Page 75 of Fresh Canvas
The employee opened the compound gate and counted us down. On three, Amantha shrieked as she bolted to the far side of the field, aiming for a smattering of barrels.
What sweet, naive Amantha didn’t know was that I had been quarterback of my high school football team. By the time her perfectly round backside had disappeared behind a barrel, I had already pelted it with four splotches of blue.
Okay, fine. This is kinda fun.
Amantha’s head peeked over the barrel before disappearing again.
Plan forming, I snuck to the left and vanished behind a large hay bale. I moved stealthily on the balls of my feet, making no sound. Approaching Amantha’s back, a wicked grin spread across my face.
“Boo.”
Amantha shrieked and spun, wildly throwing pods in all directions. I doubled over with laughter.Smack, smack. Thick yellow paint oozed down my chest and arms.Smack.Amantha’s third pod struck gold, dripping from the crown of my head and down my face.
I straightened up. “You aresodead.” I hooked Amanthaaround the waist and used a free hand to pop a blue pod over her head. An ocean wave of paint crashed over her hair, splattering her surprised expression.
“You jerk!” She laughed and attempted to shove my chest with the heels of her hands.
All it did was knock us off balance, sending us toppling over onto the soft grass. Yellow and blue paint blossomed at random as we ferociously crushed pods against the other’s jumpsuit.
Side by side, we called a truce, laughing up at the brilliant summer sky. Amantha rolled over and propped herself up on my chest. The mere contact had my pulse quickening. She swiped the now-green sludge coating her goggles, still breathless.
“You enjoyed that way too much,” she accused with a grin.
“And I’m not sorry one bit.” I lifted my goggles before gently lifting hers. Those shimmering pools of mercury stole my breath. My world. Nothing mattered more than to keep looking. To keep this infuriating, beguiling woman in my life.
That was the moment Iknew.
I pulled her to my lips with such force, the satchels between us imploded in a torrent of paint. My body was slicked with repulsive goo, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was her.
Without skipping a beat, I rolled Amantha against the grass, kissing her with all the weak power I possessed. I threaded our fingers and pressed them hard into the ground, because I wasn’t sure gravity could hold me with how light I felt.
“Ahem.”
We instantly broke apart, lips swollen, blushing like two frisky teenagers. The Death by Paintball employee towered over us, kindly asking us to vacate the premises.
I had never laughed harder in my life.
AMANTHA
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I pulled the only swimsuit I had left at the house out of my bedroom drawers and cursed. A skimpy black bikini lay across my hands with barely enough fabric to cover my palms. It had been purchased for a trip to Cancun with Ryan before Anthony had even been a thought.
I pictured my closet in my studio apartment, brimming with decent swimwear. Which I had completely forgotten to pack. I cursed again.
I wasn’t ready for Val to see somuchof me.
Maybe I could borrow my mom’s swimsuit?
I pictured myself in her polka-dotted granny one with ruffles and cringed.
I could wear a t-shirt on top?
Ugh. I was no prude and didn’t want to seem like one.
Taking a deep breath, I slipped into the suit and stepped in front of the mirror. I’d always had an hourglass figure with a decent chest and curvy hips. But since having Anthony, I always carried some extra padding around my midsection and sides.
Even with Ryan, I had always felt self-conscious. And his constant “encouragement” to cut carbs and exercise more wasn’t easily forgotten. My imagination sparked Val’s chiseled body, pool water dripping in rivulets down his six-pack…
I wanted to lock myself inside a snowsuit and throw away the key.
