Page 29 of Forbidden

He nodded. “It’s a rose, like your name. You’re the reason I got this rose on my bicep. It reminds me to stay strong. I’ve had a lot of thorns in my life, but the thing that has kept me going was knowing one day I’d reach the rose and it would all be worth it. So I kept climbing over the thorns and eventually it brought me here, to you. And now I’m here helping you with this thorn, your nightmare.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was grateful to have him there with me at that moment, but anything I said would have paled in comparison.

“What about you?” he asked. “I told you I paint to relax, do you have anything like that?”

“I write. I like writing poetry, sometimes short stories.”

“I’d love to read your stuff.”

“No, you wouldn’t like it. It’s just...they’re stupid stories.”

“Don’t ever say that. If they mean something to you then they can never be stupid.”

I kept waiting for him to make a joke out of it, but he didn’t. He was serious. And I knew I was in trouble. I was falling for him.

“How did you learn how to paint?” I asked.

“I’m sure you can guess I had a lot of spare time in jail. There’s not much to do besides lifting weights or reading. One day when I was in the library, I picked up a book on modern art and fell in love with Cubism. I started sketching and after I got out, I bought some supplies and experimented.”

“That’s amazing.”

“My grandmother helped. She bought me art magazines and paid for some classes when we were living with her. Then one day I discovered this artist named Dmitri Nikita. His work is incredible and it really inspired me. I’d love to go to his studio in California and meet him one day. Maybe take a class from him.”

“I always dreamed about going to California.”

“We should go, just you and me. We could get away from the bad weather and the nightmares. Just leave all this crap behind.”

I searched his face looking for some joke I didn’t get, but there wasn't one there. I leaned against Shane, grateful to have him there to keep my thorns away. The more time we spent together, the more I felt myself falling for him. Was it wrong? He was everything I wanted, but the one I couldn’t have. Or could I?

---