Brush Strokes Read online

  “Oh, right,” she said, like she had forgotten he was even there. “That’s really exciting for her.”

  “Did you know Olivia paints?” Jake said to me, his face so smug it just made me want to smash it.

  I shifted so my arm on the hood moved behind her, bringing me closer. I saw her look back at me out of the corner of my eye. If anyone were to look at us, it would look like I had her tucked tightly into the crook of my arm – which I did – and we would most likely look like a couple. I liked that. I had no issue declaring to all these asshats what my intentions were. I knew most of them, if not all, would back off right now after seeing my possessive behaviour toward her. Jake Taylor wasn’t as smart as most of them. His mouth tightened, and I saw him eyeing my arm like he wanted to break it off. I wished he’d try it.

  “Of course I know she paints,” I replied like he was an idiot. Which he was. “She won first place in the art show in grade eight. It was against high school students too. I think she was the youngest student to win that award, weren’t you?” I asked, turning to look at her.

  Her eyes were wide, and she was staring at me like I had two heads. What? What did I say? Shit. Had I just made that all up? I thought back. No, I was pretty sure that was a fact. I remembered them announcing it the next day at school. And her parents threw a party that night for her. I remembered sitting out on my roof and watching them in their backyard. She’d worn a pale yellow dress that night.

  “Olivia?”

  Saying her name seemed to snap her out of whatever was going on inside her head. She smiled and cleared her throat. “That’s right,” she said. Phew.

  I turned to look back at Jake, whose face was set in a grim look until Olivia glanced his way. Then his typical lazy smile appeared and I wanted to punch him even more.

  “I think I remember that too,” he said. Lie. “We should go together to see my aunt’s work,” he said quickly. I was so going to punch him.

  “Oh?” Olivia said. Her hands fidgeted in her lap nervously. “Uh…sure. That could be fun.”

  Jake perked up like he’d just won another trophy. “Great. I’ll find out when it is and let you know the details.”

  “O-okay.”

  My body was wound so tight I was afraid I might snap in two. There was no way I wanted Olivia going out with Jake Taylor. I knew fully well what he was like with girls. Not that I was any better. But I sure as hell wouldn’t be that way with a girl like Olivia Banks. She wasn’t like most of the girls that threw themselves at guys like us. One of his jock friends called out to him.

  He glanced back at them then to me, like he didn’t want to leave me alone with her. I pulled one side of my mouth up into a knowing grin, daring him to say something. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly at odds. This was fun, watching Jake sweat it out, leaving his newest conquest with a rival.

  “Well, I better get back to my friends,” he said finally.

  “Looks like it,” I said, my grin widening when his eyes narrowed on me briefly.

  He looked at Olivia. “It was nice seeing you again. We’ll talk soon.” Not if I could help it. How I’d manage that was another issue.

  “Nice seeing you too, Jake,” she replied. He turned and left, not saying another word to me.

  “See you, Jake!” I called out. He didn’t even look back. “Such awful manners,” I muttered. I looked back at Olivia to see she was watching me. I could tell she was fighting back a smile of her own. It made one stretch across my face immediately. “You seriously going to go out with that loser?”

  Both of her eyebrows shot up. “And what makes him a loser?”

  I rolled my eyes, trying my best to ignore the way her body was leaning slightly toward mine more than it had before. This was the closest I’d ever been to her and it was doing weird things to my head now that Jake’s annoying presence was gone. “He is so full of himself, that’s what. The only important person in Jake’s life is himself. Anything and anyone else comes second.”

  She laughed. “I’m guessing you two don’t like each other much, huh?”

  “That would be an understatement.”

  She looked back over to where he was now standing, her forehead pinched. I wanted to reach out and erase the lines of confusion there, but instead I just waited to see if she’d tell me what she was thinking. I really hoped she didn’t have a thing for him. Her head slowly turned to look at something over my shoulder.

