Page 120 of The Chase

Hunter’s hardly spoken a word to us since Thursday night. We’ve been tiptoeing around him, and even Hollis, who’s fazed by nothing, admitted that Hunter’s brooding is getting to him. I don’t know how to make the situation better, though. Hunter needs time to get used to the idea that Fitz and I are…dating, I guess?

We haven’t given it a label yet, but I’m in no rush. I know he likes being with me, and that’s all that matters at the moment. Besides, it’s not like I could raise the subject on Valentine’s Day weekend. That’s pressure with a capital everything for a guy.

In fact, we barely even acknowledged that yesterday was Valentine’s Day. We watchedTitanicwith Hollis, then went upstairs and made out for a bit (not with Hollis).

Beyond his door, I hear the footsteps travel down the stairs, then grow muffled. The TV switches on in the living room. We both relax. Must be Hollis, then. Hunter hasn’t hung out in the living room in days.

“Okay, I think I’ll write the conclusion tomorrow. My brain needs to recharge.” I set the laptop and notebook on the hardwood and pick up the leather portfolio that contains everything related to Summer Lovin’, the cheesy name I’ve chosen for my swimwear line.

I’m holding my first fittings with the models in a few days. Nearly all my pieces are done—I sewed most of them myself in the Fashion department’s sewing rooms. Brenna kept me company for a couple hours yesterday, mockingly calling me Home Ec Barbie. The crochet bikinis, I had to outsource; I’m working with an awesome seamstress in Hastings. Once I tailor the swimsuits to my models, we’ll do a final fitting to iron out any kinks, and then we’re good to go.

“I need to redo this one pair of briefs,” I say absently, flipping through my designs. “My seamstress says the cut is too high for a man. I’ll draw a couple other options and see what she says.”

“Draw?” There’s a funny note to his voice.

I glance over, confused by the astonishment in his eyes. “Yes, draw. How do you think I designed these swimsuits? I did sketches of them.”

“Sketches.” Fitz is staring at me as if he’s never seen me before in his life.

“Yes. Sketches. What’s wrong with your face?”

He shakes his head a few times, as if it’s stuffed with cobwebs. “I’m just…I can’t believe you can fuckingdrawand this is the first I’m hearing about it.”

I arch my eyebrows. “What, you’re the only one in this house who’s allowed to draw? That’s a bit arrogant, don’t you think?”

Fitz flings his sketchbook aside and shuffles over to me. “I gotta see this. Show me.”

I snap the portfolio closed and hug it to my chest. Before, I would’ve gladly shown him the sketches. Now, with his eager eyes and grabby hands, I feel an anvil of pressure weighing on my throat.

“It’s a bunch of bikinis and swim trunks. Nothing fancy,” I insist.

“Lemme see.”

My cheeks heat up. “No. You’re, like, the most talented artist in the world.” He showed me pictures of some of his paintings—mostly dazzling fantasy worlds and dystopian landscapes—and his art blew my frigging mind. “I drawclothes.”

“Garments can be really difficult to draw.”

“Uh-huh. No need to humor me.”

“I’m serious. Clothing has elements that a lot of artists tend to overlook. There are shadows and creases in the drape of the garment, in the way certain fabrics fold.” He shrugs. “Can be challenging.”

“I guess.” I still think he’s humoring me, but his earnest expression has me relinquishing the sketches.

Fitz doesn’t say a single word as he scrutinizes each one. I try to see the drawings through his eyes, but it’s hard to tell what he thinks. The figures are at their most basic. Faceless, with long limbs that aren’t anatomically correct, because it doesn’t matter. They’re only there to display the garments.

“These are great,” he tells me, then spends a long time examining a one-piece with a plunge neckline that reveals my pencil-drawn model’s perfectly round boobs.

“Nice tits,” he remarks.

I fight a laugh. “You know they’re not real, right?”

“They’re not? Right on. I support a woman’s choice to get a boob job. Whatever makes her happy.”

“You’re hilarious.”

He looks at the sketch again. “Did you use your own tits for reference?” he drawls.

“Come on. Those are way bigger than mine.”

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