The Other Side of Truth (The Marked Ones Trilogy Book 3) (21 page)

How Crappy Art Saved the Free World

Friday, November 16th

PATRICK

“I
s that a urinal?” Connor asked
as he cocked his head to one side, and looked at the sculpture entitled
Fountain
.

“Yep,” I said with a smirk as I read the description.

“
Seriously
?” Connor said in disbelief, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Apparently?” I replied with a snort.

“What the
fuck
?!” Connor practically shouted in disgust.

A bunch of tourists glared at him angrily, and we quickly moved on to the next exhibit. As part of his final research paper for his 20th Century Art History class at the Academy, Connor was required to visit the SFMOMA and complete a weird scavenger-art-hunt-packet-thing and then write a paper about some of the pieces there. So naturally, he had dragged me along to share his pain.

“This class is seriously like the most depressing thing ever,” Connor grumbled as he scrawled something onto his packet of papers with a pencil.

“Why?” I asked, arching one eyebrow.

“Because the art we’re studying just gets uglier every week. And they’re basically trying to get us to worship a bunch of dudes who made art that looks like they somehow tied paint brushes to a cat and set it loose,” Connor ranted as he followed the instructions in the packet, leading us through the room of exhibits and into the next.

“I heard the CIA funded Pollock to combat Communism,” I commented as we passed a particularly hideous I-have-no-clue-what.

“Oh don’t
even
get me started on that guy,” Connor said as he pointed his pencil at me. “That guy was a total hack.”

I cracked a smile as I turned to the next exhibit.

“Is that a fork?” Connor asked in disbelief as he stared up at the mobile hanging above us.

“Yep,” I replied, rising both my eyebrows at the artwork in question.

“Seriously, what
is
this crap, and why should I care?” Connor asked sourly as he scowled up at the mobile.

“Because half of art is making something awesome,” I answered as I shoved my hands into my hoodie pockets.

“What’s the other half?” Connor asked as he gave me a dubious look.

“Convincing someone it’s worth buying,” I replied with an amused, crooked grin.

Connor looked at me, then at the mobile. “I take that back, these guys were geniuses. Because this stuff seriously sucks.”

I snorted out a laugh as Connor jotted something down in the packet, and we moved on to the next exhibit.

“‘What was this artist’s unique condition, and how did it influence how he depicted the world around him?’” Connor read aloud as he looked up at the painting then back down at his packet. “How the fuck should
I
know?” Connor said indignantly. “Unless his ‘unique condition’ was that he was having a seizure when he made it.”

“No, you see Kandinsky had—” I froze. It couldn’t be that simple.

“Patrick…you okay?” Connor asked uneasily.

I grabbed his shoulder. “Read that again!”

“
What
?!” Connor yelped.

“Read the question again,” I said in a manic rush, my heart beating a rapid rhythm against my chest.

“‘What was this artist’s unique condition, and how did it influence how he depicted the world around him?’” Connor repeated with a concerned look.

…used his unique condition to depict the world around him.

That was it. It was so simple. So simple it was crazy brilliant. I finally knew how I was going to ask for Nualla’s forgiveness.

“Thanks!” I said before I turned, and quickly started walking toward the gift shop.

“Patrick, where are you going!” Connor called out as he followed after me.

“I think I figured out a way to make it alright.”

“Make
what
alright?”

“Me and Nualla,” I answered as I turned to face him.

He stopped abruptly, his mouth dropping open. “Whoa,
seriously
?”

“Maybe,” I replied, my mind already starting to run wild with ideas. “But look, I have to go, okay?”

“Uh, sure. Whatever you need, dude.”

“Thanks, Connor!” I said quickly as I started off toward the gift shop again.

“Oh hey, did you know the answer to the question?” Connor called after me.

“He had synesthesia,” I called back over my shoulder.

“What the hell is
that
?”

“Look it up, genius!” I replied with a slightly unhinged grin as I entered the shop.

It wasn’t a foolproof plan—not by any stretch of the imagination—but it was better than nothing.

TRAVIS

“S
o…did you get things figured
out with Parker?” Nualla asked as I dropped down into the seat across from her in the cafeteria. My hard plastic tray clattering against the surface of the table.

“Um…you could say that,” I answered as I rested my chin on my palm.

“You slept with her again, didn’t you?” Nualla stated flatly.

“Twice,” I said, with a devilish grin as I held up two fingers.

“You’re hopeless,” Nualla huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Oh probably,” I agreed dreamily as I looked off across the room of people.

“So are you dating now?” Nualla asked after a moment.

“That’s a good question,” I replied, looking back at her.

“You mean you don’t
know
?” Nualla asked dubiously.

“I was kinda too distracted to ask,” I admitted with a shrug, because it was the truth.

“You’re hopeless,” Nualla said again with exasperation.

“Just giving you a taste of your own medicine,” I countered with a smirk.

Nualla glared at me before she shoved her fork into her lunch and asked, “So is Parker your One?”

I froze. Was she? Was that what this feeling was? I felt restless and giddy and my heart was beating a million miles a minute, but I didn’t feel like I was free-falling through life for once. I felt… In the maelstrom of things rolling through my body, there was this strange calm. But more than that, I felt…
happy
? I felt truly happy for the first time in so very,
very
long.

I looked up at Nualla with large eyes. The realization that the answer was
yes
, threatening to throw me into a panicked tailspin.

“I can tell by that look on your face what the answer is, you know,” Nualla stated, her eyes fixed firmly on mine.

