Page 10 of Wet Paint

I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping he wasn’t feeling too out of place. After clearing my throat, I turned to him and said, “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” he said softly. “Wasn’t sure if you were serious.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d actually show.”

“I couldn’t say no. You asked.”

My heart did that annoying flutter again.

Ruby returned her gaze to us just in time to catch the tail end of whatever look was passing between us. She smirked.

“So, what exactly did you two paint until five in the morning?”

Will raised an eyebrow in amusement. Clearly, it didn’t bother him that I told my friends about last night. Still, I needed for him to know that they would never tell anyone.

“You can ignore them. They won’t tell anyone though.”

He chuckled, placing a hand on my thigh, giving it a tight squeeze. “I figured I was walking into some friendly interrogation.”

“Oh no,” Lenny said. “This isn’t friendly. This is full-on investigation mode.”

He narrowed his eyes, glancing between them, then turning to me. “Should I be worried?”

I smiled, a little embarrassed, but warmed by how calm he was. “They’ll get bored eventually.”

“Never,” Ruby said.

Will laughed again, then leaned back in his seat just as the trivia host’s voice crackled through the speakers, announcing the first round.

He kept his hand on my thigh as I looked at him, meeting his gaze. Although it was loud around us, the most comforting silence came up around us. Our eyes stayed on each other, and the moment felt like forever before he moved his hand away from my thigh.

He gave me a soft, reassuring smile, and though I already missed his touch, I knew it was for the better.

The first question went up on the screen, and we both turned our attention to it.

“Surprise, surprise,” Lenny muttered, shaking her head at the notoriously tricky art history question that always came up first. She turned to face us, her brows raised, and her expression full of expectation. “Do you know the answer?”

I shook my head. I was interested in what Will taught, but I didn’t know everything.

“I do,” Will told her, then answered the question with conviction. After she wrote it down on the answer sheet, Ruby and Lenny both gave me looks.

Lenny mouthed,we’re winning this.

Ruby mouthed,you’re in trouble.

And I just smiled to myself, knowing that I was.

We were definitely winning.

We knew every answer to every question, and by the time the answer sheets were collected to be graded, we were certain that we’d win first prize.

“You want another drink?” Will asked, leaning in closer, and placing his hand on my thigh again. His knee had been touching mine this whole time, but I figured it was because of how tight it was sitting in this booth. A small, delusional part of me liked to think that he did it on purpose, though.

I looked at my empty glass, then met his gaze with a smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”

He gave a small nod and gently squeezed my thigh.

“I think we got this. Everyone else looked confused from the beginning. The questions were pretty damn easy, though,” Lenny stated.

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