The Boy Who Paints Me (17 page)

“Yeah, I had two hours sleep,” I groaned.

“Wow, why were you up so early?”

“I have no idea,” I shrugged, “My body just woke up at that time. I was ok before but I think that the sun is making me sleepy,” I chuckled.

“Well, you look pretty good for someone who only had two hours sleep,” he laughed.

“Thanks.” I could feel my cheeks heating up and so I turned to look out the window.

I heard a small chuckle escape his lips before we went into a comfortable silence. I loved watching the world go by whenever I was sat in a car; it was like I was in my own safe, little bubble. I liked it. I wondered where we were going but I didn’t want to ask. I loved the fact that Leighton always surprised me; it always gave me something to look forward to whenever I was with him.

“Thanks...for last night. You know, for listening...it was nice.” He caught me off guard since he seemed a little nervous; a side that I had only ever seen when he spoke about his mom or dad.

“Well, you always listen to me, so it was my turn,” I said with a smile on my face.

“I like talking to you.”

“I like talking to you too,” I replied with a small smile on my face. Inside I was jumping up and down like a little girl. I was most definitely going crazy or at least Leighton was turning me crazy. The only good thing was that Leighton turning you crazy, felt so damn good. Just as I was about to search for something else to say, he beat me to it.

“I just realised something,” he said with a smile on his face. I turned to look at him. “I don’t even have your number,” he continued, causing us both to start giggling.

“No, you don’t, do you?” I smiled at him.

“Mind doing the honors?” He asked, handing me his cell with a huge smile on his face. I nodded my head before taking his phone and adding myself as a contact. I went to write ‘Rainie’ and then hesitated. I deleted some letters and just left the word ‘Rai’ before saving the contact and handing the phone back to him. After placing his phone in the car door, he silently slipped his hand into mine, causing a feeling of content to come over me.

We spent the rest of the journey in a comfortable silence, lost in our own thoughts.

* * *

Leighton had taken us to a quiet Italian restaurant where - being the boring person that I am - I had pasta. I’m a sucker for pasta, and I always like to stick to what I know. We talked for hours about everything. I finally got over the fact that he looked insanely hot today and started to focus on just enjoying his company. Leighton had just asked for the check and was sitting at the table playing with his phone. I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t wondered who he was talking to. He looked engrossed in what he was doing, and a smile even passed his face as he typed away. I felt the pangs of jealousy shoot through me but I was soon distracted by the sound of my phone beeping.

I felt my body begin to panic as I tried to imagine what Mitch had to say. He had been pretty quiet since his last text, and I was hoping that he had given up trying to make contact. I thought about changing my number but it was better to get the odd text from him so that I would know if he did plan to try and find me. As I looked at the screen of my phone, my stomach dropped as a number that I didn’t recognise filled the screen. I tried to act unaffected as I smiled at Leighton who was watching me curiously. I wasn’t sure if Mitch was trying to contact me off of another phone or if it could be my mom. Either way I had to find out.

Suddenly all of the panic, worries and fear disappeared as I looked down at the words on the screen with a smile on my face.

Did I mention how incredibly beautiful you look sitting across from me? If not, then you do...

I looked up to witness the biggest smile that I had ever seen. I felt my cheeks heat up as my eyes locked on Leighton’s.

“Thank you,” I said as a smile slipped onto my face.

“Just being honest,” he replied before the waitress sauntered over with the bill. She had been attempting to flirt with him since we had arrived. She was very pretty. She had short dark hair, brown eyes and a figure that most people pay to have...maybe she did. Her flirting had made me uncomfortable at first but when I noticed that Leighton hadn’t paid her the slightest bit of attention, I felt better.

“Here you go,” she said as she placed the check down in front of us.

“Thank you,” Leighton replied politely before placing some money on the small metal tray.

“Someone has an admirer,” I joked as she walked away from the table.

“Huh?”

“The girl that was serving us, she liked you,” I said as I shook my head at his lack of understanding.

“I didn’t notice,” he said honestly as he slipped my hand inside his and walked towards the door. I smiled to myself.

“Have a nice day,” the girl said as we passed her on the way out, causing me to try and suppress a laugh.

“Oh gosh, she really did like me, didn’t she?” Leighton asked, surprised.

“Erm, yeah,” I nodded as he pulled me towards him.

“Well, unfortunately for her,” he began as he took a step closer to me as his eyes fell to my lips, “my attention was completely stolen today...by the most beautiful person in that restaurant,” he said before letting his lips touch mine. There was no way that I was going to get bored of this.

“It was?” I whispered against his lips.

“Yup,” he answered as I felt him smile against mine. “Come on,” he said before pecking my lips one last time and pulling me towards the car. “You’re not ready to go home are you?” He asked, hopefully.

“No, I’m having fun,” I admitted.

He smiled before a serious expression filled his face. “I was thinking of meeting up with a few friends at the park, you don’t have to if you don’t want to but I thought maybe we could go?”

