Page 43 of Wrapped Around My Heart
“Wait, since when are you the first to leave?” Landon asks, laughing as he finishes off his beer.
“Technically, Dominik left first.” I point out, pulling out cash and catching the attention of the bartender.
“Doesn’t count since he didn’t even get a drink before leaving to go meet up with Lilly. Besides, the last time Lilly and Aricame to an away game, you and my sister managed to outlast theentireteam.” Landon’s eyebrows shoot up and he twists in his seat so he can look around the bar. “Shit, have you even seen Ari?”
Hoping he doesn’t notice the effect that hearing her name has on me, I clear my throat and focus on stuffing my wallet back in my pocket as I answer.
“Thought she sent a text saying she was too tired to go out since she and Lilly drove up.”
“Damn, I must have missed that message.” He turns to me with a rare frown on his face. “You feeling okay?”
Yeah, I’m just hoping I can sneak five minutes alone with your sister because I miss the sound of her voice and haven’t kissed her in four days.
“I’m good, man. Honestly, just tired.”
Landon opens his mouth to say something more when Carter pops up behind him with a full glass of beer. “I see too many empty hands and not enough full drinks! We’re supposed to be celebrating.”
While Carter waves down the bartender, asking for more drinks, I tap Landon on the shoulder to signal my departure and use the distraction to slip away.
Thankfully, the bar that was picked tonight is only a five-minute walk from the hotel. The crisp night air hits me, washing away the lingering scent of beer and clearing my mind until only one thought remains.
I pull out my phone and send Ari a text to see if she’s still up. We might have been able to close the bars down before, but it’s very rare to find Arianna awake past ten o’clock at night now. Tonight’s game ended just before ten, so considering she drove up here today, my hope for seeing her is very low.
By the time I make it back to the hotel with no response, the little spark of hope for seeing Ari tonight has fully diminished. Even still, I can’t find it in me to be upset by that.
No response means she’s resting. It means she is taking care of herself, listening to what her body needs, for the sake of our baby. That is enough to make my chest beat with a giddiness I haven’t felt since high school, and I don’t even bother trying to hide my smile.
“If I weren’t so secure in what we’ve got going on, I’d be a little worried that you’re looking at nudes that I sure as hell didn’t send you.”
My head snaps to the side, my lips spreading even wider as I spot Arianna lounging on one of the couches I was passing. Her tablet is propped up by her knees, and the stylus is pinched between her fingers, hovering over a zoomed in work in progress of a…
“Is that a dick?” In the silence of the hotel lobby, my voice practically echoes, but I can’t find it in me to care. I round the front of the couch and drop down beside her, still staring at her screen.
Ari snorts, adjusting the stylus with an ease that has to be second nature before using her pointer finger and thumb to zoom out. She tilts the screen toward me, showing me the full image.
“Yes. Yes, it is,” she states proudly.
I shake my head, taking in the picture in its entirety now that the shock from a close-up dick pic has passed.
“Ari, this is incredible,” I tell her, reaching to hold the tablet steady. Most people would see a muscular man bending a woman over the hood of a car and move on. But I can’t get over it all put together. The detailing on both characters in the picture is immaculate, but it doesn’t end there.
There’s a shine in the car they’re on that shows a slight reflection of their skin, drawing my attention to the way the woman’s breasts press into it. The shine on their skin, the divot in the man’s face as he focuses on where they’re joined. Ari even has the minor details in there done beautifully. Wrinkles in the pants that are wrapped around his ankles. The leaves on the trees in the background in different shades of orange and yellow, representing what it’s really like to see the trees in the fall up north.
I shake my head, slightly mind blown at the talent she possesses.
“Arianna, this is beautiful.”
“Thanks,” she murmurs, taking the tablet back and saving her work once more.
“I’m serious, Freckles,” I tell her, loving the pink that spreads across her cheeks as she snaps the case shut. “I thought you said you do graphic design?”
She nods, chewing on the corner of her bottom lip for a second. “That’s mostly what I do. Every month, I open three or four slots for custom character art.”
“You’re incredible.”
She shrugs, but I refuse to let her brush this off.
“I’m serious. What I just saw took my breath away, and I’m not just saying that because I saw every vein running along that dude’s cock. I mean, hell, your color accuracy on the foliage in the background is insane, and that’s just one part of it!”
