Bare (Just This Once 2)

“He’s average.” I push back the bite of jealousy that I still feel whenever I think about Piper with Rufus. “He’s got nothing on me.”

“He’s got enough confidence to show his dick to a room full of strangers.” He lifts his glass to his lips. “I’ll give the guy credit for that.”

I’m not about to give Rufus credit for anything. He’s just a hurdle on my path to Piper. She’s as attracted to me as I am to her. It’s only a matter of time until we act on it.

***

“I’m thirty-two.” I don’t look over at Brenda because I’ve been trying to avoid engaging in her one-sided conversation for the past hour. I’ve been successful up to this point.

“You’re thirty-two?” She raises her voice loud enough that everyone around us turns to look, including Piper.

I keep my pencil on the paper even though it’s not moving. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

“It’s not that it’s hard to believe.” I catch the motion of Brenda’s hand in my peripheral vision.

The woman is on top of her game today. Our assignment was to focus on an outline of Rufus. Her drawing has clean lines and a discernable shape. Mine doesn’t.

“I would have pegged you for right around my age.” She taps the tip of her pencil on the sleeve of my suit jacket. “I’m twenty-eight.”

That warrants a complete turn on my stool to face her. “You’re twenty-eight?”

“And a half.” She throws me a smug grin. “Don’t look so surprised.”

“You’re misreading disbelief for surprise.” I brush my hand over the charcoal dust she left on my sleeve. “You’re not twenty-eight.”

That draws her brows up. “You’re not a gentleman if you question a lady’s age.”

“How are you two doing?” Piper approaches from behind Brenda. “I’m glad to see you talking. Sometimes it can help if you bounce ideas off another artist. There’s also the benefit of moral support, of course.”

“I think mine is perfect.” Brenda sets her pencil down on her easel. “What do you think, Piper?”

Piper steps up until she’s standing between Brenda and me. The side of her white pencil skirt brushes against my pant leg as her fingers moves in the air close to the sketchpad sitting on Brenda’s easel. “I’m impressed. I think this is a great foundation to work from. It’s important to keep scale in mind. You don’t want his thigh to appear smaller than other areas.”

His dick. She’s referring to his dick.

Brenda’s interpretation is off the mark. The cock in her drawing is scaled up. It’s at least two times larger than the thigh she just drew.

I look up at Rufus. He’s still in the same pose he was an hour ago.

“You’re doing great, Griffin.” Piper’s hand lands on my shoulder. “I’d pay more attention to cleaning up the lines.”

I would too if I gave two shits about the sketch I’m creating.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I reach to cover her hand with mine when I glance up at her face.

Our eyes lock as she lets out a small sigh. “I need to check on the other students.”

She doesn’t move until she hears someone call out her name and with that, she tugs her hand free and finally walks away.

Chapter 12

Piper

“So what’s going on between you and the suit?” Rufus asks casually as we sit at a table on the patio of his favorite burger place after class.

“The suit?” I place my purse on my lap for safekeeping. Since I was lucky enough to get almost everything back after that horrible night, I’ve been diligent about where my belongings are at all times. I even lock my purse in the desk in the gallery’s office ever since Bridget gave me a set of keys. I know that the door to the office is locked too, but I like the added assurance.

Rufus looks over the paper menu with a quick glance. “You had your hand on his shoulder. There were little pink hearts in your eyes. I saw it all from where I was standing.”