Page 5 of Quiet
Briar rolled his eyes, but Isa noticed his gaze drifting toward a cluttered desk littered with sketchbooks and pencils.
“Perfect for what?”
“We’re working on a painting together for our final project this year. We’ve been looking for a model for the focal point, but so far we haven’t found the right person,” Bea said.
Isa blinked. “You want me to model for you? I’ve never done that before.” Other than when he let children draw him at the church daycare.
“Don’t worry about that, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.”
“If I model for you, you’ll give us the paint?”
“Are you kidding? If you model for us, we’ll give you Briar if you want him.” Alex poked the tall man beside him. Briar glared and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t sulk, you know you’re indispensable, but we’re desperate.”
“We are too.” Isa assured him. “So, you don’t have to bargain your friend away. I’ll model for you. Is it okay if I don’t start today? They still need me to help paint the set.”
“We can hold out until tomorrow. Here.” Bea held out her phone to Isa. “Give me your number, and I’ll put you in our group chat so we can coordinate.
Isa took the phone and put in his number. When he finished, he realized Briar was standing close to him. “Oh, you got the paint already. Thanks!”
Isa lifted the lid of the purple and held up the sample he’d brought with him. He was right, it was a close match. He went to take it from Briar. “Holy cats, that’s heavy.”
He’d be lucky if he could get one bucket all the way back to the theater, let alone two.
“Briar, help the poor guy,” Bea said with a sympathetic smile.
Alex laughed good naturedly. “Yeah, it’ll be good for you to get outside for a while—oh, he’s already going.”
Briar took the paint can from Isa and moved to the doorway. His body language screamedlet’s get this over with, but Isa had a feeling he didn’t actually mind.
“It’s okay, I can carry one of them—”
Briar was already out the door, so Isa said hastily, “It was nice to meet you!” And ran out after him.
“Don’t worry about Briar, he’s nicer than he seems!” Alex called after him.
Chapter3
Isa
Isa struggled to keep up with Briar’s long-legged gait, but all he saw was the man’s back.
Running down the stairs had been sheer delight. Chasing Briar up the stairs was brutal.
“Alex wasn’t kidding when he said you were a brick wall, was he? Though I guess brick walls don’t move, do they? Maybe you’re more like a horse. Can horses climb stairs? If they can, I could really go for one right now. Not that I want to ride you, or anything.” Isa had to stop talking when he reached the point of choosing between speaking and having enough air to stay conscious. Which probably wasn’t a bad thing. He was about to talk his foot right into his mouth.
Briar paused on the stairs.
Maybe he’d already said too much, and now Briar was going to leave him with two great, big, honking paint cans to lug the rest of the way back. Since Isa was already considering the benefits of expiring on the spot from exhaustion, he really didn’t want that.
When Isa reached Briar, the taller man leaned against the railing and pointed at the steps.
“You want me to take a break?” Isa panted, already falling onto the step into a sad, sweaty heap. “You should take one too. Even tanks need to rest sometimes.” Isa patted the spot next to him.
Briar paused, set the paint cans down, and joined Isa.
“Is your arm okay? I didn’t even think about it when you took the cans. I can carry them the rest of the way.” No, he couldn’t, but he could call for reinforcements. Ryan could suck it up if he didn’t like it. Isa had already sold himself so his friend could get a good grade. Ryan could sure as heck get his butt down here and carry a can of paint.
Briar put a hand on the paint cans protectively.
