Page 13 of Quiet
“Shit, Isa, it’s been way longer than thirty minutes. Your neck must be killing you.” Alex stood up from his spot and stretched his arms over his head.
“Huh?” Isa came back to himself and realized he’d been sitting still and looking over one shoulder for way longer than the human body was meant to. “Ow . . .”
“You should have said something!” Bea came over and touched the area where his neck met his shoulder. “Jesus, you’re tight.”
Briar hadn’t moved from his spot. Isa wasn’t sure he was even listening.
“I kind of zoned out there for a while, otherwise I would have.” Isa assured her. He rolled his shoulders and winced. “Let me just move around a bit, and I’ll be okay.”
Isa got off his pillow throne stiffly, intending to walk around the room to work out the kinks in his body but had completely forgotten about the garment he was draped in. He didn’t realize that, as he walked away, part of it stayed behind, trapped under Bea’s foot.
Not until he heard a strangled littlemeepbehind him.
He spun around and the last of the fabric fell away to reveal the tight little boxers he wore. The ones with a little pink heart on the left butt cheek.
“Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to flash everyone.” Isa dropped to the ground to retrieve the cloth and wrap it back around himself.
The problem was that, by itself, the material was nearly translucent. He’d had to wind it around himself several times before it became opaque. He wasn’t having much success this time without a mirror.
“Here.”
Something black dropped over his head, and Isa realized Briar had dropped his shirt over him.
Isa pulled it on gratefully. It was much longer than necessary, which was perfect for his predicament—though the wide neck fell over one shoulder. He spared a glance at Briar and was more than a little disappointed to learn the man was wearing a tank top under the sweatshirt he’d given Isa.
It looked really good on him though. Carrying around paint cans and canvases had done wonders for Briar’s physique.
The thought chased him back to the changing room.
Chapter6
Isa
While hiding in the changing area for the rest of his life was appealing, it wasn’t entirely feasible. He had a duck to take care of, after all.
So, he came back out and sat through another hour of modeling—this time changing poses every fifteen minutes. It hadn’t been as embarrassing as he’d expected. Bea had taken most of the blame on herself since she had been the one standing on the fabric.
It was dark outside by the time they’d decided to wrap up.
“Honestly, Isa. I’m so sorry.” Bea wrung her hands anxiously as Isa exited the changing area.
“It’s okay, really. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” Any lingering embarrassment was fading quickly now that he was wearing real clothes again.
“Does this mean we haven’t scared you off? You’ll come and model for us again?”
“I don’t scare that easily. I’m a theater kid. This is hardly the first time a group of people have seen me in my underwear.” Briar’s hand stopped moving over the sketch he was finishing, and Bea and Alex had twin looks of surprise on their faces, so Isa hastily amended, “That came out wrong. We have to change costumes quickly, so that means there isn’t a lot of privacy. You get used to it after a while.”
“No judgment, man. You do you.” Alex patted Isa on the back then turned to look at the duck. “Do you have somewhere you can keep this little guy? He’s pretty chill for a wild animal. We could keep him here as a mascot if you want.”
Isa bit his lip and crouched down by the cage. “I don’t think he should be left alone overnight in case he tries to eat his bandage or something. I can take him back to my room, but during the day might be a challenge. I don’t think he can come to class with me.”
“Bring him here then. We can watch him when you have class.” Bea pushed a bit of bread crust in between the bars of the cage. “Here you go, little guy. You can have my leftovers—I don’t like breadcrust. Hey, what do ducks eat, other than bread?”
“A little bit of bread is okay, but wild ducks usually eat insects and water plants. It’s safe to give them birdseed and oats for a short time. Berries are okay too.”
“How do you know all this?”
Briar came over to sit next to the cage, and his thigh pressed lightly against Isa’s knee. All of Isa’s attention flooded to that tiny point of contact.
