Chapter 7
WILL
I spent the rest of the week trying not to get hard just at the thought of her and what we did on Monday in the studio.
When she sat in my classes, I didn’t look at her.
I couldn’t. It would’ve only reminded me of how fucking much I needed her.
I couldn’t focus with her around, and whenever I caught a glimpse of her, I knew she felt the same.
That gave me some kind of comfort, and she understood why I tried not to watch her all the time.
It was Friday morning, and most students only have voluntary classes.
They’d spend the day working on projects, did study groups, or simply sat in the library reading whatever book they needed to read.
I was on my way to the studio, knowing Ivy would be there, and when I entered the art wing, I saw her standing by the vending machines in one corner.
I walked up to her, my footsteps catching her attention as I got closer. When her eyes met mine, they immediately lit up. I smiled back, and after we both looked around to make sure nobody would see us, she walked right into my arms.
Our lips collided, and I held her tightly against my body as she melted into me.
“I fucking missed you all week,” I muttered between kisses. My hands moved from her lower back to her ass, squeezing it tightly.
She moaned into the kiss and pushed her hands into my hair, tugging at it, making me want to undress her right here. Fuck, I wanted to sit her down on one of the benches next to us and kneel between her legs and bury my face between her legs.
“I missed you too,” she told me as we broke the kiss to look at each other. “I hated being so distant.”
I reached up with one hand to brush a strand of her hair away from her face, admiring her beauty.
“Me too. But we got all weekend. Or do you have plans with your friends?” I didn’t want to ruin anything, and I especially didn’t want to be a possessive asshole.
Even though I liked the idea of locking her up in the studio, or maybe my apartment, and keep her there forever. To have her all to myself.
She shook her head. “I don’t have plans. I was hoping we could hang out. You know…like we did last time.”
I nodded. I wanted that too. So damn much. “Were you headed to the studio to paint?”
“I’ve actually been here all morning,” she told me, taking a step back to show me her hands which were covered in dried paint. A grin appeared on her lips. “I finished the ocean painting and started a new one. You want to see?”
“Of course.”
“Great! Let me grab a snack first. You want something?” She turned back to the vending machine and took in her options before reaching into her overalls’ back pocket.
“No, thank you.” Before she could pay, I pulled out my phone and used it to pay for whatever she was going to choose.
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
“Take whatever,” I offered.
She turned her head and sighed, unhappy with the idea of me paying a few bucks to get her a snack. “You better get used to this.”
“But—” She was ready to argue, but she stopped herself, scrunching up her nose in the cutest way possible. “Fine.”
She put in the numbers of the snacks she wanted—a Twix bar and a pack of sour candy—and after taking them out, she turned back around to say, “Thank you. I will share.”
I chuckled and reached out to touch her waist. “Come on. Show me what you’re working on.”
We started walking toward the studio when someone called out my name.
I froze, wondering for how long that person had been there for. Hoping we didn’t get caught.
“Professor Novak.” It was a student of mine. A Freshman.
“Yes, Eleyna.”
She looked between Ivy and me, then gave me a tight smile. “I was hoping to find you here. I have a few questions,” she said before looking back at Ivy. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Ivy replied, sounding as friendly as ever.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked with a shaky laugh.
“No, you’re not. What can I help you with?” As much as I wanted to send her away, I couldn’t. it would make this look weird. I didn’t spend time alone with my students. Well, not unless it’s Ivy.
“I, uh…” She watched Ivy for another moment before her eyes met mine again. They softened, and I started to feel uneasy. I hated the way she looked at me. The way she always looked at me during class. I didn’t want to flatter myself, but I knew Eleyna had a crush on me.
Unlike with Ivy, though, I didn’t feel the same.
“I was hoping you could help me figure out what color scheme I should go for. For my next project, I mean. I saw you did a painting. The landscape,” she said, keeping her bright blue eyes on me. She looked nervous, but she didn’t let Ivy intimidate her.
“I really like the colors you used, but I was wondering how you managed to make it all blend so nicely together. The darker blues and…and the lighter greens. And then you added shades of purple and orange. I just can’t wrap my head around how well it works, even if you used so many different colors. Your art truly amazes me.”
I needed her to shut up.
As much as I appreciated her words, I couldn’t listen to them knowing she intentionally talked to me that way to make me notice she was into me. She was trying way too hard, and it made this situation so much harder.
I was being a hypocrite. Wasn’t going to deny that. Because whenever Ivy complimented my work and talked to me that way, I took it all in. Appreciated it all without flinching.
But it just sounded wrong coming out of Eleyna’s mouth.
I cleared my throat and tried my best to stay composed. I couldn’t show my annoyance. “Thank you, Eleyna. I was planning on showing the painting in class next week, and I will tell you all about it then.”
I came up with that plan on the spot. I didn’t want to take it into class and show it off because I didn’t want to lie about it. About the inspiration for the colors. About how all the colors matched simply because they reminded me of Ivy.
Eleyna’s smile faltered for a second. She nodded slowly, trying not to show disappointment. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but instead she glanced one more time at Ivy. “I’ll see you next week, then.”
“Yeah, see you then,” I said with a nod.
As soon as she left the building, Ivy looked up at me, one eyebrow raised. “She likes you.”
I exhaled through my nose, half amused, half annoyed. “Yeah. I know.”
“She’s not subtle.”
I didn’t reply. Didn’t want to give Eleyna more of my time when she wasn’t even around anymore.
“Do you think she saw us?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear her before she called out to me.” I clenched my jaw, then sighed. “I hope she didn’t.”
“Yeah…” Ivy took a deep breath, and when I turned to face her, she had this strange look on her face.
One I couldn’t quite place at first but then understood it was distress.
