Page 53 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
I pulled the sketchbook out of my bag. “I figured out where you lost your sketchbook.” I walked over to the bed and presented it to him with a grin. His eyes went wide.
“I didn't think I would see that again.” He reached out and I handed the book over to him. Lovingly, he ran his fingers over the cover. For a moment, he hesitated, then he flipped it open. “Some of my personal favorite drawings are in here… I mean, they’re not fantastic but...” He bit his lower lip and turned the pages, searching. A faint blush colored his cheeks and I wondered whether he was actually going to show me something for a change. I’d been tempted to look through the book after Jin had given it to me, but Ryan had always kept it so close to himself that it would have felt like an invasion of privacy.
Finally, Ryan seemed to have found the right page, because he stopped and hesitated. But then he turned the book around to me and I saw a pencil drawing--of me. It was good. Fantastic, really. I’d known he was good from the glimpses I’d caught of his work before, but this was a step above that, like he’d invested a lot of time in getting itjustright.
“To be honest, I've done a lot of drawings of you, but that's my favorite,” Ryan said.
“I can see why,” I said, running my finger carefully over the smooth pencil lines. Ryan had drawn me holding my guitar on a stage, a look of excitement on my face. Was this what I looked like when we played a show? “This is amazing.”
“Jin looked through the sketchbook once and ridiculed me for it,” Ryan said. “Said I should draw him for a change. I never did, though.”
“He’s an ass,” I said, scowling. “At least now I know how he instantly recognized me. Did you draw this during a show?”
Ryan shook his head. “I'm not that quick. I did this from memory when I was staying at Jin's.” He paused before adding, “It was kind of my thing.”
“Your thing?”
“What I did to distract myself when I was with him,” Ryan clarified, making my heart ache.
“You drew?”
He gave me a soft smile and specified. “I drew you.”
“Oh.” I wasn't sure what to say to that, because his words made me feel happy and sad at the same time. I loved that he drew me, but I didn’t like his motivation for doing so. “You're very good at drawing me.”
Ryan laughed and shook his head. “Lots of practice.” He moved to straddle my lap. “I'm just glad I get to be with you now instead of drawing you.”
“No reason you can't have both. I could pose for you some time. Naked.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
“Mh...too many other things I want to do with you when you're naked.” He pushed at my shoulders until I was lying on my back, his face a mere inch above mine.
“Yeah?” I lifted my head just a bit to rub my nose against his. He responded by running his tongue over my lips, making my heart flutter in a funny way.
“I love you, Finn,” he said, and the emotion in his eyes gave me goosebumps. “And I'm so grateful for everything you're doing for me. I can't even begin to say...”
“Then don't.” I ran my hand into the hair on the back of his neck. “I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for us. You and me. In this together, remember?”
Ryan didn't utter another response. He kissed me instead, slowly and deeply. And I was more than fine with that.
I realized then that it didn’t matter what Jin might ask me to give him in the future, because I would giveanythingto keep Ryan by my side.
Or at least, that was what I thought.
