My entire being plummets to the point that I’m convinced I’ve been incinerated, and my ashes have been thrown to the ground. “I just started. I know it needs work.”
He owns the same hard expression my dad wears when he’s disappointed in me. I shrink from Hunter, reminding me of how I always shrank from my father.
“I asked for the Aires constellation. Not a sunset. Are you capable of doing what you’re told or are you only capable of painting one picture? Lots of artists can do that—paint or draw one solid image over and over again. I want more.”
“I have tons of paintings and drawings I can show you.”
He silences me with his hand, and I consider ripping it off. “I want the Aires constellation. That was our agreement. Are you doing it or not?”
My foot taps the floor. This summer I’ve craved to hear that I possess talent, to know that I have a shot at a career with my art and I’ve reached the goal. Hunter said that I have talent. While part of me considers telling him where to shove his silencing hand gestures, another part of me desires his approval. What forces my foot to move faster is that I don’t understand why.
“What do I get out of it?” I ask. It’s a bold question for me, and my palms grow cold and clammy.
Hunter snorts, but when I say nothing, he actually smirks. “You’re serious.”
Nervous adrenaline courses through me, and I have to swallow to keep air flowing through my windpipe. Noah has told me how Isaiah hustles people for favors or car parts and that the most important rule in making any deal is to have expectations on the table up front.
I’ve never hustled before, but I never thought I’d be the girl who made love to Noah Hutchins. There’s a first time for everything. “If I showed here with my paintings and drawings, I would have hoped that you’d offer to show something of mine in your gallery.”
A pause for his reaction. “Why can’t that be the same agreement here? You paint me Aires and if I like it, I’ll hang it in my gallery.”
“I’ll paint you Aires, but it won’t be finished before I go home. I’ll have to finish it in Kentucky then send it to you. Look at my paintings now, and if you like what you see, hang one of them in the meantime.”
“When do you leave?”
“In a few days.”
Hunter assesses the canvas before him. “If you paint this fast, you’ll be close enough to done before you go.”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes. “I can’t paint Aires that fast.”
“You can.”
“But I won’t.”
He doesn’t blink and neither do I.
“I’ve got plenty of people hoping for a shot and none of them are demanding a thing from me. Why should I do this for you?”
This will either work or I’m nailing my coffin shut. “You’re the one that said I was special, not me.”
Hunter laughs so loudly that people look up from their canvases. “Bring in your five best paintings and drawings tomorrow, but I want the Aires constellation on the next canvas. Got it?”
I clap like a small child at the circus. “Yes. You won’t regret it. I’ll get as much done as I can before I leave.”
Someone calls Hunter’s name, and he walks away, ending our conversation. My phone vibrates in my back pocket and the cup of joy inside me overflows with Noah’s text: On my way.
Me: I’ll be waiting.
Noah
Echo keeps the canvas angled toward her, and she swivels it from side to side as I fish the key card out of my wallet. She’s had a silly smile on her face the entire ride back from the gallery and while I’m not fond of Hunter, I miss seeing that type of light in her eyes.
“Are you going to let me see it?” I ask.
“Once we’re inside.”
The door clicks, releasing the lock, and when I push it open, the voice of an announcer mentioning a two-one count carries out of the room and into the hall. Echo wrinkles her nose, possibly having forgotten about our guests. “Or not.”
“You want me to put it back in the car?”
“It needs to dry. I should have left it at the gallery, but I was too excited for you to see it.”
And neither Echo nor I were eager for me to visit the gallery so she brought it to me. I hold the door open for her and Echo heads in.
“S’up, Echo,” Isaiah calls. His heavy combat boots hang off the side of the bed. When I come into view, he tips his chin at me. “Noah.”
“Hi, Isaiah! Hey, Beth.”
Beth lies on the bed next to Isaiah in the opposite direction. In her tank top and with her black hair falling over one shoulder, Beth is sprawled on her stomach with her feet bent in the air and her chin resting on her folded hands. She’s completely absorbed in the game. When Beth says nothing in return, Echo tries again. “Who’s winning?”
“I don’t have a fucking clue nor do I fucking care.”
Echo’s head ticks back.
“Back off, Beth.” I cross the room, drop a kiss on the curve of Echo’s neck and whisper in her ear, “She’d rip me to pieces, too, right now. She’s a bitch when the Yankees play.”