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Silver’s reasonfor claiming me as her teammate for the maze becomes clear as we make our way through the stalks of corn. “Tell me about Lee. Is he single and does he now or has he ever had felony charges against him?”
“I see why you and Calli are friends. Did she ever tell you she suspected me of grave robbery?”
My attempt to change the subject doesn’t work. “To be fair, you live in a graveyard. I’m not trying to end up chained in a basement of a stranger so answer the question.”
“Lee isn’t dangerous, but he also isn’t interested in dating.”
“I’m not looking for a date, just a night.” Silver grabs my wrist, stopping us with the exit in sight. “Wait, are you two into each other?”
“What? No, why would you think that?”
She shrugs and starts walking again. “Neither of you date, and you spend a lot of time together. It wouldn’t have been a big deal.”
Calli, Lee, and Lacey wait on the other side, sitting in the grass. “It’s about time. We were getting bored,” Calli calls. “Hurry before the face painting booth closes!”
Joy shines on her face and it reminds me of how she looked that first day I saw her by the creek. So relaxed, without a trace of worry in her features. I love to see her happy. “Fine, but then we hit the food trucks because the smell of barbecue is torture.”
At the face painting tent, there’s a brief huddle between the three of them while Silver and I wait. Once a consensus is reached, Calli mumbles to one of the artists while Lee talks to the other. We aren’t allowed to know what we’re getting until it’s done.
Calli sits beside me to watch with a growing smile as the guy paints on my forehead. “How’s the edible treating you?” I ask her.
“Like I might want the other half after we eat.”
“I take green tips, you know,” the artist says at the mention of edibles.
“Tell me what you’re drawing, and we’ll talk.”
Calli shakes her head at him, and he chuckles. “Sorry, dude.”
He finishes quickly and Calli snaps a picture with her phone. I expect it to be something completely goofy, but when she holds up her phone to show me my reflection in the camera, my glare goes straight to Lee. Because I know damn well whose idea turning me into a giraffe was.
“If you’re jealous of my height, just say so, asshole!”
There’s laughter from both artists and the few people gathered around to watch or wait their turn. I slip the guy an edible. Calli is the only one who notices. Everyone else is too busy looking at Silver as her artist finishes. “Tattoo artist?” I guess, and he nods, thanking me under his breath then nodding toward the other artist. “He is too. Easy extra money.”
Silver gets a first glance at mine and cracks up which is hilarious because hers is so much bigger. My artist only painted my forehead and nose. It’s very good and detailed. He’s put an ear above each of my eyes and the little giraffe horns betweenthem. Yellow paint covers a thin strip of my forehead, spotted with brown splotches, and leads down my nose, turning black at the tip. It’s unmistakably a giraffe but done minimally compared to Silver’s.
“Who are you laughing at?” I ask, spinning the little mirror on the table near her around so she can see.
Her jaw falls open at the sight of the shark that’s tail takes up most of her forehead. The body bends around her cheek, and her mouth has been turned into the shark’s mouth. Her lips are even painted. So much dark blue. She grins up at the artist. “That’s fantastic.” She opens and closes her mouth, making the shark do the same and everyone laughs.
“It suits you,” Lee tells her as we all leave the tent. “You look like you bite.” She leans to say something directly in his ear that I’m glad I don’t hear, judging by the reaction on his face.
We grab dinner from the food trucks and have a few more drinks before piling into Lacey’s SUV to go back to the cabin. I accompany Calli into her little kitchen to help cut up the cake while the others wait in the living room, and she asks me for the other half of the gummy.
“These hit you better, huh?”
Her glazed eyes and instant smile say it all as she chews the other half, then uncovers the cake. “They’re great. No anxiety and I’m not tired at all. I could eat this whole cake though, even after those corndogs.”
“Calli.” She pauses and her eyes widen slightly when I put a hand under her chin to keep her gaze on mine. “Thank you for tonight. No one has surprised me like this on my birthday since I was a little kid. It was so sweet.”
Her cheeks practically glow under the ceiling light and her words slip out in a near whisper. “You’re welcome.”
The urge to kiss her is almost unbearable. I felt awful when she asked if I was avoiding her because if I’m going to be truthfulwith myself, that’s what I was doing. I didn’t lie to her. I was caught up in my art, but I let it happen because it’s so hard to resist the chemistry between us. As soon as she stood in front of me, I was lost to her again. To the connection that only grows stronger the more I fight it.
Her lips twitch and she starts to giggle. “I’m sorry, but…”
Alright, I may have forgotten that I look like a giraffe. “Giraffe, right. I’m going to go wash this off.”
