on something entirely different than a drink. “She… all of you… you’ll come back.”
Damn, how I wish I could tell him a definitive yes. But I can’t unless he gives me one, and I know he won’t be able to do that either.
“We’ll be back when you’re back.” I hope he gets what I mean, and by his silence, I take it that he does.
I glance down the hallway, and the top of Candace’s head is all I see, the rest of her hidden by a giant canvas. She bounces from the room, bobbing with every speedy step toward me. “I gotta run, Dad. Be there soon.”
“Bye, son.”
I bring my phone to my lap, staring at my dad’s picture in the contact list. He actually said goodbye this time, instead of his typical hang up.
“How’d it go?” Candace says, popping her face around the side of her canvas. Her bright smile can’t be touched, even if I’m not exactly grinning like a fool like I usually am around her.
“Better than I thought.” I push to my feet and tuck my phone away. “I’m gonna head out there and talk some more.”
She cringes. “Was he mad?”
“I don’t know. Upset, maybe.” Honestly the whole conversation threw me; I didn’t expect the reaction I got, and I don’t know whether to be grateful or skeptical.
Candace sets her canvas to the ground, holding it with one hand and propping up on her tiptoes. She plants a kiss on my cheek.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I shake my head. “Probably shouldn’t. Family thing.”
She nods. “I figured. But I thought I should still offer.”
“Thank you.”
“So…” she says, sliding a hand over the top edge of her canvas. “You want to see?”
Her playfulness becomes contagious, and I catch it in a nanosecond. “Absolutely.”
She does a little jig and spins the canvas around with some overdone flourish.
“Wow.” My eyes widen, and I try with all my might not to burst out in laughter. It’s just a penis. And I mean, only a penis. “You’ve been working on this your entire first semester?” If she didn’t look at one this entire time, I doubt she got much done.
“Oh no. That one’s still in there.” She waves a hand back at the classroom. “This is what I did tonight.”
“Nothing like baptism by fire.”
“So it looks realistic?”
“Hell yeah.” Minus the fact that it’s colored in purple, it looks damn realistic. “Does Zach have bruised jewels?”
She furrows her brow and takes a look at the painting. “Oh! You mean ‘cause it’s violet. No, that’s the color it represents on my fear chart.”
“Right.” Should’ve guessed. I shake my head, unable to hide my grin at her sweet innocence. I just had one of the most difficult conversations of my life, and here she comes, bopping out with a giant penis portrait.
Needing to hold her for a few seconds before I have another one of those conversations, I lean the canvas against the wall, snag her wrist, and reel her in.
“Proud of you and your penis, honey,” I tease over her head. She tickles my ribs and then snuggles in.
“Proud of you, too, darling.” She tilts her head, the tip of her ponytail trailing over my hands clasped at the small of her back. “Look at us, beating down all our fears.”
“And you still won’t stop bugging me about tucking in my shirt.”
“That’s just proper uniform wear.”
“Next time I see yours untucked, I’m calling you out.”
“That’ll be the day.”
I shake my head and press a kiss to her lips, missing their warmth already. She opens up for me, letting me run my tongue across her bottom lip. Her fingers curl into my t-shirt, and I slide my hands up her back.
“I change my mind,” I say on an exhale when we break apart. “You should definitely come with me to my dad’s.”
She laughs and wiggles her nose. “Aww, did I turn off the thinking part of your brain?”
“Yes. Do it again.”
She does, but not for nearly as long. “Come on. You better get going. We’ve got the rest of our lives to kiss.”
“Hell yeah.”
She laughs, knowing that my brain still isn’t all the way there. Our hands meet, and I pick up her penis and help her out to her car.
“You sure you don’t want it in the trunk?” I ask when she opens the passenger door. Can’t imagine she wants to sit next to it.
A victorious smile hits her lips, and she places it in the passenger seat. “They aren’t nearly