Page 7 of Claiming His Muse

“Yup,” I say, running a hand through my hair. “We were just finishing up.”

He hums in response as he walks across the room. With a quiet goodbye, Jenny grabs her bag and bolts from the room. I curse him for walking in, but I still feel on top of the world. She wants me just as much as I want her. And, even more than that, I’ll get to be the first person to touch her. I just hope that being interrupted wasn’t enough to scare her away.

Chapter 6

Jenny

I know I shouldn’t have run out of the studio the way I did earlier, but embarrassment got the best of me. I’m working harder on being comfortable with being seen, but that moment was too much. Being caught like that freaked me out; I felt like my only option was to get away.

Once I got home, I sent Blake a text to apologize for the way I left. He seemed understanding, but he didn’t say anything about setting up another session. It’s left a bad taste in my mouth, and I’m worried that I might have messed everything up. So I decide to work through my feelings the only way I know how – poetry.

I get absorbed in stringing together words, pumping out a few poems that I’m not exactly proud of. They don’t have much of a flow, and the word choice is simple, pedestrian. Still, they get the job done. Once the initial swell of emotion subsides, I start working on something a little more coherent.

“Ooh, looks like you’re working on something serious,” Miranda says, breaking me out of my trance. When I look up at her, she brandishes a to-go bag at me, saying, “I brought cheese fries.”

“For me?” I ask, ignoring the first part of her statement as I accept the bag. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I know, I’m the best roommate ever,” she says as she settles onto the couch next to me. “So, what’s got you writing like that? Big class project or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” I say as I tear into the styrofoam box.

“Is it about that guy who’s painting you?” Miranda asks, seeing right through me.

Instead of confirming that, I shrug and shove a fry into my mouth. Miranda knows about my crush on Blake, but I haven’t told her much about him. I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to spill my guts about him just yet.

“What happened?” she says, stealing a fry. “Tell me everything.”

Apparently Miranda doesn’t care if I’m ready to talk about it or not. I consider putting up a fight and brushing her questioning off, but there’s no way she’s going to let this go. It’ll be easier for both of us if I just talk.

“He kissed me,” I say when I swallow the food in my mouth.

“Oh my god, Jenny!” she squeals, reaching forward to slap my knee. “That’s amazing. What else happened?”

“Nothing, really,” I mumble with a shrug. “Some professor walked in before things could get any further.”

“Things were going to go further?” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me suggestively.

“I mean, yeah,” I sigh. “But then I got scared and ran off.”

“Oof,” Jenny hisses. “That’s probably not good.”

“I apologized, and I think he understood,” I say half-heartedly. “He didn’t say anything about meeting up again, though.”

“Well, did you tell him how you feel?”

“No,” I admit. “Do I have to?”

“Of course you have to!” she exclaims. “He’s not a mind reader, Jenny.”

I sigh and shake my head. “I don’t even know how to do that.”

“You could start by inviting him over,” she suggests, shoving a fry into her mouth. “I’m pulling a double tomorrow, so I’ll be out of the house most of the day. Tell him to stop by, then tell him how you feel when he gets here.”

“I don’t know…”

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous,” she says, not bothering to hide her exasperation. “You’ve already kissed the guy, and you were about to let him fuck you in the studio.”

“I wasn’t going to let him fuck me in the studio,” I protest weakly. “And besides, that was in the heat of the moment. How would I even start the conversation? I’ve never done anything like this before.”

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