Body and Soul (Vanguard Towers #3) - Aiden Bates Page 0,46

Never?” I frowned and realized it was true. I’d never seen him drink.

“Nope. Never. Hard limit for me. But you’re welcome to, it doesn’t bother me.” He flapped his hand like he was shooing me toward the wine. “Water is fine for now. I’ve got root beer coming with the pizza.”

I poured myself a small glass and made a mental note to keep root beer in the fridge. Water in hand, wine in the other, I came to sit beside him just as he was shaking off his leather jacket. The soft fabric of his shirt clung beautifully to his small frame and tucked under his pearl belt buckle. I offered him the wine by accident, closed my eyes and shook my head at myself, and then passed him the water instead as he giggled. He was far too forgiving.

I sat beside him and suddenly everything became kind of awkward. He shifted away from me, but the couch leaned us back toward each other. He looked me over, but I couldn’t read his expression. I was sure he couldn’t read mine, either.

“How was your week?” He took a sip of water.

“Hm. Long. Annoying.”

“No leads?”

“Can’t say.” I grinned apologetically and wondered where to put my hands. He was there for a hookup, or a date, or something in between. I knew how to do those - hookups and dates - but the in-between thing was…different. Confusing.

He touched my knee, but when I went to take his hand, he pulled it away to set his water down on the coffee table. Maybe it was bad timing. Maybe something else was going on. I’d give it time. I’d wait and watch him. Learn to read him.

The pizza came, and we ate in near silence. Small talk.

“My painting? Oh, it’s been…good. And then bad, today. I don’t know.” He shrugged, and took a big bite as though silencing himself from saying more.

“When do you need to have the paintings done for the exhibition?”

The television chattered in the background while he chewed.

“Too soon.” He grinned and met my eye for what felt like the first time that night. “Can you keep a secret?”

More like it. I grinned and nodded, certain I could.

“You can’t tell my brothers.”

I held up my hand in oath.

“Uh, I think a pinky-swear would make me feel more confident.”

I laughed, a big ball of happiness coming up in my belly and held out my pinky finger. He made me feel like a kid, in the best way. Brax laughed too and paused for a moment to seemingly admire my face as I beamed at him. My heart leaped in my chest and my stomach fluttered.

He hooked his pinky around mine and brought the finger-lock to his mouth. With his eyes on mine, he pressed his soft, peach-stained lips to my knuckle, then passed the promise back to me. I kissed our pinkies too, never taking my gaze off him.

“What’s the big secret?” I held his pinky tight with mine and let them sit on my knee.

Brax cleared his throat. “The big secret is …I have no idea what to paint for the exhibition. I’ve got lots of ideas but none of them are good, and I’ve started about ten different styles of work but nothing has stuck yet.”

“Hm.” I watched him intently. “What does stuck mean?”

“It’s a feeling, holds me in place when I know my work is turning out good. Or, not bad. I feel stuck to the canvas, in a way. Like there’s clear adherence between my muse and what’s coming out in the painting.”

“Did you feel stuck when you painted that?” I motioned to the painting he’d given me which was hanging on the hallway wall.

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled when he saw it, then rested his head on his shoulder. “Yeah, actually. I did.”

“Hm. Is there anything I can do to help?” I cared so much about how things went, both for him personally and between the two of us.

He suddenly pulled his pinky away from mine and reached for another slice of pizza. “You’ll be the first to know if I think of anything.”

I missed his touch, but just as I went to move closer, he pulled away and stared at the television.

He made an excited noise around the fingers he was licking clean and pointed at the screen. “I love this show!”

I hadn’t seen it before. We settled back onto the couch and watched. Gay romance. Cute guys, cute dates, lots of drama. Brax