Page 65 of The Rules of Dating

“Surprise me.”

I leaned in. “Like you surprised me last night?”

She rolled her eyes and headed out the door.

While Billie went down to the shop, I placed an order at this Japanese restaurant I remember her saying she liked. Since Saylor loved California rolls, I figured that place would be a safe choice for everyone.

When the food arrived, the three of us ate lunch and sat around the table for a while. After that, I cleared our plates to make space for the mess this paint party would likely create.

Billie arranged the paint and brushes. She had a bottle for every color of the rainbow. I gave her a roll of paper towels in case she needed it, and she had me throw an old zip-up hoodie over Saylor so we didn’t get any paint on her dress.

“What do you want me to turn you into, Saylor?”

Saylor spun around. “I don’t know!”

“I can make you a butterfly princess, a unicorn—anything you want.”

My daughter scrunched her nose for a moment, then yelled, “A tiger!”

Billie’s eyes widened. “A tiger? And here I was thinking you were a girly girl. You’re more my speed, apparently. Because I would have totally picked something like a tiger! In fact, I almost once got a tiger skin tattoo.”

For the next hour, I sat and watched as Billie painted Saylor’s face. I guess I was used to Saylor being in control of the paint, because the mess I was expecting didn’t materialize with Billie in charge. She was meticulous as she painted the tiger face onto my daughter. It was a joy to watch, between Saylor’s anticipatory excitement and Billie’s adorable look of concentration. She did this thing where she slid her tongue slowly back and forth across her lower lip when she was focusing.

It took a full hour before she was done. But in the end, my daughter looked like something out of the Broadway show Cats. Billie had done an amazing job, and Saylor was over the moon. Billie had taken a rainy afternoon and turned it into gold. I hoped Saylor would always remember this day.

Saylor wanted to FaceTime with my mother to show off her new look, so I set up the laptop in the kitchen. Saylor was busy talking to her grandmother when I walked over to Billie in the living room. “Why did you have all this paint at the ready downstairs anyway? I didn’t think body painting was a service the shop provided.”

She wiped off one of the brushes. “It’s not. But I once threw a bodypainting party for one of my girlfriends as part of her bachelorette party. We closed the shop and had it there.”

“So, like, you painted each other?”

“Yup…naked.”

I gulped. “Naked.”

“Yup. Naked.” She laughed.

“Were there men at this party?” I had to ask.

“Are you gonna get all jealous if I tell you there were?”

“Me?” I snorted. “Jealous?”

She chuckled. “It was just us girls, actually.”

That brought me relief. Always the jealous bastard. I scratched my chin. “Would you…happen to have any pictures of this event? Not interested in seeing anyone else. Just you.”

“Yeah. Actually, I do. Lots of them. On my phone.”

“Really. And, uh, what does one have to do to get the opportunity to view such photos?”

“They’re not for public consumption.”

“I’m not the public, though. I’m a friend. You got naked in front of your friends, right?”

Saylor popped off her phone call with my mother and ran into the living room, interrupting our conversation.

“Is Grandma still online?” I asked.