  “Your friends are watching us,” she said with a small smile.

  I didn’t bother to look back. I knew they probably were. I’d pretty much stridden over here and claimed her as if I were pissing circles around her. They were probably confused as hell. Well, except Rannon. He was well aware of my interest in this beautiful girl for years now.

  “They’re probably shocked I’m standing here talking to a girl,” I replied, my eyes dropping to focus on her mouth, before looking back into her eyes. She was almost too perfect to look at.

  “You’re always talking to girls,” she said with a confused look.

  I barked a laugh. “I might be around girls some, but I’m definitely never just standing around talking to them like this.”

  “Oh.” Her cheeks blushed to a lovely shade of pink. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but it was worth it to see her reaction. Did she realize how different she was from other girls? Probably not. I had no problem helping her figure it out. I pushed off the car, moving to stand in front of her.

  “I should probably go back and see what they’re up to,” I said. Truthfully? I just needed to get away from her before I did something stupid, like run my lips over that pretty blush. Or trace those lips with mine until everything and everyone around us faded. Yeah, I needed to go.

  “Okay,” she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Well, it was…uh…nice talking to you.”

  “We’ll be talking again soon.”

  “We will?”

  I smiled and nodded my head. “Definitely.” I placed a hand on either side of her hips, and leaned in close, letting my cheek brush hers as I placed my lips right next to her ear. She smelled amazing. I had to fight the groan working its way up my throat. I heard her suck in a quick breath and hold it. That made me want to pound my chest like an animal. The fact that my nearness affected her was the best thing to happen to me in days. “Did I mention how incredibly beautiful you look tonight?” I whispered. She shook her head, her face brushing against mine. Her body was leaning toward me, and all I wanted to do was hook an arm around her narrow waist and keep her there. “Well you do,” I said, leaning back so I could look into her jade eyes.

  I reached out and tucked the strand of hair that had come loose again back behind her ear. Her eyes fluttered shut for a second before they popped back open to stare at me.

  “See you around, Olivia.” I let my hand drop and turned away, walking back to where my boys were. Every step felt like I was climbing a hill. I had to force myself to keep going, putting distance between us. I wanted to do this right with Olivia. I didn’t want her to think I was just like these other idiots and was only noticing her now. I needed her to realize that I had always thought she was special. Which was exactly why I had stayed away this long. I knew, even when we were younger, that I was nowhere near good enough for her. She needed some guy who could give her the house, kids, and white picket fence like all girls wanted. Not some guy with serious abandonment issues, an attitude problem and questionable decision making abilities.

  But the sad truth of the matter was, I was way too selfish to stay away anymore. When she left and I no longer got my daily glimpse of her, I realized that I didn’t like not having her around. I wanted to be able to see her every day, and get to know her. I had wasted so much time and now I was going to make up for it.

  Seven

  Painting is just another way of keeping a diary – Pablo Picasso

  Olivia

  What the heck had just happened? I was frozen, sitting on the front of Ella’s car
like someone had shot me with a stun gun. Was there even such a thing as a stun gun? I wasn’t sure, but I definitely felt like I had lost the ability to move.

  Maybe there was something in the water all of a sudden, because having both Jake Taylor and Colt Morgan come up and talk to me would have never happened before. I had no idea what to make of it. And Colt…my God. He had walked up with all that swagger, and unleashed it like a wild fire. My skin tingled where he had leaned against Ella’s car, his body so close to mine that if I had moved even an inch we would have been touching. He had even put his arm around the back of me like we were close friends or something. And I was pretty sure, although I could have been wrong considering my lack of experience with boys, but I was almost positive Jake hadn’t looked too pleased about it.

  And then Colt had mentioned me winning that art prize and my brain had completely shut down. He remembered it. I didn’t know what to say in response. The fact that he would have known something like that was so incredibly bizarre to me, I felt like I was in the twilight zone. When he had leaned in close it had taken every ounce of willpower not to let my body completely melt into his.