“What do I do?” I asked, my hands starting to shake.

“Don’t screw it up.”

“I’m
serious
, Nualla,” I said with an exasperated huff.

“So am
I
, Travis,” Nualla countered with a strange fierceness. “I know you hate being told what to do, but seriously, Travis, do
not
frak this up. Because if you lose her it will destroy you, sure as anything,” Nualla said with an emotion in her voice I couldn’t place as she stood.

“Where are you going?” I asked in a rush, a bit startled by the sudden intensity in our conversation.

“I, uh…I have to go talk to Roy before my next class,” Nualla answered, avoiding looking directly at me.

I reached out, and grabbed her wrist gently. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

She hesitated a moment too long before answering, “Of course.”

I let her go, and she walked swiftly out of the cafeteria. And I just stared off after her until she disappeared.

It was a lie. She was lying to me.
Me
of all people. But why?

Restraint Is Not One of My Many Fine Qualities

Monday, November 19th

TRAVIS

A
pair of small female hands
slid over my eyes as the person leaned close to my ear. At first I thought it was Nualla, but something in the intimacy of the gesture told me it was Parker. Or it could have been the emotions rolling off of her.

“Guess who?” Parker whispered into my ear before she pressed her lips to my neck. She moved them to the place just under my ear, brushing my lobe with her soft lips.

“Oh
gods
…” I moaned before shuddering, and turning to face her. “Why do you
do
that?”

“Because you like it,” she replied with a devilish smile.

I just gaped at her, my mouth hanging open, because there was absolutely nothing I could say. Because I
did
like it. I really,
really
liked it.

“
And
you are positively adorkable when you’re flustered,” she added as she slid down onto my lap, her knees straddling me, and her skirt riding so dangerously high that I could almost see her panties.

“Parker, what are you
doing
?” I asked as my eyes darted to the door. “We’re in the middle of my lab and—”

She ignored me, and started kissing my neck again. “
Oh,
” I moaned.

I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to regain my composure, but it was a battle I wasn’t going to win and she knew it. “
And
the frakkin’ door’s open!”

“
And
? What are you going to do about it?” Parker asked as her fingers traced the edge of my jeans, brushing against bare skin. Her British accent making the words a hundred percent more sexy.

I stared at her open-mouthed for a moment before I swallowed hard. “KARA, seal the lab door,” I ordered in a breathless voice. “
And
the security window.”

As KARA followed my command Parker looked at me coyly. “What’s on
your
mind?”

“Ripping off your clothes,” I stated in an uneven voice.

Please, don’t be dreaming. Please,
please
don’t be dreaming.

“Oh
really
? That’s weird, I was just thinking the same thing.”

Gods-only-knows-how-long later we were both still breathing heavy, lying naked together on the massively comfy couch I had bought for my lab. After they had moved most of the equipment to the main lab in the sub basement there had been this big hole in the layout of my lab and I had figured,
couch, why the hell not?
Now I was
unbelievably
glad I had put it in here. However, I was probably never going to be able to look at it the same way again.

“Do you think we were too loud?” Parker asked as she traced circles into my abs with the tip of her finger.

“No, maybe, probably…
yes
,” I sighed.

“I’m going to get you in trouble, aren’t I?” she asked as her hand paused.

“Naw. If anyone says anything about it, I’ll just say it was for science,” I said as I ran my fingers down her bare skin. It was unbelievably soft, and so naturally, it made me want to touch her even more.

“Oh
really,
how do you figure?” Parker asked as she looked at me dubiously.

I whispered into her ear and she blushed unbelievably red.

“Gods, after everything,
that’s
what makes you finally blush?” I asked with a huge grin.

Parker whacked me and I couldn’t help but laugh. That giddy, high feeling I had had that first day really hadn’t subsided and I’d been grinning like an idiot ever since. But I couldn’t have given a flying fuck if everyone thought I was high as a kite, because for once, I was happy.

I nuzzled Parker with my nose. “How is it that I can never manage to stop wanting you?”

“If I’m distracting you, I can always go?” Parker threatened playfully.

“No,
please
, don’t go,” I pleaded as I hugged her tighter. “I still want you so badly.”

“How badly,” Parker asked with mock seriousness.

“
Very
badly,” I said in an equal tone as I pressed my lips to her hot skin.

A breathy moan bubbled up her throat, and then she froze abruptly. “What’s that noise?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just the—
Fuck
!” I shot to my feet just as the door slid open and Akiko walked through.

“Travis, I—” Akiko stopped dead—her mouth hanging open—when she saw that I was naked.

As her eyes darted down so did my hands, blocking the fact of just
how
very naked I was at that moment.

“Um…could you give us a few minutes,” I asked uneasily, my face burning like a three-alarm fire.

“
Sure
… I’ll just be outside,” Akiko said slowly, gesturing with her thumb.

And as she left, I’m not sure whose face was redder, mine or hers.

Not even five minutes later, Parker stepped through the lab door back into the corridor as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “See you later, Travis,” she called over her shoulder.

And then she was gone, walking down the corridor, her hips swaying back and forth seductively. Hips I had just had my hands pressed against—

“
Parker
?” Akiko asked in astonishment. “You’re sleeping with
Parker
?” Are you
crazy
?!” she said under her breath so no one walking by would hear.

“Have I ever given you any indication I wasn’t?” I replied with a huge grin to mask my embarrassment over her seeing me butt-ass-naked.