“It’s ok, I want to,” I chuckled as I watched the nervous expression leave his face. I don’t know why the next thing slipped out of my mouth but it just did. “I feel safe with you, Leighton.”

I watched as the smile on his face increased as he started up the car. He looked like he had just won something. His smile was becoming way too contagious. “Good,” he finally replied before driving us to the park.

* * *

It took about twenty minutes before we finally stopped driving. The park looked beautiful when the sun was shining on it as brightly as it was today. Leighton’s hand found its home in mine as always, causing the same smile that it always does to fall onto my face. It wasn’t until I stopped thinking about Leighton’s hand and started looking around the park that I realised, the people that were stood watching us.

“Finally,” a tall, very attractive, brown skinned guy – who was slightly taller than Leighton – said.

“Sorry guys, I took Rai for something to eat,” Leighton said, causing all eyes to suddenly fall on me.

“Rai, it’s nice to meet you,” the boy who had spoken said.

“It’s Rainie,” Leighton corrected as a knowing look passed his friends face. I felt a little bit of excitement jolt through me at hearing the protectiveness in his voice. I liked that he wanted to be the only one that called me Rai because that’s what I wanted too. “This is Jason,” he said pointing to the first boy who had spoken. “That’s Liam,” he said, pointing to a short guy with deep blue eyes and curly, blonde curls blanketing his head, “and you know Callum,” he said, pointing to Megan’s brother. I smiled politely as they all said their own versions of hello.

“So, are you coming to shoot some hoops or what?” Jason asked as he bounced a basket ball on the ground and pointed over to a small court, not far from where we were standing.

“I’ll join you in ten,” Leighton said as he slipped his hand in mine and led me to a patch of grass. We sat down as we watched his friends run off, laughing and pushing each other as they made their way to the basketball court.

“They seem nice,” I said as I gestured towards where his friends were.

“They’re good guys,” he agreed as he smiled at me.

“You can go and play if you want,” I said as I smiled at him.

“I’m ok.”

“Leighton, go and play. I’ll be fine, it’ll be fun watching you, especially if you lose,” I teased as I watched his eyebrows rise in shock. He smiled at me mischievously before bringing his lips dangerous close to my ear. Every point of my body jumped in excitement.

“I don’t lose...ever,” he whispered before pulling back to stare into my eyes. He slowly brought his mouth up and planted a soft kiss on my forehead. “Back in five, babe,” he said before jumping to his feet and running backwards so that he could smile at me. It was only when he bumped into an angry couple that he realised that his plan wasn’t going to work. I chuckled to myself and waved him goodbye as I watched him go, running forwards this time. I liked hearing him call me ‘babe’ it felt so nice coming out of his mouth.

We had been at the park for around an hour, and I was happy. Leighton kept checking on me every ten minutes or so even though I kept telling him that he didn’t have to. He, of course, insisted. He would play for ten minutes, come and sit with me until one of the guys started complaining that he was messing up the game. It was pretty funny. I really enjoyed watching him play to be honest. I loved watching him run around the court like he didn’t have a care in the world. I loved seeing the smile on his face every time that he or Callum scored against Jason and Liam. It was pretty sexy that he was winning too. It wasn’t until a familiar voice filled the air that I realised that my perfect day wasn’t going to be so perfect after all.

“Wow, he’s taking you to the exact same places that he took me, how original,” Victoria said bitterly as she looked down at me. I really wasn’t in the mood for this.

“I’m not looking for an argument, Victoria,” I stated as I used my hand to shield the sun from my eyes so that I could look up at her.

“Neither am I. I just wanted to remind you about what I said at the mall. This is very cute and all but he’s just trying to replace me. He’s actually taking you to the same places that he took me and probably telling you the same things too. Eventually he’ll get bored though and want the real thing, just remember that I warned you,” she said as an evil smirk filled her face.

“Oh, get lost weasel,” a familiar voice said, causing my head to swing around.

“This has nothing to do with you, Caroline,” she growled.

“It does when you’re bothering one of my friends, so you had better move along before
I
move you. You know that I’m just looking for an excuse,” she said as she smirked at her.

“Ok, girls, let’s play nice. Victoria go and do whatever you do and Caroline, rein it in,” Megan interrupted.

“When she’s back on her leash, I’ll be happy to oblige,” Caroline stated, causing Layla to burst out laughing.

“Whatever!” Victoria said as she stomped away, towards her group of friends that were not sitting too far away. I could feel her eyes on me but I tried to ignore her.

“That girl is an actual psychopath,” Caroline huffed as she took a seat next to me.

“And you are way too hot headed,” Megan said as she rolled her eyes and sat on the other side of me.

“I’m a red head, what do you expect?”

“Stop using your hair colour as an excuse, you’re not even a natural red head,” Megan replied.

“I should have been.”

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“My brother mentioned coming down here with Leighton, and we figured that you’d be here, and so would she,” Megan said as she shrugged her shoulders and looked in Victoria’s direction.

“Thanks,” I smiled as I looked at their smiling faces.