Page 21 of Shrouded in the Dark

“I can see that.” His teeth flashed as he grinned at me.

“Um. So, give me, ten minutes?” That would be enough time to try to scrub off the paint without a shower and get dressed. “Let me just clean my brushes.”

Jasper shooed me with his hands. “Go get ready. Tell me how to clean your brushes and I can do it for you.”

“That would be a lot of help.” I usually wouldn’t trust any of my supplies with anyone, but Jasper wasn’t another artist who’d try to mess with my stuff. I told him quickly how to clean the brushes with warm soap water. “Don’t forget to clean between the bristles. Thanks, Jasper!” I rushed from the room through the hall to my room.

“Sure!” Jasper’s voice followed me as I closed my bedroom door.

My clothes flew off as I went into the bathroom. I turned on the hot water in the sink. As I waited for the water to heat, I soaped up my hands. It took about two minutes of hard scrubbing to get most of the paint off my hands and arms. I dried my hands with the hand towel as I brushed my hair out of its braid before putting it back into the braid again. My teeth were brushed for thirty seconds before I went back into my room to grab an old Hendricks shirt and jeans. I ran back into the living room with a little under a minute to spare.

“Ta-da! I did it!” I was a little breathless but I bowed to Jasper. “Ready!”

When I straightened, I noticed that Jasper was looking at the painting with a strange expression on his face. I stepped up beside him.

“It’s not finished. It looks bad right now, but I’m hoping it’ll come out the way I see it in my head when it’s done.”

I looked up into his face to see that his expression had changed to a look of soft surprise or awe. I couldn’t tell which.

“You decided to paint a fox?” He finally looked at me, his eyes swirled in the light.

I nodded. “Yeah. I got the idea yesterday. I drew it but when you guys left, I had the urge to paint it, and flush out more of the details. The eyes are what keep bringing me back to it, though, and I haven’t even really started on them.”

“That’s…” He seemed at loss for words. “…can I see it when it’s done?”

“Yeah. Of course.” I grinned at him and pushed my shoulder against his arm. “Didn’t know you liked foxes so much.”

That seemed to snap him out of whatever he had been thinking about. He grinned down at me.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He stepped back as he placed his hands in his front pockets. “Ready to head out?”

“Yup.” I grabbed my drawing pad and pencil case. “Let’s hit the road.”

Jasper watched as I set the security system. He nodded at me as we walked out the door. He waited as I locked the door and put the key in my back pocket.

“So, Cody is in charge of cooking today. As long as he stays away from eggs, it should be pretty good. The guy can cook practically everything, except eggs. He somehow manages to always get the eggshells in them, no matter how hard he tries.”

Jasper opened up the passenger door for me. I had to grab the handle on the side to get up into the large SUV. He closed the door for me before running around the front to get into the driver’s seat.

“So, stay away from any eggs at your place.”

We both laughed as he started the SUV.

* * *

The guys' house was impressive. As Jasper pulled up in front of it, I had to stare. The house was situated right up against the forest. It was a three story log house with an attached two car garage. There was a wraparound deck on the second floor that looked like it went around the whole house.

“Wow. This place is beautiful.” The awe was clear as I stared up at the house as we got out of the SUV.

“It’s pretty awesome, right? When Seth put all our names on the title, I’ll admit, I got a little teary eyed.”

“Did you all grow up together?” I was curious about them since they all seemed so close.

Jasper grabbed my drawing pad and pencil case from me, carrying them under one arm while taking my hand in his other. I fought to hold back the blush that was threatening to overtake my face. My heart sped up, but it didn’t have anything to do with anxiety.

“Yup. Our families are all spread out, except for Seth and Cody's. It's just Seth and his brother now. We played together when we were little before our families spread out. I stayed with Seth because I wanted to go to school here. Axel joined us in middle school from Montana. Cody,” he paused for a moment in silence, “Cody just fit in with us, so we adopted him, so to speak, when he was sixteen.”

Jasper opened the front door, holding it open for me. My hand felt a little cold after he’d been holding it but I ignored that as I stepped in. The downstairs was one big room with the kitchen toward the back of the house. Furniture sectioned parts of the room off. A large circular staircase on the right side led up to the second story.