Page 88 of Catch Me
“Can I draw you?”
The corner of his lips lifted. “Again?”
“Yeah, but while you’re in front of me. It’s just the light and...” I trailed off, feeling like an idiot for asking.
“Get your trusty tablet, Bob Ross.”
“I don’t paint.”
“Too hard?”
“Ican, but I don’t. It’s not enjoyable to me and I like being able to start and stop whenever I want. I can draw anywhere.”
“Well, I guess I can settle for a drawing, then, although I’d look dazzling as oils on a canvas.”
He always looked dazzling, but it wasn’t about oils. Nothing could beat having him two feet in front of me, his eyes reflecting the fire and the moon shining on his hair.
No piece of art could replicate the man in front of me. It couldn’t make me feel the way he did or betray the depth of his heart.
Travis was the kindest, funniest, and most mesmerizing person I’d ever met. There was simply no denying it.
I’d never tell him that I might’ve found something in him that I’d never felt. I didn’t even know what it was, but as sure as my heart beat, it was there, festering and expanding. If I wasn’t careful, it might become impossible to excise without taking a dangerous chunk out of myself.
Chapter 28
Travis
The first night was fine. It went off without a hitch. I’d fallen asleep next to Roman while he drew, but not close enough to touch, so that was a relief. We did the same thing last night, though, and when I woke up, it felt like we were closer.
I opened my eyes and saw him lying on his side facing me. His eyes were closed and his breaths were steady. The peacefulness on his face was impossible to look away from. I’d seen more of it lately, but there was always some type of frustration waiting, ready to pop in at a moment’s notice. If he looked this calm when he was awake, I might never be able to stop looking.
I wondered if he knew how attractive he was. His body was chiseled, obviously, but he didn’t look like a gym bro or a stereotype. There was a certain elegance to his features that looked like it came from his mom.
His cheekbones had stood out to me when I first met him. I wanted to touch them, to see if they felt as sharp as they looked.
No, I didn’t want to touch them. That was weird. I didn’t want to, he didn’t want me to, and that was that.
He opened his eyes and I stopped breathing. We just stayed like that for a solid few minutes. I didn’t know why I was looking, and I didn’t know why he was looking, but it probably wasn’t smart to think about it too much.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning back.”
Immediately, he smiled. I laughed a little as I sat up. I watched him get to his feet, then crouch in front of his bag. Not once had I checked out a man’s calves in a weird way, but in that position, his just looked strong and...attractive?
What the fuck was I doing?
Before he could catch me being a creep again, I stood and turned in the opposite direction. I was about to unzip the tent when something started tapping on top of it. Roman looked at me, then swore when rain started falling faster.
“So much for pissing,” he grumbled.
“We’ll just have to use the bathrooms like civilized folk.”
“It’s a quarter mile. Is that any better than finding a tree?”
I shrugged. “There are also showers.”
He dropped his head back and groaned dramatically. I pointed at his shoes, then put mine on.
