Chapter 10
PD
It was a certifiable miracle to see Will plopped on an upturned bucket in front of a canvas propped up on my old easel.
My face was warm and a glowy sensation settled into my chest. I’d made that easel back in high school, and I couldn’t think of a better use for it than Will’s artistic rebirth.
It was all existential and shit. The start of my career linked with the reboot of his.
I didn’t know how to qualify all these wonderful jitters zipping through me. It made my heart squeeze.
Will’s hand wasn’t exactly steady as he used the spray paint, but it didn’t seem to matter because he was compensating for any issues with the practiced ease of someone who’d done this a thousand times.
Maybe a million.
And the fact that we were in our garage in our house again?
I couldn’t stop smiling like a jackass. I sipped my coffee from the travel mug he’d gotten me a few years ago.
Get Inked or Get Fucked was slapped on the black background in bold red letters that oozed green ink in the same style as the sign for the Ink Well. I rubbed my thumb across the embossing.
Will tugged down the mask I’d insisted he buy for painting and glanced over his shoulder at me with a grin. Pure joy shone in his eyes. “Well?”
Taking a step forward, I wallowed in the perfect chemical perfume of paint while my gaze darted over the clean lines. “Why the hell did you ever stop doing this?”
The canvas was covered in brilliant blues that meshed to make an undersea painting with soft light that was as good as something I could do with oils, if not better.
“My brain understands that you layered spray paint to create these effects, hell I watched you do it, but I really don’t know how you pull this together in the end.
” I tickled the back of my fingers over his cheek, and he smiled up at me. “It’s beyond my skill level.”
There went my stomach again, swooping as his soft lips curved upward. Fuck, it was like I’d never seen him in my life. I’d known sleeping with him would gut me and replace everything in my body with happiness—or I’d suspected. But I’d never felt this way for anyone.
I couldn’t help myself. I leaned down and stole a kiss, and he clamped a hand on the back of my neck and held me there for a short make-out session that had goose bumps popping up on my skin. We laughed together as I straightened and looked at the canvas again.
He sighed, a grumpy little noise that made me want to kiss him again, then flicked the mask around his neck. “I hate this thing.”
Hunkering down, I allowed him to pull me into a hug.
We’d known each other forever, but suddenly we couldn’t get enough of touching and sharing a personal bubble.
I nuzzled my face against his neck and inhaled his masculine scent.
Clean. Fresh. I didn’t stop myself from licking that warmth under my mouth, and he chuckled as I sat back.
I situated the mask in front of him and sighed when it got caught on his beard.
“It’s for the best with your lungs, you know. Don’t want to take stupid chances.” I shrugged. “Anyone should be wearing one, not just you, though. The fumes aren’t good for you.”
He grunted but thankfully didn’t argue. I didn’t have it in me to fight with him today. We deserved some peace.
He went back to work, and I dropped to my knees at his side, watching like the sappy idiot I was because I both loved to experience the shape of the painting come to life and see his solid arms flex as he worked.
He wasn’t all muscle the way guys like Tank and Oz were, but despite all he’d been through, he could take on the world and win.
I took my chances and distracted him by running my hand down his chest, and he covered mine with his.
We were laughing again like morons, and I couldn’t get over how good this felt.
“This is beautiful. Remember that time you were with me when I was tagging the wall outside that library downtown? The cops spotted us, and we spent half the day running and the other half trying to get back to what I was working on?”
Will laughed and nodded, and I never wanted things to be any different than right now. Humor crinkled the corners of his eyes. “They were so slow. And pissed off.”
“Yeah, well, we were a lot younger and faster then.” I snorted.
Will tugged his mask down again. Apropos of nothing, we were kissing deeper than most people did when they were three seconds away from fucking, and he dragged me closer with his hands on my sides.
It was a weird angle, since he was just sitting on an upended bucket and I was on my knees on the dirty garage floor, but I didn’t care.
I wrapped my hands around his thick thighs and parted my lips when he teased his tongue along my lower one.
We traded breath and a warm, wet duel began as he swirled his tongue around mine, and then I was exploring him.
