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He cuts me off. “I see the hours you spend on every waking minute of each piece. The smallest line in the wrong place. A color not working with what you’re trying to portray.” His crooked grin makes an appearance, and I can’t help but release one of my own. “Plus, you have the best model.”

Clapping my hands together, I put on a show. “There it is!”

Leaning over the table, he kisses me with a surprising amount of force for the middle of campus. Then again, Hartley doesn’t care what anyone thinks. “No more doubts. Okay?” He lifts himself off the seat, the print of the bench pressed into his jeans as he walks away. I try not to stare, but who am I kidding?Of courseI stare because Hartley Knox is mine, and it feels betterthan I ever would have imagined. He flips around with his hands cupped around his mouth and shouts, “See you tonight!”

He leaves me giddy at a table by myself. At least my mind is on my smoking hot boyfriend, and how those jeans curve in all the right places, not the art exposition tonight. Since most art class finals are portfolio based, I turned mine in last week for final grading. My professor called me in a few days later and asked if I would like my sketches to appear in the annual campus art exposition. I can’t believe thatmyart is good enough to put on display. This is a huge deal because alumni, donors, and art influencers from the area attend to spot the next up and coming artists from Springs U. This could be the break I need to score a local internship doing what I love in the place I’ve grown to love the most.

I flip my wrist over to check the time on my watch. Emberly is supposed to meet me here so we can get ready together at the dorms before we pick up Hartley and Violet. I take in the scenery around me. The wisps of the hanging moss from willows surround the paved area of my little slice of heaven. Birds chirp as they pick up crumbs of food dropped by bustling students through the main hub of campus. What was once a last minute detour to escape my mess of a life has turned into exactly where I belong.

“Hey.” Emberly’s soft voice catches my attention and snaps me out of the sappy thoughts that fill my mind.

“Hey! Ready?” Jumping up, I join her in tow to take the trek back to our dorm room.

“I’m so excited for tonight.”

“I can’t decide what I am.” Raising my hand to my mouth, I chew on my nails. Remembering the fresh coat of nail polish I added a few days ago for tonight’s event snaps me from my trance. “I want to be excited, but this is the first time anyone will see my final sketches. I want everything to be perfect.”

Glancing my way, a reassuring smile takes over her face. “It’s going to be great. Hartley loves everything you do.” She adds a knowing wink.

“What if he doesn’t like how he’s portrayed?” Art is subjective, after all, and he may hate the perspective I took of him in each scene.

“He will love it. You could finger paint a stick figure of him on a rock, and he would swear up and down it’s better than theMona Lisa.”

An unexpected laugh roars out as I clench my stomach. “He would say something like that, wouldn’t he?”

“Oh, and can you—”

“Yes, I’m doing your makeup. Duh!” Placing my hand under my chin, I make a prissy pose and pout my glossy lips to one of my best friends. “You don’t have to ask. I like treating you like my personal Barbie doll.”

“I know, but I don’t want to be a burden on your big night.”

“Never.” As we approach our dorm, I feel so much better about tonight than I did earlier today. I need to get over my fear of failure and enjoy my successes with my friends who have become family.

34

Hartley

My palms are drenched with sweat as I pace back and forth, carving a path into the already worn wooden floors of the main room. “Are you sure you’ll make it?” I rage into the phone at Willow.

“Yes. I’ve told you a million times already!” Willow shouts into the phone. “I’m walking to the rideshare as we speak.”

“It won’t work if you’re not—”

Willow cuts me off in a mocking tone, “Here before she gets here.I’ll be there. Stop worrying so much!” The fire in this girl is exactly like her sister, and I don’t know if that should make me smile, laugh, or fear the future of two spicy alpha personalities in my life.

“Text when you’re close.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Her end clicks off before I can quadruple check her ETA. When Liza asked me to be her date to the annual art exposition, my heart exploded. I knew she would want her sister there, but with her being here for a week at Christmas, another flight would be out of the budget. I took it upon myself to sneak around to get Willow’s number and forge a plan tosurprise my girl with her favorite person. As much as Liza tries to downplay it, tonight is important to her and for her career as an artist in the area. I want her night to be perfect because she deserves it, and becauseI love her. I think I’ve loved her for a while, but when she opened herself up to a real chance for us to work, my heart confirmed it.

“Hart! Is she close?” Violet’s voice echoes from her bedroom. Her heels click on the hardwood floor as she waltzes out the room. Her head tilts to the side as she puts in one earring without the help of the mirror.

“She says so.”

Planting herself on the couch, she rests her head on my shoulder in reassurance. “She’ll be here.” A quick grin crosses her face. It lifts ten pounds of worry off my chest to see Violet smile again after what happened between her and Ryan. According to her, they’re “working things out” by “taking time for themselves”. I’m trying to let Violet take the lead on this, but as the person who’s always stepped in to protect her, it’s hard to maintain my composure. “She’s going to love this.”

“I hope so.” I want to do it all the right way when it comes to Liza. I thrum my fingers against my thighs, bounce off the couch, and head into the kitchen to put away dishes. I wasn’t sure how fancy this event was, so I went with black chinos and a gray polo. I busted out the brown loafers I haven’t worn since Violet’s grandpa’s funeral. Wearing a hat wasn’t an option, so I styled my hair the best I could while still looking like myself.

Ding.Our apartment doorbell rings and I jump out of my skin at the thought of Liza and Emberly arriving before Willow.