Page 18 of Be My First

“Yes,” Kip says without stopping. “I’m taking it outside.”

“Tell me more about what I’m missing,” Keene says.

Juno rolls her eyes.

Kip stops. “Keene, you should enjoy being young and I certainly did, but I gotta tell you, this is better.”

Declan nods. “I just like to think it keeps getting better and better – at least when you find the right partner.”

“Thank you,” Maggie says, moving in for another quick kiss. “I completely agree. I’m also ready to paint. Who else is joining?”

“Me. I’m going to paint,” Eli says, walking my direction. “Bode, you should join us.”

Juno looks over at me. “Yeah. It’s a beautiful evening.”

Itisa beautiful evening. I don’t really have an excuse other than I’m trying to avoid Juno, and I can’t say that out loud.

“Sure,” I say, standing up to join them. “Sounds fun.”

Maggie has the paint supplies set up. I walk over to her station. She’s working on a painting of the garden. It’s a bit abstract but I can still make out what she’s doing.

“It’s beautiful,” I say.

Without looking up, she says, “Thanks. I’ve been working on it a little bit every day. I’m happy with it.”

“Are you selling it?” I ask.

She pauses and takes a step back from it. “Maybe. I’m planning to sell most of my work from this trip, but I’m going to keep one piece for myself – as a souvenir. Declan likes to get a new tattoo after each trip, and I like to fill our home with more art.”

I think about this for a moment. “That’s lovely.”

She’s still looking at the painting, but she smiles. “I think so too.”

“I want to buy one,” I say.

Her eyes jerk over to me. “Really?”

I feel like I’m starting to blush because Juno has stopped working and now she’s watching this conversation unfold. “Um. Yeah. I’ve always liked your work, and you’re right, what would be a better souvenir?”

“Do you like this one or do you want to commission something else? I’ll be doing more while we’re here, so you can tell me what you want.”

“Can I think about it?” I ask.

“Of course.”

Without looking up, Eli says, “He’s rich. Charge him a lot.”

I laugh. “He’s not wrong. Don’t give me a family and friends discount.”

She winks. “Who says I was going to?”

Juno resumes painting, and I go over to the easel beside her. I steal a glance at what she’s doing.

“They are flowers in case you can’t tell,” Juno says, as she dips her brush into the yellow paint.

“I could tell,” I say. It’s actually quite good. A little Impressionistic. Honestly, I’d buy this one too if it didn’t make me look weird.

She stops painting and looks at me. “I’m trying to paint it literally, but it’s turning out completely abstract.”

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