“Peanut butter M&Ms,” I said without thinking. “I’ll grab them.”
After I picked out my snack, I walked over to the cooler to help him carry the beer. Technically I wasn’t old enough, but the man at the counter looked like he couldn’t care less. He didn’t even look up from his phone when we came in.
We sat several cases of Coors Light bottles on the counter along with my M&Ms. After Aiden paid, I thanked him for my candy and carried a case out to the Jeep. He carried two of them like they were weightless, and I lingered behind, appreciating the way his muscles flexed beneath his tight navy-blue T-shirt.
After he’d put the beer in the back of the Jeep, he glanced toward the store. “I’ve got to grab one more thing. You want a soda or something?”
He looked kind of embarrassed. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was going back inside to buy condoms. He was in college after all. My stomach tilted like a carnival ride. “I’m good. But thank you.”
He grinned. “Okay. Be right back.”
I tore the corner off the pack of my M&Ms and ate a handful. Aiden returned shortly with a paper bag. He didn’t make any reference to the contents as we drove, so I didn’t pry.
The small town of Riverside passed in a blur of streetlights. I didn’t come here often but Drew and Camille said some of the cafes and boutiques were worth the drive. Because it was right on the water, it was quaint but touristy. In Elksboro we only had one gas station, one tiny diner, and out of towners never came through unless they were lost.
By the time we reached the pizza place, my M&Ms were gone and I had a mild sugar buzz.
Aiden pulled into the parking lot and checked the time again.
“We still have thirty minutes or so until the pizza is ready. Will you do something for me?’
My tummy performed another gymnastics routine. I folded my empty candy wrapper and put it in my pocket. “Like what?”
He hopped out and came around to my door. “Come on. It’ll be fun,” was all the explanation he gave.
Following him down toward the water, I tried to guess what was in the bag. Condoms I might could handle. Hopefully not a knife. Getting murdered and thrown into the river didn’t sound like much fun. He brought the paper bag down to the basketball court by the water. Bright streetlamps kept the pavement well lit.
“What’s in the bag?”
“I was just trying to figure out ways we could pass the time and I was thinking I’d like to see your work. I’ve never known an actual artist before.”
I wasn’t following. “I have pictures on my phone, but like I said, I left it—”
“Here,” he said, dumping a massive pile of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise packets onto the basketball court. “And I got these for the clean-up,” he informed me, gesturing to a container of wet wipes.
I laughed but my entire body began to tingle, an electric current running under my skin.
He’d called me an actual artist. He’d said it like he meant it, not like he was teasing me. Even the guidance counselor at school had told me I needed an actual career, that art was more of a past time these days unless I was interested in graphic design.
I wasn’t. I was interested in this, the get-your-hands-dirty, messy art—this was exactly what I wanted. How this guy who barely knew me caught onto that, I didn’t know. But I was grateful for it either way.
“All right start opening those packets for me. Ketchup first.”
Aiden got to work opening them as quickly as his fingers could manage while I worked on the mustard and mayonnaise. I handed him one of the wet wipes. “Tear that into super thin strips.”
He did as he was told, checking the width. “This okay?”
I nodded. “That’s perfect.”
Within a few minutes. I was lost in my work, nearly oblivious to his presence.
I drug my fingertips through the ketchup, swirling mayonnaise here and mustard there until I had the perfect palette of reds, oranges, and yellows.
Using the wet wipe strips for texture, I created my three-dimensional river below a setting sun. The sinking sun and Ombre sky took a lot more work. Aiden had to open several more packets of mayo so I could include the title and my name on my edible, yet unappetizing masterpiece.
Daybreak by E. Tyler, I scrawled in the best script I could manage.
When I looked up, returning to reality, I was actually proud of what I’d created. Aiden look…stunned.