Rock Reclaimed (Rock Revenge Trilogy 2)

I blew out a breath. Okay, so I was in love with him. It wasn’t a big deal. People fell in love every single damn day. It could be just a right-now love—maybe not forever.

My insides clenched.

Or maybe it was.

Just the idea of him not in my life was starting to make me more upset than the other way around. “Girl, you are so fucked.” I turned off the taps and dried my hands before going back out into the main cabin of the bus.

Lark stood up. “Everything all right?”

/> “Yeah, just tired. I get overheated quickly when I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, me too.” Lark barely contained her smirk.

I shook my head. “Almost done there, Picasso?”

“Yeah. You were about done anyway. What did you think?”

“Well, it’s still on my face, right?”

Perry laughed. “Effusive praise.”

“I love the braids. Makes me feel like I don’t have twenty pounds of hair like I normally do.”

“It’s thick as hell.” Perry twirled her comb. “Pretty much why I chopped mine the hell off.”

“I think Ian might have some reservations with me cutting it. Then again, I’d probably break his fingers if he cut his.”

Perry glanced over at him. “It is fairly glorious.”

“I should be ashamed that I’m so into his hair, but I don’t care. It’s fucking hot.” I felt the heat in my face. I didn’t really have a lot of friends to talk to about Ian. About anything, really. Most of the time, I was okay with that, but it felt good to be able to have a little girl talk.

“Got time for a manicure?” I asked Lark impulsively.

“Oh, girl.” She dragged me back to the table.

We spent the next hour laughing about all the men—and almost-men, as Perry liked to call them—that they’d been involved with in the last few years. I was perfectly fine not being on the hot seat for these conversations. I took a few shots of the cliffs outside the bus windows, but the glare ruined most of them.

Finally, the three of us were lacquered up, face and nails. “This color is pretty cool. Might even last through some workdays when I get home.”

“I’d ask if you used a darkroom based on the state of your hands, but who the hell does that anymore? Everyone plays on Photoshop.”

I nodded. “Yeah, even I don’t do the chemicals for that anymore. Though I do like to play with Polaroids.”

“Ohhh. I used to have one of those. My grandmother gave it to me one summer when I was like eight.” Perry waggled her nails to get them to dry.

“Actually, that’s pretty close to how I got obsessed with mine. I found one in the loft of the barn at my aunt’s orchard. I drove my parents crazy by taking pictures all the time. Then eventually, I used them as a base for a lot of my paintings. That’s what I do. I’m an artist at J Town in Venice Beach.”

“What’s that? Sounds cool.” Lark made long, slow strokes with a clear polish on her long, blood-red nails.

“Kind of an artists’ community. We apply for studio space and to work with the advocates that run the foundation. A lot of opportunities there to get my name out without starving. Only thing is, I have to do a show before the end of the year.”

“Like an art gallery kind of deal?” Perry flipped one of Lark’s emery boards through her fingers.

“Yes. Ian dragged me out with him to get my mind off of it, since I’m stressing a little. And I get a little portfolio work as a bonus.”

“Yeah, the portfolio work is really what you’re thinking about.”

My lips twitched as I looked down at my navy-blue nails.