a smile on his face that quickly faded as he eyed Holly. “What’d you do to her, man?”
“I’m just feeling emotional tonight,” Holly said, her words a little muffled. She pulled away from me, wiping at her wet eyes. “Just feeling really happy and in love.”
“Ah, I see. I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s some people here who wanna meet you,” Damien said, nodding to the side.
“Ooh, go talk to them.” Holly patted her hands on my chest. “I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?” I asked. I hated seeing her with tears in her eyes, even if they were happy ones.
“I’ll be fine. I’m gonna go find the girls. They should be around here somewhere. Go talk to your fans.”
“I’ll come find you after,” I said, thumb rubbing across her cheek.
She nodded, pecked my lips, and gave Damien a wave before taking off into the crowd that felt like it had doubled in the last few minutes.
“There’s a couple people here who wanna ask you about doing commissions,” Damien said. “You interested?”
Commissions meant money and money meant getting that house for Holly, so I was up for that if it meant I could make my girl happy in thelong run. She could buy that house easy, but I so badly wanted to be the one who gave it to her.
I spent the next half an hour shaking hands with art collectors, gallery owners, and art teachers from schools in New York and I hated every second of it. I pushed myself to get through the night, letting people ask me why I picked certain colors and textures and lighting, and then there were the ones who asked me who inspired me, and all I could think was Holly, Holly, Holly.
It was a pain, but I finally managed to pull away from the suited-up art enthusiasts, my pants pockets stuffed with their business cards as I pushed my way through the still large crowd. I realized in that moment that I was very much the kind of painter preferred to make stuff and not interact with the public.
But I bumped into Lex and Jay and Audrey and spent some time talking to them, and Audrey—with her bright, big smile—pressed her hands to my cheeks and whispered to me about how proud she was of me.
Then finally, I found Holly who was towards the back as she talked to the girls on the cheer team. Her eyes found mine and she gave me a little wave and that was when I felt a whole bunch of pairs of hands on me.
“Sawyer!” Claudia called out. “We saw your paintings of Holly!”
