Buzz
"I'm not so sure about this," I say, grabbing Zane by the arm of his coat as we're about to walk into the classroom at the Clovelly Community College.
"What?" He steps aside to let the others in, a smile on his face. "It's just the human body. It's perfectly natural."
"I know. But it'll be anakedhuman body that I'll have to stare at for a long period of time. That's…not so natural."
"Oh, come on." He gives me a playful jab, smiling the way he has been all evening. When he picked me up. All through grabbing a bite at the diner. Even now, as I'm expressing my concerns, nothing can wipe that thing off his face. "We always have fun, don't we?"
"Yeah, we do."
"And I haven't seen you in aaaages."
I force a smile to mask some of my guilt. He's right. We haven't seen a lot of each other these past few weeks. Since Court came back after the holidays, I've been spending all my free time with him.
"Okay, fine," I agree, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. "Let's do it."
"Awesome. Just think of it as another one of ourzanyadventures." His smile grows as he jabs a thumb at his chest. "Get it?Zane…y."
"You're a bit too young for dad jokes," I tell him with a chuckle.
I wish Court got to see this side of him, because if he did, I have a feeling the two of them might actually like each other.
But I'm not forcing things. Learned my lesson there. I tried doing that last year, and it backfired, so if they need some distance to keep the peace, then so be it.
Zane motions for me to go first, and when I enter the classroom, I make a beeline for the two farthest easels from where I assume the model is going to be standing. If I have to gawk at a naked body, I'd like to do it from as far away as possible.
"What do you know about the Villain Ink'd Festival?" Zane asks, settling onto his stool.
"Just that it's this big tattoo festival that comes to town every year, the week of Valentine's Day," I answer, taking in the assortment of graphite pencils, charcoal sticks, ink pens, markers, kneaded erasers, and sharpeners lined up neatly on a small tray beside my easel.
"Wanna go?" Zane asks.
"Mhm. Sure."
"Cause I was thinking…" I glance over at him when he trails off. He's taken off his coat and is lifting his arm. "Of getting a tattoo here," he says, sliding his fingers along the underside of his bicep.
"Yeah, I remember you saying that to Court," I say, briefly making eye contact before quickly looking away.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say Zane was being…flirty? The arm flexing, the constant smiling. It's out of character. But he already knows I'm not interested in him that way, so I must be imagining it.
"I was thinking, nightcap at mine after class? I know you're not working tomorrow, and if we have a few drinks, you can always crash at mine. My bed issupercomfy."
Okay. I am not imaginingthat. That's definitely a come-on.
"Uh, we'll see," I say when my brain can't come up with a way to say no without actually using the word.
"Cool." That ever-present smile is starting to look borderline maniacal. "Let's see how you feel after the class."
I gratefully accept the delay. "Sounds good." After staring at a naked stranger for a few hours, I might just need that drink after all. "Do you know if the model is male or female?"
"Male," Zane replies. "I've become friends with the organizer. She said they normally don't reveal the gender since they want the focus of the class to be on form and anatomy."
"But you sweet-talked her into telling you?" I hedge.
"Sure did. She didn't tell me his name, but she did give me a sneak peek of some of his modeling portfolio, and let's just say, we are in for a very large treat tonight."
I snicker. "Didn't realize you were such a size queen."
