Page 71 of Art of Love
I couldn’t exactly complain about having a relationship that was hot like fire, but damn, it really could be that we’d missed important stuff because we got lost in each other.
“Come here.” He beckoned for me to go to him, and I moved to sit in his lap. “We’ll watch the recording and see what we missed. Then maybe we can have some piece of mind. Honestly, I can’t wait for it to be over.”
I looked up at him, looking over his truly handsome face. If he ever knew how worried I was about the end, he wouldn’t say that.
“I think you’ll get it.” I smiled at him.
He pressed his chin to the top of my head. “I think you’ll get it.”
“You more than me.”
“No, you.”
I lifted my head up, so I could kiss him. “I want you to get it. You want it badly.”
He laughed and turned me to face him. “There’s only one thing I want badly right now.”
“What could that be?” I had to say I was eager to find out because of the way he’d put it. I thought he wanted the job badly. Hearing there was something else got me real interested.
“You,” he replied effortlessly, stunning me.
Now, it was the way he was looking at me that got me ... more than interested, and the look made me feel a little uneasy. “You’re sweet.”
“I’m ... serious. I’m bloody serious, Jia. But hey, job sounds good too. How about we help each other get those last clues? I think I’m inclined to agree with you that maybe we were a little preoccupied with each other during that show.”
I chuckled, although what he’d said before was still on my mind. “Thank you. Also, you have me. Can’t think why you’d want me, but you pick your poison.”
“Hey, don’t make yourself sound like that.” His hair brushed against my face, tickling me. I moved back laughing, but he pulled me to him again.
“Okay, I’ll be whatever you want me to be. I guess I must be just as bad as you, because I want you badly too.” Being with him made me speak my heart, maybe more than I should.
I had the worst examples of relationships around me growing up, but what I was glad for was that I’d never allowed it to affect my perception of what I hoped for, for myself.
I didn’t walk around with my heart closed. I was just sensible.
And I was being sensible now. I liked him, a lot. That was okay.
“Well, love, you got me badly, in case you didn’t notice. So... I was thinking...” He raised his brows and gave me an expectant look.
“What were you thinking?”
“About Christmas. You haven’t said what you’re doing. I’ve decided not to go to England this year.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, my family are still all weird about my decision to do art. My mom’s okay, and my brother. It’s my dad though. I don’t want to have to deal with all the tension and whatever. Plus, the week before is when we have to present our portfolio. I need peace of mind to do that.”
“I get it. I do.”
“Are you going back to Atlanta to see your family?”
My family. I held his gaze, realizing that I’d kind of never really much talked about my family with him. He knew my mom, Todd, and Grams died, and that Lana was my niece, but the way I’d told him the story left out all the horrible details. I didn’t tell him that it was Todd’s death that made me leave Impasso to take care of Lana, and made it sound like I still had some family left back home. I’d said my father and I didn’t see each other much. That was what I’d told him.
The truth was something I didn’t share with anyone. Sam knew, and Bernice, but that was the limit.
“No, I’m not. I thought maybe I would meet Lana, and we could do something from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, but she’s gotten involved with this on-campus group for people who are going to be on campus for the holidays. There’s a guy in the group she’s into. She was excited about staying, so I thought I’d allow her to do that.”
It would be the first Christmas in years we didn’t spend together, but she was cool about it, and I understood her motives. I was an eighteen-year-old girl once, and if there was a guy I liked, I would for sure pick seeing him over spending Christmas with my family.
