Page 42 of Sweetest Hate

KELLAN

He wasn't wrong,but the smug tilt of his lips irritated me, or at least it should have. Instead of admitting that I liked the feel of his eyes on me, I nodded for some unknown insane reason. After the shower incident and my reaction to him watching me, it was pointless to deny. "This feels different, though."

Arsen appeared unfazed by my comment and continued to observe me as he leaned back on the grass with his arms folded under his head, similarly to how I'd watched the sky. He remained quiet while I dipped my brush in the black paint before covering the entire canvas in the base color. For the finer details of the stars, I grabbed a fine-tipped brush and ran just the very tip of it through a stark white, catching the sky above in all of its vivid contrasting colors. Using different hues of gray, I hollowed the craters of the moon.

"So, is painting just a hobby, or do you plan to actually do anything with it?" Arsen's voice startled me. I'd been submerged in my creative process, and I set down my supplies to respond.

How much should I admit to the person who'd been hell-bent on annoying me for the last few days? Telling him my future plans seemed too personal, but not telling him seemed...wrong. Or at least it felt that way, and I wondered why my thoughts about Arsen were changing.When had that happened? Was it between his asshole comments and my returned jabs? "Not if I can help it."

He looked confused by my answer. "What does that mean?"

If nothing else, the one thing I could count on from Arsen was blunt honesty, and it made it easier for me to tell him the truth. I paused at that thought. What if he thought my dreams were stupid? A pipe dream at best. The odds were already stacked against making a name for myself in the overcrowded art world. I ran my fingers over the tips of the cut blades of grass. "If I have any say about it, I want to paint full time."

"You're good enough to, so I can see it."

His compliment caught me off guard, even though he'd essentially said the same thing when he'd tracked me down and saw my work the first time. I cleared my throat and glanced at the sky. "I'd like to live out on a lake, like your dad's place, but smaller. Cozier. And more affordable." Arsen chuckled, and the sound made this odd tingling sensation in my belly that was far from unpleasant. It had more truth spilling from my lips. "I'd like an art room with giant windows so I can paint when it's cold or so blisteringly hot that the paint would melt. Otherwise, I'll have a dock I can sit out on. I love the water. It's sort of my happy place."

While I'd intended to be honest, my admission had been more personal than I'd been prepared to reveal. I hadn't planned to give Arsen my full list of dreams, however short.

"You seemed like you were in your element there at the lake, so I can see that." He hummed, and I glanced back at him and found him watching the sky, his eyes not on me, which I found I missed. I was losing my mind. It was official. When he looked back at me, electricity shot through my veins. I wondered if he'd always be able to ignite my entire body in flames with a simple, intense glint in his eyes. "So, art is your life pretty much, huh?"

"Yeah," I confirmed with a shrug. "I can't work in a gaming store forever, nor do I want to."

His lips kicked up in a crooked grin. "When do you go back to Atlanta?"

"In two weeks." I couldn't believe it had only been less than a week since I'd met Arsen. He'd been so all-consuming that those few days felt like a lifetime.

He crossed his legs at his ankles and sighed. "Same. I have to get on the road in two weeks."

I hadn't asked Arsen any personal questions, so I had no idea what plans he had, extending past the summer. "Where are you going?"

"North Carolina." He yawned, and I figured the long day was catching up to him as fatigue started to settle in my bones. "I now have two degrees, the first one in Marketing and another one in Entrepreneurship. I managed to land a position with a prominent advertising firm. I can't really pass up the opportunity."

"Marketing?" I asked, surprised. I couldn't imagine Arsen in any type of sales, being the moody asshole he was, or at least as far as I knew. I didn't see a trace of that tonight. Only curiosity about me and willingness to open up about his own plans. "That's the dream?"

Arsen scoffed. "Nah, but the pay is nice."

"The pay? Doesn't your dad have enough money to let you do anything you want?" Why did Arsen have to even worry about making a single dime?

His brows furrowed. "I'm not taking money from him. I let him pay for college because he owed me a ticket out on my own. At least I'd seen it that way when I'd escaped to a college far enough away to avoid trips home as much as possible. But as a grown-ass man with no intention of taking over the family business, I'm doing things on my own."

As he spoke about his father, his tone held an edge that brought back the memory of Piper's attempt to leak details about Arsen. Something that wasn't possible once we'd been forced to cut the trip short. I wasn't sure what his reaction would be if I asked what she'd been prepared to reveal.

"If I had the start-up funds," he continued, "I'd open an auto shop and spend my days working under the hoods of old classic cars." That didn't come as a surprise. It seemed most people who own cars like the one Arsen drove had a driving interest in classic vehicles.

"Like yours?" I asked to confirm the suspicion.

Arsen nodded as best as he could on his back. "Yes, exactly like mine. There are some others I hope to own one day."

"Why don't you do that now?"

"Because the start-up would cost a fortune. I'd have to take a loan or ask my dad. The latter will never happen, and I'm not sure a bank would be ready to loan that kind of money to a guy who just graduated. It is a possible plan for the distant future, but I have to save for it first, and this job in North Carolina could make that happen."

Pondering the new insight into Arsen's mind, I quieted. Things had gotten too personal too quick. The sudden shift in how I saw him caught me off guard, and I didn't trust the feeling on the heels of our rocky interactions only days ago.

Almost as if Arsen had the same reaction, he changed the topic. "I doubt Quinn told you, but the night I arrived at the cabin, I obviously hadn't expected to run into you or anyone else. But when I saw you...it wasn't the first time."

I had no idea what he was talking about because I would have remembered meeting someone like Arsen. Anyone would. "What do you mean?"

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