Garden of Cupid by Elizabeth Hollows

Author:Elizabeth Hollows [Hollows, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBT Romance Fiction
Publisher: Totally Entwined Group
Published: 2021-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

* * * *

They spent the rest of the walk talking about why they loved their chosen careers. Will loved to recreate nature in colors far grander than the world could ever produce. He wanted to take a moment and make it his own, to add emotion then share it with the world.

Blain was constantly searching for new challenges and ways to improve his craft, but even a well-loved car he’d seen regularly could give him delight. Sometimes, it wasn’t just the cars he enjoyed, it was the people and their stories. He knew several owners, and they regaled him with what was new in their life when they dropped off their keys. He loved seeing an old car with a new bumper sticker and learning why it had ended up there.

It was one of the few places where they differed. Blain was a people person. Will was not.

“You’re an extrovert,” Will accused as they walked into the park with their takeout cups of coffees.

“I’m not, actually,” Blain disagreed. “Just because I like people, it doesn’t mean I want to be around them all the time. They tire me out. By the end of the week, all I want is silence and solitude.”

Will immediately felt guilty.

“Oh, shit. I mean, you didn’t need to come out if you were tired.”

Blain shook his head. Although they dropped hands at the café so Will could carry his coffee and sketchbook, Blain had stepped close and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Trust me, Will. I want to be here. Silence and solitude can’t compete with you.”

Will had flushed, but he hadn’t disputed Blain’s statement.

The park was bright with blooming flowers, thick foliaged trees and chirping birds. People were sitting on benches or with picnic blankets.

Staying on the path, they walked pressed together, admiring the simple beauty of nature. They went over the bridge that Mrs. O’Grady had recommended, but despite Blain pointing out flowers and wildlife, Will’s gaze rarely drifted to them without prompting. His attention was on the shape of Blain’s smile and the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. Will had told Blain he didn’t draw portraits, but his fingers twitched to grab his pencil and sketch the man beside him. He could clearly visualize the lines he’d draw to depict Blain’s profile as a coffee cup lifted to his lips. But there was also the desire for a larger piece in his signature watercolors. A picture of Blain underneath one of his cars, focused with concentration in rooting out the problem. Or maybe an image of them together—somewhere unspecified and with an ambiguity that wouldn’t let anyone know who they were. Just two men on a date, oblivious to the rest of the world.

It was an incredibly romantic notion. He didn’t put people in his art. But painting two men in an intimate embrace? Painting them flooded him with a yearning he’d rarely experienced. The images were so clear. The only thing that kept him from whipping out his sketchpad was a desire to keep talking to Blain for as long as possible.

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