Page 28 of Our Secret Moments

Once Nora and I settle on painting a heart shaped jewellery box, all I can focus on is Connor’s leg against mine. We’ve been close before. That closet was certainly something. But this?

I don’t know what it is, but the light brush of his leg against my tights is driving me crazy and it really shouldn’t. Especially not here.

He’s been so careful and practiced with his painting. I still can’t tell what it is. All I know is he selected a plain square and is not revealing what he’s painting to anybody. But I’m curious as hell. He might be an awful painter, but he’s doingsomething.

I nudge my leg into his. I might as well try, right? “Can you tell me what you’re painting?”

“Nope,” he says quietly, focusing on what he’s doing.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a secret,” he whispers.

“But you can tell me,” I say back. I rub my thigh against his on purpose, trying to get a reaction out of him. I know what I’m doing, and I know how stupid it is because I’m selfishly doing it for myself too. He hisses, readjusting his paintbrush in his hand.

I don’t have any logical reason for why I’m doing this other than it feels good, and I haven’t felt good in a while. That’s why I slip my hand under the table, gently resting it on his knee in the most subtle way I can. My hand and body instantly flare up at his proximity.

“Catherine,” he bites out.

“Connor,” I say back. I turn to look at him, but he’s refusing to catch my eye. I bump my shoulder into his. “Just tell me what you’re painting.”

“It’s for–”

“You’re doing really well, Connor,” Eve says, appearing out of thin air. She looks down at Connor’ssomething,smiling at it. As much as the girl is adorable, she kind of ruined our moment. Was it even a moment, or did I make that up myself?

“Thank you, Eve,” he replies, smiling at her. From this position with us way down on the floor, they’re almost face to face but she just about towers over him. “I’m not as good as you though,” he says sweetly. This man really knows how to charm people because he’s even got this little girl almost as red as her hair. Connor’s shoulder bumps into mine. “You know the ones in the window? Eve painted those ones.”

“They’re not my best work,” she sighs wistfully like she’s a million years old. Small humans are strange. Funny, but strange.

“They’re still great. I think you’re my favourite artist, Eve,” Connor coos and she tries to hide her giddy smile before she walks away.

“You’re good with kids, Connie,” I say, pulling my hand away from his knee and back to my piece. He shrugs as if it’s not a big deal. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I know if I write anything about this in my report, the girls at Drayton will go absolutely feral.And honestly, me too.

It’s not long before the boys are restless again and Wes at some point tackled Nora to the floor. They’re both covered in paint, somehow getting the acrylics from a drawer Mrs Redford and Eve told us not to go into. Nora’s face is almost completely yellow with purple streaks running down across her face while Wes’s face pretty much looks like a rainbow.

While they play-fight like kindergarteners, Elle uses the opportunity to take photos getting every possible angle she can of those two idiots.

“Can you paint inside the lines?” Eve asks, stepping behind Sam and looking at the turtle he’s painting. Connor and I snicker, knowing we haven’t got told off in a while.

“Yes, inside the lines, you idiot,” Oliver says from the other side of the table. He’s one to talk. He’s got told off twice by Eve in the last ten minutes and he’s had to restart his butterfly three times.

“That’s a bad word,” Eve points out, whispering.

“Boys say bad wordsallthe time,” I say to her. Connor bumps his knee into mine, coughing into his hand as he says ‘liar’ and Eve giggles, sitting down in the seat Wes abandoned.

“I heard that girl over there say a bad word,” Eve whispers to us as she points down at the floor where Nora is very aggressively playing with Wes as he pins his knees on either side of her, not letting her get her paintbrush in his face. “She called the boy she’s fighting with a mother–”

“Fucker!” Wes shouts. Oh my god. We’re going to get kicked out of here even though they booked out the store. “You got paint in my ear,” he groans, sitting back on his heels as Nora tries to scoot out from underneath him but he keeps one hand on her stomach, the other in his ear. “How the hell did you get paint in myear?”

“I look like a Minion, you imbecile,” Nora retorts, pushing his hand off her. I hear the click of Elle’s camera as she giggles from behind us. “How do you think I feel?”

“You look like a cute minion, though. Like the tiny one who doesn’t say anything, but has those cute little eyes,” Wes coos, adding a dot of black paint on her nose. She snatches the paint brush out of his hand, turning him around so she’s straddling him.

“I’m going to kill you,” she threatens.

These two, I swear.

Connor shakes his head at them like a disappointed dad as Eve turns back to us. “Mikey says that boys are only mean to girls that they reallyreallylike. Does that mean they’re going to get married?”

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