In some ways, I felt like a teenager again.
Making out was a huge deal as long as it was with Will, and I shivered as he knocked off my new hat and ran his hand along my short hair.
I felt high as he kissed across my cheek to my ear and nipped the lobe—and I was pretty sure the way my head swam had nothing to do with fumes.
“Fuck, Will,” I mumbled, squeezing him around the middle. He grunted, and I instantly loosened my hold. “That’s good.”
“Damn right it is.” He pinched my side, and I grinned into the next kiss. Shifting around on my knees left me uncomfortable because my dick was doing its level best to drill right through my jeans.
“Can you hold my weight?” I mumbled against his mouth.
He shrugged, which I figured was about as good an answer as I would get without trying something stupid.
I scrambled up and slung my legs over his, resting against his body.
I studied his face, and he frowned, but the expression melted into a smirk as he dragged me closer so my dick was nestled against his abs.
I rocked a little and hissed at the sweet friction.
“This is new,” he said, but his hands were pretty quick to slide down and palm my ass, giving it a rough squeeze that was just this side of painful. He nipped my left pec through my black T-shirt while he was at it, and I grinned down at him while heat coiled in my stomach.
“Yeah.” I bent down, and we were kissing again, this time while I did a filthy grind against him, and he wriggled the fingers of one hand behind my belt to grab my bare ass.
The pleasure pounding the most primal parts of my brain to bits narrowed my world to my dick, but I guess Will was pretty focused with his artwork because he gentled our kiss.
He laughed when I groaned and rested my forehead against his shoulder.
“You want to keep painting, don’t you?” I asked, voice wrecked. I understood but fuck.
“Yeah.” He chuckled and pressed a kiss right below my ear.
As I disentangled myself and stood, he gave my happy dick a light squeeze that nearly doubled me over, then winked and kissed me again before I could straighten up.
“Fuck,” I mumbled, then chuckled as I backed away and scrubbed my hands over my face.
I ducked down and scooped up my hat. I would’ve thought this would be frustrating—and the dull, needy throb in my cock was that, sure—but the way he scalded me with a hot look let me know that this would continue later, and that was everything.
Fucking everything.
It made me wish I’d been braver sooner, but maybe this was exactly what was meant to be. I crossed my arms and cocked my head when he glared around at the empty cans of paint. This was his third canvas, and he’d already killed a few.
“What?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Need to go back to the store.” His brilliant smile was a beautiful arrow through the heart. “Re-up the stock. Forgot how much paint it takes.”
I was nodding as my phone vibrated in my pocket, which was interesting considering I was still hard, and I snatched it out with a wince that had Will laughing all over again.
I took one look at the name on the screen and my good mood dove.
Jake would never call me when I wasn’t there unless it was serious.
“Yep.” I paced away as I answered.
“Our booking system. Is. Fucking with me.”
Yeah, no greeting meant things were good and screwed. I growled. “What’s happening?”
The weary sigh that assaulted my ear said more than a string of swear words.
“The website is on the fritz, and I can’t get in touch with anyone who can fix it, so now it’s your problem.
Faye might be able to fix it, but she won’t be in until later, and I have someone here now who wants to pay for a slot. ”
I huffed out a breath. “I got it. I can log in from my laptop here. Give me a few.”
“You good?” Will asked as I ended the call.
“Yeah, just shit for the shop. You know, never ends.” I grinned at him.
He stood up and used his sexy, paint-splattered hands to drag me close for another kiss that sucked me in and didn’t let me go. My phone started to vibrate again—and I realized ten minutes had gone by.
Paybacks were a bitch. I rubbed my palm firmly over his trapped wood and winked.
“Absence makes the cock grow harder. I have to fix this. Jake will kill me if he loses a commission because I was fucking my boyfriend.” I waggled my eyebrows, and Will gave me a final hard kiss that had me moaning before I literally threw myself out of his grip.
With a clock ticking in my head, I rushed into the house to grab my laptop from my room, then powered it up at the kitchen table. Customers would get put off by the dumbest shit, and I should’ve hurried inside, but oh well.