Duched(5)

 

 

 

He immediately teases, "And the white splotches on your shirt? They're not from the principal are they?"

 

 

 

Jovi lightly hits him in his lower stomach.

 

 

 

As you can see he's got a mouth. And he's cocky. And charismatic. It's a really terrible combination. I honestly don't understand how she decides when it's time to kiss his face or slap it.

 

 

 

"Dean," I correct with a sarcastic smirk. "And no. This is what happens when teenagers get pissy and don't pay attention to what they're doing."

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

 

 

"So not a food fight?" Merrick jokes again.

 

 

 

With a glare, I snap, "Please, tell me you're leaving."

 

 

 

"Yeah," he turns his black baseball cap around before adding, "but you're coming with us."

 

 

 

"I'm sorry, what?"

 

 

 

"Merrick got us all tickets a few weeks ago to The Treme showing at the Flatone gallery," Jovi attempts to spring the memory. "Remember?"

 

 

 

He drapes his arm around her black coat covered shoulder. "Because I'm an amazing boyfriend."

 

 

 

Jovi looks up at him. "Sweet."

 

 

 

"Fantastic."

 

 

 

"Thoughtful."

 

 

 

"Incredible."

 

 

 

"And humble too," I add with another fake smirk.

 

 

 

It takes him a minute to realize the joke.

 

 

 

Okay, so not always the brightest. Just proof no one's perfect.

 

 

 

He drops his jaw in preparation to retort when Jovi continues, "Come on, Brie. You've been dying to see this showing as much as I have."

 

 

 

"But my feet are dying more," I counter in a whine. "Plus, I've got a test to study for and need to work on my final portfolio project that I haven't even started and-"

 

 

 

"All of which you can do after the showing," Jovi sweetly argues. She slips out of her boyfriend's grasp and makes her way towards me. "Look, we won't even stay long. We'll go grab a quick burger, swing by the showing, and make sure to have you home before ten o'clock."

 

 

 

Her big brown eyes suddenly become irresistible.

 

 

 

Ugh. They're made for each other. Between her pout and his charm, I swear they could take over the world.

 

 

 

"Please?"

 

 

 

"Fine," I sigh. "Let me get the smell of apples and adolescents off of me first."

 

 

 

Jovi squeals over her victory.

 

 

 

Maybe a glass of wine and spending some time staring at former Ashwin University graduate's art pieces is exactly what I need. A blunt reminder of what I'm working so hard to one day possibly achieve. Maybe I'll be inspired to move in a new direction. See a route to take with my passion. A path I haven't seen before. Because as of right now, I'm months away from a BA in Art with absolutely no fucking clue what to do with the rest of my life. Hell, what I want to do for that matter. Who knows....maybe being at the showing will give my life the little nudge it needs. Can't blame a woman for hoping, right?  

 

 

 

 

 

Kellan

 

 

 

I shove my hands into the pockets of my black suit pants. "Remind me one more time, why exactly we're here. You know I hate art like this."

 

 

 

"Because Dana made me swear I'd take her," Hugh huffs as he swipes two glasses of champagne.

 

 

 

Taking one, I question, "Is this some sort of power play? Is she with-holding sex from you? Using it as a weapon in her pursuit to control your life?"

 

 

 

His head tilts at me. "Speaking from personal experience?"

 

 

 

"Of course not," I lightly chuckle. "You should know by now my dick is the ultimate weapon and it's always loaded."

 

 

 

He lifts his glass and mumbles behind a sip. "Horrific."

 

 

 

Hugh Delmar and I have been mates since his parents shipped him to boarding school at thirteen. Apparently, he had an early addiction to stealing his mother's prescription pills and a fascination with fondling her friends. Shipping him out of his country to ours might not directly fix the issues he so clearly had, but it would at least prevent the media from watching him self-destruct his way through puberty. While Hugh's hatred for his parents continued to grow over the feeling of abandonment, according to his therapy sessions he told me about in mocking, but he found solace in a new sport. His first week at school I caught him staring in confusion at the game of lacrosse and offered to explain it, after poking fun at his atrocious American accent of course.