  Ella came running across the parking lot like she was being chased by zombies. Her eyes were comically wide, as was the smile stretching across her face. “In the car,” she ordered, not even slowing down until she was opening the driver’s side door. “Now, now, now. In the car.”

  I hopped off the hood and hurried to my side, throwing myself in like we were in some getaway car. She didn’t say a word as she turned the car on and backed out quicker than was safe. We drove past the group of guys where Colt and Rannon were standing. Both boys watched us, Colt’s eyes meeting mine through Ella’s window. Then he was gone and we were peeling out down the street.

  “Uh, Ella? You want to tell me why we just raced out of there like its midnight and we’re about to turn into pumpkins?”

  Her breath whooshed out as she turned her bright eyes toward mine. “Are you kidding me? If I had stayed there I would have made a complete fool of myself.” And then she did the only thing Ella could have done in that moment that would have made her an even bigger weirdo than she already was. She screamed. Like boy band screamed, which, can I just say, is extremely loud when confined in a small car. I clamped my hands over my ears, giving her my ‘what the hell?’ look.

  “I cannot BELIEVE that just happened!” She screamed again. Okay, there was definitely something going on with the water in this town. I officially had to look into it. “I swear, Olive, I thought they were going to full out start fighting over you!”

  I laughed dismissively. “It wasn’t that bad.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She pulled the car into my driveway, shoving it into park before turning her whole body to look at me. “There was so much testosterone surrounding you, I’m amazed you’re not sprouting facial hair.”

  “Eew!”

  “You should have seen Jenn’s face.” She twisted in her seat again, letting her head fall back on the headrest. “Man, that was the best thing I’ve ever seen. You have two of the hottest boys in school sniffing around you, and you’ve only been home for a week.” She squealed again, causing me to shrink back into my seat. I was going to have serious hearing damage when this night was over. “What did Colt whisper in your ear?”

  I looked out the window, heat rising up the back of my neck to my face. I probably looked like a tomato. The memory of his face so close to mine, was going to keep me up for many nights. How did I go from never speaking a word to him, to having him act like we’ve known each other for years? I mean, we had, technically, known each other for years, but not really. Nodding in greeting wasn’t really ‘knowing’ someone. And that was pretty much the extent of our relationship before now. He had said we would talk again soon. What did that mean? And why was he so interested suddenly?

  “Olive!”

  I literally jumped in my seat, almost hitting my head off the roof of the car. I gripped my chest, trying to keep my heart from exploding outwards. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Answer the questions! What did he say?”

  I fidgeted with the strap of my purse. It was embarrassing to say, but I knew Ella, and there was no way she was going to drop it until I told her. “He said I looked beautiful.”

  “He did not!” She gasped.

  “Incredibly beautiful, to be precise.” This time I was ready for it. My fingers were plugging my ears a second before her squealing started.

  “Oh. My. God! Colt Morgan has the hots for Olivia Banks! Finally!” She reached over and gripped my hands. “Is this not what you’ve been hoping for, for like – ever?”

  “Well, yeah. But just because he said I’m beautiful does not mean he has the ‘hots’ for me,” I pointed out. “I mean, we’ve lived beside each other for years. Why would he like me now?”

  “Who knows, and better yet, who cares? Guys are idiots, and sometimes they just need a little longer to wake up and smell the hot girl next door.” She winked, making me laugh.

  “You’re nuts, you do realize that, right?”

  She smiled broadly. “So I’ve been told. But you love me anyway, right?”

  I laughed again. “Lucky for you, absolutely.”

  For the past two days I had successfully avoided any further outings with Ella. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy getting out of the house, I just liked to have time for myself. Sure, I had all day to do whatever I wanted, but I still felt the need to take this whole ‘let’s thrust Olivia into society’ thing a step at a time. It was strange and foreign to me, and honestly, the attention I was getting was a little nerve-wracking. Plus, by now Reagan would have heard about Dairy Queen the other night, and I knew she was probably out for my blood. It was best to stay inside where I was safe, than venture out there where the sharks were circling. Reagan was most likely just waiting for a chance to humiliate me in front of one, if not both, boys.

