Chapter 7 #2
“I’m sure you’re smart as a whip, but this thing with Alex will all become clear to you very soon. It will be illuminating for you.”
“Whatever. What are you doing here anyway? This is the art building.”
“What? I can’t be artsy-fartsy?” defends Hank.
“I didn’t say that. It just surprises me to see you here.”
“Well, I’ll have you know that my mom is an artist and she instilled in me a great love of the arts,” he says with a flamboyant hand gesture.
“So, I volunteer to model for a professor friend of my mom’s.
Some of the professors have to pay for models out of their own pockets, so this is my way of helping out.
I do it for free, hence the volunteering.
It’s a great way to share what God gave me with the art world. I mean, have you looked at me?”
I giggle. But then my jaw drops. “Wait, which class are you going to model for this term?” Please don’t say Life Painting, please don’t say Life Painting.
“Life Painting.”
“Oh? Really?” Aw, crap! I’m going to see Hank naked? “I’m taking that class this semester.”
“Well, it’s your lucky semester, little Stella. You’ll get to see me in all of my naked glory.” Leaning a little closer, he whispers but it’s loud and sounds sort of conspiratorial. “You’ll thank me later.”
“Uh-huh.” I chuckle as I do my best to not picture Hank naked.
He’s ginormous. I think he may be bigger than Alex.
Alex is taller, but Hank is definitely broader.
He’s got sandy blond hair is cut short, almost in a military style.
He’s got at least one tattoo running down his right arm that looks like it’s made up of thick, dark, vine-like lines.
He’s handsome in an angular kind of way with his strong jaw and nose and high cheekbones.
His lips are full, and his eyes are gray and kind.
Yep, I like him. I just don’t want to see his you-know-what.
“On second thought, Alex probably won’t like that you’re going to see all of this.” Hank gestures up and down his body. “But he’s going to have to deal.” He winks at me again.
“Okay, well, on that note… I need to get going. I’m going to be late for my favorite class.”
Hank quickly moves next to me so we’re walking side by side. “Is it your favorite because you know you’ll see me naked?”
I roll my eyes, but I’m laughing inside.
This guy is funny. Picking up my pace, I walk as fast as I can to class.
I hope I get a seat next to Lily and far away from Hank.
Lily will enjoy hearing about all of this, and I’m positive she’ll enjoy having a naked football player to paint.
By the time I get to the Life Painting classroom, I’m late.
Everyone in class turns to see me walking in, followed by Hank.
I search quickly for Lily and spot her across the room.
She waves and points down. She’s saved me a place, thank goodness. We hug and settle in for class.
“So, two questions: one, why were you late? And two, did it have anything to do with that hunka-hunka man with you?” Lily raises her eyebrows up and down like a dork.
“That’s Hank. He lives in my dorm. He’s going to be our model in this class. Naked. Nude. Sans clothing,” I explain.
“Sweeeeet!” Lily squeals.
“That’s okay for you.” I groan. “You don’t have to see him every day.”
“Oh, I wish I did. Daaayum! That man is hot, hot, hot. So, why were you late?”
I explain that Bradley was lying in wait for me—that he wants me to go home this weekend to talk with our parents about our breakup.
“Oh, damn, girl! When will he leave you alone? He must be desperate. What’s his deal anyway?” Lily asks.
“No idea.”
Just then, a tiny woman in an apron covered in paint splatters moves to the middle of the room and clears her throat.
“Well, well, well, isn’t this a great class!
Welcome to Life Painting, everyone!” she says with a smile.
“This is going to be a great semester. You will learn so much about the human body, proportions, and composition. Don’t worry if you haven’t painted the figure before; that’s why you’re here now, isn’t it?
Now, let me introduce our first model for the year.
Come on up, Hank. I lean forward and pull my body up so I can see above the head of the girl in front of me.
I watch Hank saunter into the middle of the room with a broad smile on his face. “Everyone, say hello to Hank.”
In unison, the class says dryly, “Hiiii, Haaaank.”
“Hi, everyone. I look forward to getting naked for you all.” He chuckles, as does the rest of the room.
I stare as Hank looks around the room. I hold my breath when his eyes stop on Lily. I watch as his smile widens to massive proportions; then he winks at her. What’s with the winking? I turn to see Lily wink back at him. Damn. That girl has confidence to spare. I love that about her.
In a loud whisper, Lily says, “This is hands down my favorite fucking class. I already love Life Painting.”
“Uh-huh,” I mutter. “It’s gonna be awesome.” Not.
Professor Willis breaks our little private moment, reminding us to bring all of our paint supplies to class next time because we’re going to jump right in and start painting.
She excuses us early from class, stating, “Boys and girls, this will be the only time we will get to leave early, so enjoy it.”
Lily and I begin to say our goodbyes when a smiling Hank saunters up to us. “Hey, ladies. Stella, are you going to introduce me to your beautiful friend?”
Oh, boy.
“Tank, this is my friend and future roomie, Lily Smith. Lily, this is Hank the Tank.” I wink at Hank and see the scowl on his face. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
Hank extends his huge paw-like hand toward Lily. She places her tiny hand in his and says, “It’s really nice to meet you, Hank. I can’t wait to see you naked.”
I choke out a laugh at that. Her confidence is remarkable.
Laughing as well, Hank says, “And I can’t wait to get naked for you, little Lily.”
Wait for it. Wait for it. There it is… the wink. I knew it. He just can’t resist.
“Okay, you two, enough of the flirting. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. And for the love of Pete, quit with the winking.”
“Whatever you say, Stella,” Hank says, winking again.
At that, the three of us part, each heading in different directions, or so I thought. By the time I’ve reached the dorm, Hank is walking next to me again.
“So….” He pauses. “Lily?” asks Hank.
“Yes? Is there something you’d like to know about my best friend?”
“Sure, lots of things, like will she be, uh, visiting you here at Shepard at all?”
“I suppose. Do you want me to work on that or something?” I’ve stopped walking and have turned to face the mammoth guy. “Are you asking me to set you two up, because if you are, I don’t think my help is necessary. I think we should just let that happen organically.”
“I guess we could go that route. That might be time-consuming, though. Any help you can give to nudge things along would be appreciated.” Hank winks. “And thanks! See you around, Stella,” he shouts as he heads into Shepard, adding, “I owe you one.”