That throws me for a loop. “Oh, my sketchpad?”
“I found it,” Caesar says, then eyes me again. “You’re talented.”
My words disappear. This feels so validating I’m kind of shocked.
“Thanks,” I manage.
Caesar studies me, and my heart pounds with how much I want more of his validation.
“I’m going to take an apprentice,” he says evenly. “You want it?”
I see Stone’s mouth fall open. My heart jumps around. I’m not sure if I heard right, but when Caesar grunts impatiently, I realize he’s not the kind of guy to wait.
And then, as happens sometimes, my mouth works before my brain.
“Yeah,” I say quickly. “Wow. Yes. I’ll do it.”
Caesar nods brusquely. “Next week. Monday. Stone will give you the details.” He turns to walk away before I can thank him, then yells, “And don’t be fucking late,” over his shoulder.
I turn to Stone, stunned. “What just happened?”
He laughs. “Shit. You know Caesar’s a legend? I’d say you just got the opportunity of a lifetime, Rafael.” He rubs his chin. “The man knows what he likes. Your work must have impressed him.”
I drop back into the chair, then finger my stone necklace. How had I gone from not wanting a career to apprenticing with the owner of Stone’s shop? Except saying no didn’t feel like an option with Caesar here, and backtracking clearly isn’t an option now. Something in the way Stone is looking at me makes that clear.
Suddenly, I have the very distinct feeling that I’m walking on a tightrope. Like everything that had been steady and stable in my life is suddenly thrown off-kilter, and it could come crashing down at any minute.
I need to talk to Alexander. I need to just have a normal conversation with him and tell him about the apprenticeship offer, and then I’ll feel like myself again, and I’ll know what I want to do.
I stick both of my arms out sideways to see if it helps me balance, but it doesn’t.
“I guess I should call the coffee shop,” I say, arms still steady. “Tell them I’m quitting. This job pays, right?”
Stone chuckles. “It pays great when you’re an artist, but shit when you’re an apprentice. Come on. I’m hungry. I’ll buy you lunch and tell you more about your new gig.”
CHAPTERSEVEN
ALEXANDER
“Thanks for meetingme for coffee, Alexander.”
Davis and I stand on the sidewalk, clouds passing over the sun on a Friday afternoon. He dressed up to see me, his collared shirt crisp and his hair carefully combed. And just like when we dated years ago, we had a great time together. We fell into conversation easily, laughing and talking for a lot longer than I expected. He’s charming and brilliant and totally gentle with me, too.
On the surface, Davis is exactly who I should be dating. He loves my dorky jokes, and he’s interested in all the things I’m interested in, and he’s even tidy in the ways I am, like how we both carefully folded our napkins in our laps right when the food arrived.
Except, of course, all I can think about is kissing Rafael.
I try to extinguish the intrusive thoughts. I am on a coffee not-date, and Davis is right here in front of me on the sidewalk. He’s got a wide, warm smile, and when I meet his eye, I can’t help but smile back at him.
“I want to ask you back to my place,” he says, flirting, then steps slightly forward. “But I’m going to take my time for that.”
My heart kicks up. From the way he’s looking at me, he’s hoping for a kiss.
And I want to kiss him. At least, I do intellectually. Davis is objectively both attractive and my type, but still, I just stand there, twisting my sneaker against the pavement as I smile back.
“We’ll both be at the comic con,” I offer, deflecting.
His smile doesn’t waver. “Maybe you’ll let me take you to a panel, even buy you an overpriced lunch.”
