Page 62

“Yeah, of course.”

Together, we walked the large room, measuring and putting tape up, and soon enough, we were ready to get painting.

“How do you want to do this?” I asked. “Do you want me to cut in and you can paint? Or vice versa? Or each of us do our own sections?”

Kieran tipped his head to the side briefly. “I’ll cut in. You roll. Okay?”

“Deal.”

We started quietly, Kieran carefully using a paintbrush to cover the edges, corners, and the spaces near the outlets, so I could start with the paint roller.

“This isn’t so bad,” I murmured. “I thought I’d hate the painting part, but I don’t.”

He grinned. “I know. I like it. It’s calming. I like the quiet zen of it all.”

“I think I still like relaxing by drawing better though.”

“That’s fair.”

“Hey.” I had been thinking of something for a while and I wanted to offer before I lost my nerve or forgot. “I know you’re working on the community library. If you need anyone to draw a mural or anything, y’know, I’m happy to help.”

Kieran’s smile was genuine and warm, and it made me want to wrap him in my arms and hug him.

“Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that offer. We’re almost at that stage. Do you want to come by the library this week and see what you think?”

“That sounds great. I don’t think Olivia will know what to do with herself if she finds out I’ve volunteered to help.”

Kieran laughed. “Probably not. You don’t exactly have the warmest reputation in Pine Bluff, you know.”

I shrugged. “And I don’t mind keeping it that way.” We painted quietly for a while. “So,” I said after a while. “You and Lee met in college, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the story of how you met. Anything good there?”

He laughed and shook his head. “My friends ditched me one of the first nights of school. We went to this under-21 bar and they all ended up going home with other people. I didn’t have a ride, so I was walking down the side of the road to get back to my dorm and Lena stopped to pick me up. She said, ‘You’re going to get murdered and left in a ditch somewhere if you keep this up. And then who’s going to be my best friend?’ I got into her car and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

“You literally got picked up by my sister in the middle of the night walking home from a bar and then she just adopted you as her best friend?” When he nodded, I laughed. “Sounds like Lee, alright.”

He shrugged. “She’s a bold one. Nothing scares her.”

A quiet moment passed and I cleared my throat. “What about you?”

With a frown, Kieran glanced up at me from where he was painting the line above the baseboard. “What about me?”

“What scares you?”

“Me?” He laughed again. “Great question. If I say spiders…”

“Try again. I’ve already seen you prove that one isn’t true.”

“Fine.” He was quiet for a while, long enough that I wasn’t sure he’d actually answer the question. Eventually, he spoke again. “Loss. Losing the people close to me. Probably why I haven’t had a lot of serious relationships. Heartbreak scares me.”

I nodded, processing his confession, my mind racing to find something comforting to say.

“Also, the ocean,” he said.

I stopped rolling and looked at him. “What?”

“The ocean. It’s fucking huge. Have you seen that thing?”

“Not all of it,” I said with a laugh. “But I have been to the beach.”