  I was sitting in the window seat of my bedroom, doing what I love to do best – painting. It was a rainy day out, so I didn’t feel like I was missing much by staying indoors. The past two days I had painted outside, letting nature surround me as I found spots to hide away. Today was the kind of day where I could stay inside, listen to music playing in the background, and lose myself to creativity.

  I dipped my brush into the blue again, staring at the painting I had started the day before. The sky wasn’t working for me, and no matter how many times I played with the colours, I couldn’t seem to get it right. The old man sitting on the bench was perfect, but I needed to fix the background. Outside thunder rumbled loudly, making me jump. I looked out the window and noticed Ms. Morgan running to the back of her car to grab groceries. She was getting soaked.

  I didn’t think about it, I just got up and grabbed my polka dot umbrella, shoving my feet into my rain boots, before rushing down the stairs. Outside was insane. I opened the umbrella, hunching my shoulders against the cool air as I made my way down our driveway.

  Ms. Morgan didn’t notice me until I was right beside her, holding the umbrella up so we were both – sort of – covered. “Hi, Ms. Morgan,” I said, kind of feeling stupid now that I was standing there. Her face looked confused at first before it broke out into a smile.

  “Hi, Olivia,” she greeted. “I heard you were back home.”

  I nodded. “I saw you from inside, and thought I could help.”

  Her face softened. “Thank you, that’s so kind of you.”

  I reached in and grabbed as many bags as I could manage in one hand, the plastic handles digging into my skin. Ms. Morgan grabbed the rest and we both hurried inside through the garage. I couldn’t remember ever seeing the garage door closed. I left the umbrella just outside the door, and stepped in after her, shaking out my hair.

  “Whew! I’m soaked,” she said, dropping her bags on the counter. I placed the bags I was holding beside hers and stood there awkwardly. It was weird being in this house, even though I’d already been in i
t once. For so long I had avoided my neighbours, it was no wonder her initial reaction to seeing me was confusion. “Oh, Colt,” she said, looking over my shoulder. “Look who’s here, Olivia, from next door.”

  “I know who Olivia is,” he replied, humour lacing his words. I slowly looked over my shoulder at him, and almost choked on my own breath. Of course he had to be shirtless. Okay, sure, maybe part of me had wanted to run into him over here while I was helping his mother. A pretty large part. I hadn’t seen him since that night in the DQ parking lot, and I had been thinking about him – a lot – since. I just hadn’t counted on seeing him half naked. In front of his mother.

  I knew my cheeks were probably beet red by the time our eyes met. I had been openly gawking at him, without even realizing it. That is, until I saw the smirk on his face. Crap.

  “So how long are you back for, Olivia?” his mom asked, saving me from further embarrassment. I turned back to her, grateful now for her presence.

  “Oh, I’m back for good,” I answered. “Or, at least until I leave for College next fall. I’m doing my senior year here.”

  “Aw, isn’t that nice?” she said as she stored the groceries away. “It’ll be nice to be back with your friends for your last year.”

  I guess, I thought. Considering Ella was my only friend, I wasn’t so sure it was that big of a deal.

  “Colt, you’ll have to show her around school if she needs help. I’m sure you’ve forgotten that place by now.”

  Uh, no, not really. And I definitely didn’t want Colt showing me anything. I was likely to do or say something stupid the longer I stayed in his presence. All I could think about the last couple of days was the feeling of his body being so close to mine. It still brought goose bumps just from the memory of it.

  “I remember it,” I said quickly, cringing at the high pitch of my voice.

  “Well, Colt would be happy to help if you need it. Won’t you, Colt?”