Page 15 of Hitched at Randy’s (Diner Days)

Fifteen

Cam

I dip my brush in the paint, careful not to take too much. Looking at the canvas has me remembering the calm look on Evan’s face while he sleeps. It’s not great that he already caught me painting him, but I can’t bring myself to stop. If all of this is temporary, I want something to remember him by. Something I can look at and tell myself it was real. I got the idea after watching him sprawled out on my bed that morning, but the painting has changed since then. At first, I was going to paint him in his underwear like he was that day, but now the image of his bare ass is immortalized on the canvas.

Maybe it’s already over, and I’m just fooling myself. We haven’t talked about what happened at the diner the other night, but he’s still kissing me. He still goes out of his way to touch my hand or wrap his arm around my waist. He said something about expecting an important call this morning, and I gave him space, retreating to my studio to work on his painting. I don’t know what I’ll do with it when I’m done. I can’t sell it, but where am I going to hang the picture of a naked man? I’m sure it’ll be a great conversation starter , I think to myself with a laugh.

I have other projects I should be working on, of course, but this is the one calling out for my attention. The sheet wraps around Evan’s body, doing a better job of accentuating the curves of his butt than covering it. Speaking of, I wonder if Evan would let me top him. He didn’t seem entirely against the idea, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

I can hear Evan’s voice in the other room. Bits and pieces of his conversation catch my attention over the noise of my music. I try to ignore it and give him his privacy, but I can’t entirely tune him out. “That sounds great. I’d love to meet up with you and go over the offer.”

He didn’t say what the phone call was about, but I’m guessing he might have found a new apartment. It was only a matter of time, but I thought he was holding off on looking until we finalized the divorce. I grab my phone, turning up my music in a feeble attempt to drown him out. But the thought is already planted in my head. Sooner or later, Evan is going to pick up and leave. All of this is temporary. Just until the divorce. Once we have the paperwork in order, we’ll head back to the lawyer’s office and make everything official, then Evan won’t be my husband anymore.

A knock catches my attention, and I turn to see the door still closed. At least he didn’t come in and see me painting him. “Hey Cam,” Evan calls through the door. I pause my music, wiping my hands on my jeans before I make my way across the room and open the door. “We have company,” he says with a tight grin. “Ash is here.”

Great. There has to be a reason she’s showing up.

“I brought beer,” she calls from the other room. This visit is looking up already. At least I’ll get a drink out of it.

“Let me clean up. I’ll be right out.” I press a quick kiss to Evan’s cheek, hoping it’ll reassure him. He turns, leaving me to tidy up and safely put the painting away to dry away from prying eyes. I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for whatever mischief Ash has planned. Knowing her, there’s more to this little surprise visit. Evan already has a beer in hand when I walk out to the living room.

“Cam,” Ash starts taking a drink of her own beer before she pulls me in for a hug.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” I ask.

She bites her lip, looking at the floor. “Look, don’t be mad. I was having lunch with Pat, and he mentioned you two coming over for dinner the other night. I assumed your secret was out of the bag.”

“Patrick knows?” Evan asks, raising a hand to his forehead to rub his temples. “What about Mom and Dad? Did you tell them too?”

“Hey, it’s not like I did any of this on purpose,” Ash says, crossing her arms at her chest. “If you don’t want people to know, you really shouldn’t have posted it on Insta to begin with. Besides, what’s the big deal? You got drunk and made a little mistake. It’s not like it means anything.”

That hits harder than expected, even if I knew it was always the plan that we’d get a divorce and move on. “Do they know?” I ask again, noting how she avoided the question.

Ash shrugs her shoulders and takes a drink of her beer. “I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t say anything, but now that Pat knows, I can’t be sure if he’ll keep his mouth shut.”

Evan’s phone rings and all of us go silent for a moment as he pulls it out. From where I’m standing I can read the caller ID that says Dad . “Hey, Dad,” he answers the call, somehow keeping his calm. It’s more than I think I’d manage in his spot. I can’t hear the other end of the conversation, but I can see the way he winces. “Sorry, yeah, I know we should have said something while we were there. It was just kind of a last minute thing.”

“Sorry,” Ash mouths in Evan’s direction. I know she feels bad, but my gut is twisting for a whole other reason. It was one thing for my friends to find out we got married, but it’s a bigger deal for Evan’s family to know. They were planning on going to his wedding to Vi, and as much as I already feel like a part of the family, this is bound to change things.

“I can explain. No, it’s not joke, we’re actually married. We’re still figuring things out,” Evan says. “We’ll meet up and talk another time. I gotta go, Dad, Cam just made dinner.” With that lie, he hangs up the phone and shoots a disapproving glance at his sister.

“You could’ve just told them you’re working on getting a divorce,” Ash says.

Evan looks at me as he slides his phone into his pocket. “We’re not. Well, not yet anyway.”

That’s news to me, but I try not to let it show on my face while my heart beats faster.

“You’re staying married?” she asks, one eyebrow raising as she looks from Evan to me.

“Yup,” Evan wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. “What would Mom and Dad think if right after finding out we got married, they hear we’re getting a divorce? There’s no rush. Viola and I are over, anyway.”

“Then you two aren’t?” She waves her finger in front of her face, pointing to me then Evan and back again.

“Oh, we’re totally banging,” I say dryly, unable to help myself. Ash laughs, and I guess my sarcastic answer is overlooked for the moment. Still, I don’t miss the way Evan’s grip tightens on my shoulder.

“You had me going for a moment there,” Ash says. She tilts her beer bottle up, finishing the last bit. “So, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I guess I don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing. Did you want to watch a movie and we can finish off the rest of this six pack?”

What I want is for Ash to leave so I can talk to my husband, but it looks like Ash isn’t planning on sobering up just yet.

“Sure,” Evan says, grabbing the remote and turning on an action flick as he takes a seat on the couch and grabs his second beer. Ash takes the other end of the couch, leaving me to sit in the middle between them. I drink my beer slower, trying to keep some of my wits about me as I think about what this means.

Evan said he wasn’t in any rush to get divorced, but how long can he really stay here with me? Eventually he’ll have to go back to his job in California, right? I can’t expect this to last past the summer at most. Wasn’t he just looking at apartments to move out? I guess that’s a problem for future Cam. On the other hand, we said the fooling around would end with the divorce, and it looks like that deadline just got an extension. Is it wrong to be excited that I might get to have a little longer with Evan in my bed?

As the movie goes on, I find myself leaning closer to Evan. He shifts, placing his arm out along the back of the couch and letting me cuddle further into his side. With Ashley on my other side, I’m mindful to keep my hands from going more interesting places, but she doesn’t even seem to notice. Her eyes are glued to the screen. By the end of the movie, we’ve mostly sobered up, and Ash yawns, stretching her arms up above her head. “Well, it’s been real, boys. I should probably get going,” she tells us.

I wait until the door closes behind her to turn my attention to Evan. “We’re staying married?” I ask.

“Yeah, sorry for just blurting that out. I should’ve asked you first,” he says sheepishly.

I take a step closer, wrapping my arms around Evan’s neck and pulling his face closer. “Don’t be sorry. Like you said, there’s no rush in getting the divorce. We can always figure that out later.” I finish my words by pulling Evan in for a kiss. He melts into it, opening his mouth for me. The divorce is future Cam and Evan’s problem. Right now, I’m not going to worry about it. “You wanna take this to the bed?” I ask when our lips part again. Evan’s hands go to my thighs, lifting me to wrap my legs around him. I cling to him tighter and laugh. “What are you doing?”

“Taking my husband to bed,” he tells me with a grin.