She rubbed her temple, probably even more exhausted than I was, since she’d been up since dawn preparing for the party. “I’ll let the house staff know.” She leaned down and planted a kiss on my temple. “Sweet dreams, honey. It’s good to have you home.”
If only that were true. I felt like I was losing something I never had in the first place.
CHAPTER 12
Swirly Girly
CARTER
“What building are you looking for, hon?” The woman behind the information desk was barely visible over the counter as she chomped away on her gum.
“The Cobalt building? I’m looking for Sarafina Devereux’s class at noon.”
She motioned over her shoulder. “Head down this hallway and exit through the back. It’s the last building at the end of the sidewalk. If you hit a parking lot, you went too far.”
“Thanks.” I tapped the desk as I stepped away.
“You active?” She nodded to my Air Force hoodie and then asked with a tilt of her head, “Career guy?”
“That’s the plan.”
She looked me up and down. “Must be hard on your girlfriend, unless you’re single?”
I opened my mouth to correct her, but changed my mind. “We make it work.”
“Good for you.” She turned back to her computer indifferently.
I wandered through the maze of hallways, hoping it wasn’t an epic mistake to show up unannounced. After the clusterfuck that had been Thanksgiving, I wasn’t sure how Sara would feel aboutseeing me, especially on her turf. But I was scheduled to be overseas for Christmas, which meant this was my last chance to try and fix things. Otherwise, another three years was going to slip by, and there was no telling where that would leave us.
Inside the Cobalt building, the smell of art supplies filled the air. Paint, canvas, and something acrid—in an open classroom, someone was working on a massive piece, wearing long gloves and a respirator. As I hurried down the hallway, trying to get the smell out of my lungs, I seriously hoped Sara wasn’t dealing with these kinds of noxious chemicals on a daily basis.
Feeling incredibly nervous, I slid my phone into my back pocket and slowly approached her classroom. The door was open, and when I peered insidethere she was.
My heart skipped a beat. I felt like I couldn’t move, couldn’t walk inside, couldn’t take my eyes off her at all. She was thankfully too preoccupied to notice me lurking.
She looked incredible forsomany reasons. One being that I’d never seen her so in her element before, and the other being heroutfit.
God, that innocent little outfit was anything but. She was wearing the kind of thing you’d expect to see on your high school art teacher, but the hot as hell version. A strappy little tank top, tucked into wide-leg pants that were covered in paint smears, conveniently hugging all the right places. That gloriously thick hair of hers was unsurprisingly piled on top of her head, curls escaping left and right, the whole of it a bit frizzy and entirely sexy.
I crossed my arms and anchored against the doorframe, not quite ready to make my presence known as I unabashedly feasted on her with my eyes.Surely, just looking couldn’t hurt.She’d always been exceptionally beautiful, of course, but seeing her at Thanksgiving after all those years—how three years had slipped by in the blink of an eye, I had no idea. What had started out as giving each other space had turned into something else entirely. I’d convinced myself that’s what she needed aftereverything that had happened that awful night I’d found her in the ditch, but I wasn’t entirely sure that had been the right choice at all. In fact, I was positive it wasn’t. I’d been a complete idiot, and now she was—I didn’t bother finishing the thought.She was off limits, is what she was, and I had a fading bruise to prove it.
I’d been impulsive on Thanksgiving, and Sara deserved so much better than that,she deserved to know she wasn’t just a game to me.It wasn’t a mistake I was going to make again. Not when it came to her.
I knew I should make my presence known, but I couldn’t peel myself off the doorframe, never wanting the little movie in front of me to end. Sara had a concentrated look on her face as she dragged the easels across the room, one after another. She’d stand, head tilted for a moment, before moving it another imperceptible inch and then another, until she had it just right. I chuckled to myself, knowing that was Sara in a nutshell. An overthinking perfectionist, through and through.
She’d always been too hard on herself, always run a little anxious, and sometimes I wished she could see what I saw. Those moments when her guard slipped down, when she was wild and free, and so much freaking fun. I was positive she was going to be an incredibly successful artist. One, because she was clearly good enough to oversee classes by herself, and two, because everything about her was fucking magic. Always had been.
As if sensing my gaze, Sara looked up, her blank expression turning confused. “Carter?” She headed my way. “What are you doing here?” Her hands landed on her hips as if I were in trouble, and I wondered if I was about to be.
“I couldn’t make it home for the Christmas party, so I thought I’d visit you before you went back on break.” I loomed in the doorway, waiting to see if she was going to kick me out.
“Why?” she puzzled, like it wasn’t completely obvious.
I raked a hand through my hair, a nervous tic. It did nothing, however, to steady the heady buzz that seemed to emanate frominside my very bones. “I wanted to see you.” I said simply,was dying to see you, I didn’t add.
“I do not get you, Kensington.” She cocked her head, and a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. “Well, come in, you’re blocking the door.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the way while several students filed in around us.
God, I wanted to pull her into a hug, but I didn’t. “I heard you needed a model.”