“Ivy, darling,” I said slowly, liking how that word rolled off my tongue. Yeah…I will only call her darling from now on . “It’ll be fine. She probably didn’t see anything.”
“What if she did?”
“She didn’t.” I wanted to believe it myself, so I repeated it once more. “She didn’t, and I’ll talk to her about the way she keeps trying to impress me.”
That sounded so fucking wrong. And, again, extremely hypocritical. Self-absorbed, even.
Ivy’s brows furrowed, challenge flashed through her eyes. “I talk to you the same way sometimes. Why wouldn’t it work for her?”
“Because she’s not you.”
It was a simple statement which meant a whole fucking lot. And I hoped she understood.
Ivy held my gaze, and I could see it in her. How deeply she wanted to believe me. But I could also see the shadow of doubt flickering in her eyes. That worry of being compared, of being temporary. And fuck, that made my chest tighten.
“She’s not you,” I said again, stepping closer.
I placed my hand on her waist, needing to keep her close.
“She doesn’t make me feel like I’m coming undone every time she walks into a room.
You do. And believe me, if you didn’t mean this much to me, I wouldn’t put my job and reputation on the line.
I want you. Fuck, Ivy, I want to be with you. ”
That earned me a breathy little sound. A kind of sigh, one she didn’t mean to let out. It was sweet. So damn sweet, just like her expression.
Her lips parted slightly, and she leaned into me, eyes drifting shut for a second, embracing the closeness.
“I hate this part,” she whispered, sighing as she rested her hands on my chest.
“What part?”
“The hiding.”
I swallowed hard. “I know, darling. I hate it too.”
But it was inevitable. We had to.
She looked up at me. “I want to be around you and not feel like we’re doing something wrong.”
I nodded slowly, brushing my thumb across the waistband of her overalls. “We’re not doing something wrong. But we are doing something risky.”
Her mouth twisted with a conflicted smile. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I know you do. I also know that if someone found out…” I didn’t want to say it. She already knew. We both did.
But she just shrugged. “So what? People do stupid shit for love all the time.”
The word hit me like a sucker punch.
Love.
She didn’t say it lightly, and I knew it. She didn’t say it like it was casual or just part of the moment. It sat between us, heavy and real, even if she didn’t say it to me.
I didn’t respond right away. I just looked at her. At her messy paint-streaked hair, rosy cheeks, and that damn fire in her eyes. The one I couldn’t look away from. The one I’d chased in my own work for years and never quite found until her.
“Come on,” she said softly. “Let me show you the painting.”
She took my hand gently and led me into the studio. The door shut behind us with a quiet click, and I locked it just in case.
Inside, soft music was playing from the speakers, and the smell of paint and Ivy’s perfume lingered in the air. She guided me to her easel, then stepped aside to show me what she was working on.
The canvas was big. Taller than her. Almost as tall as me, and I was six-foot.
A stormy sky blended into a rough water below, but the colors weren’t angry.
They were full of ache. Extremely detailed and realistic raindrops were splattered all across the top part of the canvas.
Deep violets blending into soft gray blues and flashes of ochre light burst at the horizon.
I stared at it, and she patiently waited for my reaction without saying a word.
“Ivy…” My voice came out low. “See, this is why I think you’re an exceptional artist.”
She gave me a smile. “Thank you, Will.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her in front of me.
She leaned back against me, placing her hands on my wrists as I wrapped my other arm around her shoulders too.
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head while still looking at her unfinished painting.
“You’ve only been working on this for a few days,” I stated, amazed.
“Yes, but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to paint. It came easy.”
“That’s good.” I smiled and tightened my arms around her. “Want to tell me about it?”
She nodded, then leaned her head back against my shoulder, her voice quiet and soft as she began.
“It reminds me of lazy, rainy Sundays. My favorite type of days. You know, when the world just slows down and makes you feel safe. Where there’s nothing to do, and nowhere to be, and all I want is to be curled up under a blanket with a cup of tea, some romcom movie on, and… someone I love beside me.”
I held my breath. There was that word again.
But she didn’t backtrack. Didn’t correct herself. She let me know that love is what she longed for. Maybe she didn’t even realize it, but that’s what she wanted. What she deserved.
She kept talking, her tone growing more thoughtful.
“When I painted the ocean, I didn’t want it to feel violent. I didn’t want the storm to look destructive. I wanted it to feel like…like it’s always been there. Like it’s part of the calm. You know?”
I nodded slowly, my chin brushing the top of her head. “Yeah. I see that now. And I can hear it, too.”
She turned her head and looked up at me, her eyes wide with surprise. “You do? That’s what I was thinking of when I painted these.” She pointed at the raindrops hitting the ocean’s surface. “I love the sound raindrops make when they hit a body of water.”
“You captured it all perfectly, Ivy. It’s amazing,” I complimented her, kissing the top of her head again. “Everything you said…I can feel it. See it.”
She turned in my arms, her eyes searching mine for something. Reassurance, maybe. Or recognition. She already had all of that, though.
“You’re in it,” she said, voice almost a whisper.
“Not just in the colors. Not just in the feeling. You’re the reason I knew what to paint.
I kept thinking about you. About that night in the studio and everything I felt afterward.
You made everything quiet for a little while. You made me feel…held.”
I clenched my jaw. My arms were around her waist now, her body tight against mine.
“You did the same for me, Ivy,” I said quietly. “You still do.”
She smiled then, small and shy. “I want lazy Sundays with you. Even if we have to hide. Even if we can’t tell anyone. I want those quiet, stolen moments. I’ll take every one of them.”
I didn’t respond with words. I just leaned down and kissed her, slow and deep, and full of everything I hadn’t said yet. Everything I was starting to feel.
And in that kiss, I promised her my Sundays. All of them.