‘More reason to come back then, I suppose.’ She meets my teasing smile.
The old flickering lights might not provide the best illumination for painting, but they do everything to highlight Cherry’s beauty, glistening against her silkyhair and shimmering along her cheekbones. Even in her sweatpants and cropped tank top, she’s more beautiful than any work of art I’ve created. Not even the painting of her floating in the water I made last week could capture anything close to the wonder that is Cherry Hensley.
A wonder I can’t seem to tear my eyes from.
Like a moth to a flame, I’m enraptured, my resolve gone as she gets bolder by the days. Even just thinking about that moment in the pool, the ever so faint brush of her lips on mine, the slide of her wet skin, and the softness of her waist in my grip…
It has mecravinganother touch.
‘Well, you’ve got two choices.’ I join her where she’s checking the different paint colours. ‘We can just paint quietly for a bit, or—’ I reach down to grab the bucket of balloons filled with paint beside the table and hold it up for her to see ‘—we can throw some paint balloons and make an absolute mess of those big canvases. Your choice.’
‘Um,obviouslyI wanna throw paint balloons. What!’ She grabs a red balloon from the bucket, tossing it between her hands. ‘This is so cool. You’re actually the best.’
I put the bucket down and give her a quick, nonchalant shrug, even though my heart races at the praise. ‘Anything for you, Baby Hensley.’
‘Yeah?’ Cherry’s tongue darts out to wet her lips, leaving them shining. ‘Well, I don’t know about you …’ She bends down to grab another paint balloon and heads towards one of the larger canvases. ‘But I have alotof pent-up frustration that this might help me get out.’
‘Frustration?’
‘Oh yeah.’ She perks a brow at me. ‘I think you know the kind I’m talking about.’ And the way she suggestively bites down on her lip afterward has my cock twitching.Fuck, does she mean frustrated…sexually?
‘Right.’ I clear my throat then join her at the big canvas, hefting the bucket of paint balloons with me. ‘Ladies first.’
Cherry takes a deep breath before throwing her balloon with all her might, and it whooshes through the air, making a loudsplatas it hits the canvas straight in the middle. Blue paint erupts across the canvas like a liquid firework, plenty scattering along the floor below too.
‘Woo!’ she hollers, giggling straight after. ‘That felt so good.’
Cherry doesn’t hesitate before launching another paint balloon at the canvas. Her bare shoulders move so loosely beneath her tank top, like any worries weighing on them have vanished. Swiftly, I pile a few balloons into my arms and begin hurling them at the canvas with all my strength, watching as the purple paint scatters across the green splatter below, colours running together as they drip down the canvas.
Cherry hums beside me as she grabs another couple of balloons, turning to me as she says, ‘You know what, I think there’s just one final thing that’ll help to get all my frustration out.’
I notice the spark of mischief in her eyes a second too late—
Paint explodes in my vision, splattering across my face and arms as one of the balloons collides with my chest. I want to be annoyed, but when all I can hear is Cherry’s silvery laugh bellowing through the barn, I find myselfchuckling too as I wipe the paint from my face, revealing her bright, beaming smile completely aimed at me.
God, I love being with her.
The sight and sound of her smile and giggle unleashes my own grin, and I’m shaking my head at how fucking happy this girl makes me. How honoured I am to be the one making her laugh.
‘Oh, you’re dead,’ I warn her, readying one of the balloons in my hand.
I pick up my foot but she’s already dashing away, squealing mixing in with her laughter. Even though those long legs can carry her quickly, she’s no match for me, and I catch up, launching the balloon at the back of her head. It breaks against her hair as she screams, green paint dripping all down her back. And when she turns around to shout at me, I toss another that splatters across her shoulder, drops sprinkling across her face and side too.
‘Oh my God!’ she yells, running her fingers through her paint-drenched hair, but her smile never leaves her face. ‘That’s gonna be a nightmare to get out.’
‘You started it.’ I flash her a smug grin.
Twisting on her heel, Cherry dashes towards me, raising her other balloon, unadulterated laughter ringing out—
The high-pitched squeak of sneakers slipping in paint screeches through the barn. Cherry’s laugh morphs into a screech and suddenly she’s tumbling towards me—
My hands shoot out to catch her but it’s not quick enough and she collides into me, the air whooshing out of my lungs as the room tilts and the paint balloon bursts between us.
We twist awkwardly, legs ravelling around each other.In the split second between falling and smacking against the hard ground, I manage to cradle her head and ensure I take the brunt of the fall.
‘Oof,’ she grunts, collapsing against me when we finally hit the floor.
Her legs bracket my thigh, and her knee slides up and squashes all my goods in the impact. The gut-punching pain rips all the breath from my lungs, the ache wedging deep in the bottom of my stomach – for thesecond timethis summer, goddamnit. It takes me a good few seconds to finally gulp some air down.
