“And what color are you going to do?” I asked.
“Black.” Black and blue. I liked it.
He handed me a roller and opened the black paint as well. Coating each other in the paint was a ton of fun. The stuff was a little cold and tickled when it went on. I was worried about my hair and my skin, but it was special body paint Gil had gotten for a new project.
“He told me about this before I left, so I’ve been thinking about it for a while. If you’re cool with it, he’d love to put this in one of his shows. He’s going to do a lot of other couples and do a whole series on sex.”
“We’ll see. I’m curious to see how it turns out first.”
Ryder spent a lot of time rolling paint on my boobs.
“I think they’re good,” I said.
“Just making sure they’re completely covered,” he said, absolutely serious. I wanted to bop him on the head for that, but I didn’t.
Once we were covered, we stepped on to the paper and lay down on our backs. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I tried to press my skin into the paper as much as I could.
“Okay, now this is the hard part,” Ryder said once we’d been on the paper for a little while. “Getting up.” He rose first then helped me to my feet.
We looked down at the imprint we’d made.
“My ass looks huge,” I said, noting the marks it had made.
“It looks great. As always,” he said. “Want to try again?”
I nodded. Ryder took the giant sheet of paper and spread it out on the floor in the back of the gallery to dry, and got another sheet. We reapplied the paint, which was just as fun as the first time.
This time I went face down and Ryder stayed on his back. He put his arm around me, and I tucked myself into him. Getting up was hard, but the results were really cool. For the third sheet, we smeared the paint all over each other so it mixed, and then rolled on the paper. The effect didn’t look like bodies but was still really cool.
I was laughing, there was paint in my hair, and I’d never been happier.
“I love you so much,” I said. “And you seem so much happier now. You were really dark for a while.”
He hugged me to him, but it didn’t matter since we were both totally covered in the paint.
“I am happy. I’ve learned how to be happy. Thank you for helping me and staying with me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
Yes, there were times when he hadn’t deserved it, but I was glad I’d stayed. Glad we’d made it to this place. This was the right path for both of us.
“Um, Ryder?”
“Yes, love.”
“Do we have to go home like this?”
He chuckled, and the sound vibrated through his chest. Suddenly, I was very eager to get him home and into bed.
“No, there’s a shower upstairs. Care to join me?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Thirty-Two
Monday I had to go back to work, and Inari noticed right away that I was walking strangely.
“So he came home, huh?” she said, handing me my coffee.
“Oh, he came. And came, and came, and came.”