揗arried.?
揇o they live nearby??
He shook his head. 揑 bought their house when my Aunt Beatrice moved away a couple years ago.?
He shifted, crossing his arms, gaze locked on the painting. There was a story there but he抎 tell me if he wanted to.
He glanced down at me with one of those quick smiles that people put on to make the situation lighter. A this is not a big deal kind of smile. The one I did all the time. 揌er wife, my Aunt Rebecca, passed away when I was a teenager. I stayed with them the summer before she passed to help out with stuff. Rebecca had Alzheimer抯。？He cleared his throat and glanced at the painting. 揝he moved into a care facility at the end of the summer and went downhill pretty quickly from there.?
My heart sunk and my hand came to his arm. His skin was so warm. 揙h. I抦 so sorry.?
He shook his head and shrugged. His gaze lingered on the painting. 揑t抯 fine. It was a long time ago.?
We wandered through the rest of the exhibit until we came to a self portrait of the artist.
揧ou like this one,?Wyatt murmured in my ear, and I shivered but nodded up at him. 揥hy??
揑t抯 just厰 I sighed, organizing my thoughts, sifting through why I was so drawn to this painting. 揑 love artist self-portraits. So many of them are really harsh.?I swallowed. 揕ike they抮e all their own worst critics. The rest of the world thinks they抮e incredible but they saw themselves so differently. Like Van Gogh. His portraits would show how depressed he was or how he had just cut off his own ear.?I shook my head at the painting of Emily Carr, glaring out of the canvas with a haughty, challenging expression. Her clothes were plain, a cap hid her hair, and she had used muted colors, but her gaze was electrifying.
揌er抯 isn抰 like that, though.?I chewed my lip. 揑t抯 like she抯 saying, this is who I am, and if you don抰 like it, go fuck yourself.?
Wyatt抯 gaze flared and he shot me a roguish grin. 揕anguage, bookworm.?
揑 wish I could be that bold. Did you know that she was an art teacher at a women抯 college but everyone hated her because she smoked and swore too much??I laughed. 揝he didn抰 care what anyone thought.?
Kind of like my mom, I realized. My mom didn抰 care what others thought, as long as she was having fun and doing what she loved. I glanced back up at Wyatt. His gaze was soft and his eyes were bright under the gallery lighting.
He lifted his eyebrows at me. 揧ou抮e on your way. Look at you today, talking about books and getting people all excited.?
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. 揟hey probably won抰 even read them.?
揧es, they will.?We came to the end of the exhibit so we headed outside. 揟he way you talk about the stories you love, it makes people want to read them.?
I thought about Beck reading Pride and Prejudice. 揗aybe you抮e right.?And then I remembered something and gave him a little frown as we wandered down the main street. The day was still warm but not uncomfortable and a light breeze drifted off the ocean a block away. 揥hy were you so weird with Beck today??
He didn抰 speak for a second but a muscle ticked in his jaw. 揥as I??
I scoffed. 揧ou insinuated that he had no friends and couldn抰 get a boner.?
A laugh burst out of Wyatt, and I slapped his arm.
揧ou抮e terrible,?I told him, still laughing. 揥hy抎 you do that? I thought you guys were friends.?
He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. 揑 was jealous, okay? I抦 jealous because he looks at you like he wants to fuck you.?His jaw ticked.
Oh. My initial instinct had been right. I blinked a few times, mind racing with my interactions with Beck. He was nice, but he wasn抰 flirty. Was he? Oh my god. Had Beck been flirting with me and I didn抰 realize it?
揑抳e never been jealous in my life. And then one of my good friends is making plans with you and it pissed me off.?His Adam抯 apple bobbed as he swallowed and he pressed his mouth into a line. 揑抦 sorry. It wasn抰 cool.?
My thoughts whirred. A hit of pleasure and warm feelings drifted into my bloodstream from knowing someone as inaccessible as Wyatt was jealous over me.
For a brief moment, I was more than the shy, invisible girl in the bookstore.
Things with Wyatt weren抰 going anywhere, though. He was going to place at Pacific Rim and then he抎 be off, flying around the world and competing. I抎 still be here, shelving books at my little store.
It was best forgotten. I gave him a tight smile. 揑t抯 fine. I抦 sure it抣l pass, anyway.?
He watched me with uncertainty in his eyes before he nodded. 揧eah.?
When we said goodbye, he hesitated and his arm twitched, like he wanted to hug me or something. His gaze raked my face and my heart tripped. His gaze was so intense and focused.