Page 2 of Caught Stealing Your Heart
My heart galloped at the sound of his name, but I played it cool and started back painting. The tune of my heart changed. The colors before me no longer made sense, so I put it to the side to pick back up on later and retrieved a fresh canvas. Different shades of blue were on my mind, indicating how I was feeling. I thought about getting off the live, but I stayed and created one of the most stunning, heartfelt pieces, all in the name of love and heartbreak.
Willow stayed on live with me for the next hour, but honestly, I had tuned her and everything else out. My mind was on Brandon and the many memories we shared. He was my ex-boyfriend of two years, who I still had an immense amount of love for. Even though our relationship ended on good terms, it still didn’t take away how deeply it cut me. I had pictured an entire life with him, only for it to be stripped away.
“Oh, wow. Lei, that’s stunning,” Willow complimented. “You definitely need to sell that one at the pop-up.”
“You think so?”
“Hell yeah. You know I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, but there’s something about that one that I believe not only speaks to me, but everyone else. What y’all think viewers?”
I stood back and crossed my arms over my messy smock as my heart filled with pride at my creation. The different tones of blue surrounding the broken red heart expressed exactly how I felt the day Brandon and I ended things. Slowly, over time, it had healed, but whenever he was brought up or commented on my live, I felt parts of the heartbreak all over again.
I was so engrossed with my painting that Willow’s loud squeal scared me.
“What is it?” I asked, frowning and placing my hand over my heart.
“Do you not see how much people are saying they’ll pay for that? I’m thinking we need to do a bid on this or something because all I see are commas.”
With my ring light shining brightly in my face, my mouth hung open at the numbers in the comments. I’d never seen anything like it. People were arguing about who would be the first at the pop-up shop to support me and buy the painting.
It was crazy how my pain would profit me. Maybe, I needed to utilize it more, but I was more focused on healing than anything. Too much time had passed for me to allow it to hinder me any longer. Hopefully, that painting was the last of it all.
“Thanks for all the love, y’all!” My hands formed a heart, then I blew kisses at the screen. “I’ll figure out something for this one because it has y’all going crazy. I might need to keep it for myself.”
“You’d be crazy as hell to do that. Like I said, set up a bid and run it until Friday. May the best person win.”
I removed my smock and tossed it into the clothes hamper by my door. “I guess I can do that. I’ll set it up in a little. I’m about to call it a night. Text me.”
“Got you, cousin.”
After waving by to the viewers, I ended the live and started cleaning my art room. There were brushes, easels, books, and anything you could think of across the room. I tried cleaning as I created, to avoid such a mess, but when I was in the zone, it was hard for me to get out of it.
Once I was satisfied enough with how things looked, I headed to my master bedroom down the hall to shower. Myphone glowed as a text message came through. I assumed it was Willow, but I was surprised to see it was Brandon.
Just checking on you.
I left a heart on the message and prepared for my shower. There was no way I’d get sucked into him again, not when my heart was finally becoming mine again.
“I expectnothing but strikes from you tonight, Boss. Don’t let these people get in your head,” my coach, Arnold, stated as he watched me warm up.
I glanced at him over my shoulder and smirked. “Do I ever let that happen? You know me better than that, Coach.”
My lips formed an ‘O’ as I exhaled, then sent a curve ball down the mound into our catcher, Aaron’s, glove. I tapped my hat at Coach Arnold, who chuckled and walked away to go see about my other teammates.
It was opening day, so the stadium was filled with fans from all over the city. The weather in Camden Cove was perfect for a game. We were playing in seventy-four-degree weather with a slight breeze every so often. The sky was clear and blue withno clouds in sight, only pure sunshine. After months of practice, being back on the field for a game was a euphoric feeling. It gave me a high like no other. Between the freshly manicured green grass and the freshly painted white lines decorating the dirt, I wasn’t sure which was better.
I bounced on my cleats and smirked at Aaron. “You know we gotta show out today. Everyone’s been talking shit about how the Barons might beat us, so we gotta make sure it doesn’t happen.”
“We got this. You be on your A-game and trust the field to back you up.”
“I got you.”
To keep my arm warm, I threw a few more pitches before feeling someone walking up behind me. The breeze wafted the floral scent of my mother’s perfume across my nose. I released an exhale before turning around to greet my parents. My jaw dropped when I saw all three of my siblings with them.
“Aw, shit!” I exclaimed with my fist over my mouth as I went to dap my brother Justin up before embracing my sisters, Scarlett and Paisley. It was rare the whole family was in attendance, so my body was filled with love. “Y’all got me. I only thought Paisley would be with Mom and Dad.”
“We’ve missed too many opening days, so we agreed we couldn’t miss this one,” Scarlett explained, raking her hands through her shoulder length, blonde bob.
Justin agreed. “Hell yeah. I plan to make more games this year so I can keep bragging on how good you’ve been doing. There’s nothing like seeing you in live action.”
