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It’s a contradiction I can’t get enough of, like I can’t get enough of him curling against my chest and almost purring when I rub his back, which I’m in no hurry to stop after he says, “Gonna get my shit together and start this story over so I can stay for even longer.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He lifts his head. “Pretty sure my story starts in there, only I can’t see how to get closer to it.” He glances out the window, and I’ve never been happier that my first shot missed.
It means I’ve got tools to help him.
I get out and retrieve one, and this blade is bright and shiny, so I have no idea why this emerges sounding rusty.
“Your story starts in there, Rae?”
He nods, eyes alight in that way I can’t get enough of. He’s still sex-flushed. Still so fucking gorgeous. Still looking at me like I’m his answer instead of a letdown or a problem.
I wield my cutter then, like a knight might with his broadsword. Brambles don’t stand a chance against it, or me. And by the time I’m finished?
Not a single thorn is left to scratch him.
It’s the strangest place in the world to remember watchingSleeping Beautywith a lap full of little sisters. I must be under the same spell as in that movie because Rae kisses me on the waypast, and my eyes weren’t closed, but it feels as if they open for the first time after a long sleep.
Open?
I wake the fuck up, and, for once, the past doesn’t have a stranglehold on my thinking.
Rae heads through the gap I’ve cut for him, then stops still. “Oh, my fucking god. This is perfect.”
He looks back at me as if I’m an actual hero.
A real giant.
I’m far from either, but if he keeps looking at me like I am?
I might have to start believing.
13
HAYDEN
I don’t get to see the starting image Rae comes up with after that evening.
Not because I don’t see plenty of him—he’s my new shadow in the woods at Glynn Harber, talking me through his progress, although he isn’t ready to show me what he’s come up with.
Maybe he would if I visited him at the art building after hours, but harvest still waits for no man. Straw-baling seems never-ending this year, just when I’m tempted to sacrifice cash for time.With him. But he was serious about buckling down to get his drawings done good and early instead of at the last minute, and I’m not about to fuck that up for him, like I’m not prepared to fuck up my own chance here by being weird about Mitch being my mentor.
Only Mitch doesn’t turn up to my first week of nature sessions.
A variety of other teachers bring the children, and I’ve learned something new from each one of them.
I wait for today’s group to arrive while Rae shares that he’s not sure what path to follow next on that Polish schoolboy’sjourney. He could head in several directions, he tells me. Deciding which path to take is always his dilemma.
“Too many bright and shiny choices.”
He laughs.
I’m not convinced that sound is happy.
“I want to draw something that was really special to Olek. A pivotal moment where he chose his direction. Then I’ll hold up a modern mirror to it. You know, to reflect the parallels?”
“Sure.”
