Read Online First Time: Ian's Story (First Time (Ian) Book 1) by Abigail Barnette - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Abigail Barnette
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an
amused smirk.
“ Um, what was that?” she
asked as I came back.
“ Oh, those are my new
friends, Nate and Lexi. Lexi was kind enough to sell me her
sketchbook.” I held up the pencil. “What do you say? May I draw
you?”
An “eep” sound of surprise came out of her
throat. “Wow. Yeah. I can’t believe you would pay someone for their
sketchbook, just to draw me.”
I shrugged. “Money well-spent. It gives me
an excuse to stare at you without being creepy or uncool.”
That wasn’t a joke, but I was pleased that
she took it as such, with a little smile as she crossed her legs
under her skirt and straightened her spine. Holy God, her nipples
were hard beneath her thin sundress. The thought of untying those
straps at her shoulders and pulling down the top, cupping those
perfect breasts in my hands and running my thumbs over those tight
peaks almost made me throw out the drawing idea and go with her
plan of heading back to her place.
“ Okay, but if you’re going
to draw me, you have to make my nose a little shorter,” she said,
straightening her skirt around her legs.
“ Never. Your nose is
perfect.” I opened the sketchbook and set about studying her face.
Her nose wasn’t the only thing I found irresistibly perfect about
her. Her features were as symmetrical as a face could be without
looking unnatural. One eye sat just fraction of a centimeter higher
than the other, and was just slightly smaller. Her jawbone was a
bit sharper on one side, and there was the matter of that single
dimple, the one I wanted to kiss every time she smiled. These were
the things that made a portrait, even a quick sketch, look
convincing.
Of course, to the subject of a drawing,
these perceived imperfections were rarely thought of as assets, and
a person could become unnerved by such focused attention. Penny
expressed this with a wide-eyed grimace of terror. I smiled. “Just
relax. You’re not sitting for your presidential portrait.”
“ I’ve never had someone draw
me before. It’s kind of nerve wracking.”
“ It’s nerve wracking for
you? I’m the one performing here.” The worst thing in the world was
drawing someone and having it come out unflattering to them. Or to
have them just outright hate it but lie to save your
ego.
I had enough practice putting that out of my
mind. I started a rough sketch of the shape of her skull and the
angular guidelines of her jaw. The place where her eyes rested on
the bottom curve of the circle I’d started with. The tip of her
nose. The space between her bottom lip and her chin. And the
placement of that singular dimple. It was a battle to keep my eyes
on the page between the short glances I gave her.
I have a bad tendency when I draw to
second-guess every line. With Penny as my subject, I didn’t have to
do that; I knew her face as if I’d seen it a thousand times. The
force of my attraction to her unnerved me. I wiped perspiration
from my brow with the back of my arm. Could men get hot flashes
from hormones?
“ I’m trying to not say
anything,” Penny said after a while. “I don’t want to break your
concentration.”
I carefully shaded in a bit more at the
juncture of her ear and jawline. “You’re not going to break
anything, Doll. I’m almost finished, anyway.”
“ Doll?” she laughed, and I
realized with crashing embarrassment that I’d used the term of
endearment on her.
“ It’s like honey, or baby,”
I explained, cringing at my lack of self-preservation. “It just
slipped out. More creepy second date behavior on my
part.”
“ I’ll just interpret it as
you being comfortable enough with me that you could accidentally
give me a cute nickname. Where did you come up with
‘Doll’?”
“ If I tell you, I’m going to
sound like a desperately clingy person you’ll want to run away
from.” Damn. I’d made the divot above her lip too long. I flipped
the pencil and erased.
“ No, you won’t, I promise,”
she said, and added, “If I
amused smirk.
“ Um, what was that?” she
asked as I came back.
“ Oh, those are my new
friends, Nate and Lexi. Lexi was kind enough to sell me her
sketchbook.” I held up the pencil. “What do you say? May I draw
you?”
An “eep” sound of surprise came out of her
throat. “Wow. Yeah. I can’t believe you would pay someone for their
sketchbook, just to draw me.”
I shrugged. “Money well-spent. It gives me
an excuse to stare at you without being creepy or uncool.”
That wasn’t a joke, but I was pleased that
she took it as such, with a little smile as she crossed her legs
under her skirt and straightened her spine. Holy God, her nipples
were hard beneath her thin sundress. The thought of untying those
straps at her shoulders and pulling down the top, cupping those
perfect breasts in my hands and running my thumbs over those tight
peaks almost made me throw out the drawing idea and go with her
plan of heading back to her place.
“ Okay, but if you’re going
to draw me, you have to make my nose a little shorter,” she said,
straightening her skirt around her legs.
“ Never. Your nose is
perfect.” I opened the sketchbook and set about studying her face.
Her nose wasn’t the only thing I found irresistibly perfect about
her. Her features were as symmetrical as a face could be without
looking unnatural. One eye sat just fraction of a centimeter higher
than the other, and was just slightly smaller. Her jawbone was a
bit sharper on one side, and there was the matter of that single
dimple, the one I wanted to kiss every time she smiled. These were
the things that made a portrait, even a quick sketch, look
convincing.
Of course, to the subject of a drawing,
these perceived imperfections were rarely thought of as assets, and
a person could become unnerved by such focused attention. Penny
expressed this with a wide-eyed grimace of terror. I smiled. “Just
relax. You’re not sitting for your presidential portrait.”
“ I’ve never had someone draw
me before. It’s kind of nerve wracking.”
“ It’s nerve wracking for
you? I’m the one performing here.” The worst thing in the world was
drawing someone and having it come out unflattering to them. Or to
have them just outright hate it but lie to save your
ego.
I had enough practice putting that out of my
mind. I started a rough sketch of the shape of her skull and the
angular guidelines of her jaw. The place where her eyes rested on
the bottom curve of the circle I’d started with. The tip of her
nose. The space between her bottom lip and her chin. And the
placement of that singular dimple. It was a battle to keep my eyes
on the page between the short glances I gave her.
I have a bad tendency when I draw to
second-guess every line. With Penny as my subject, I didn’t have to
do that; I knew her face as if I’d seen it a thousand times. The
force of my attraction to her unnerved me. I wiped perspiration
from my brow with the back of my arm. Could men get hot flashes
from hormones?
“ I’m trying to not say
anything,” Penny said after a while. “I don’t want to break your
concentration.”
I carefully shaded in a bit more at the
juncture of her ear and jawline. “You’re not going to break
anything, Doll. I’m almost finished, anyway.”
“ Doll?” she laughed, and I
realized with crashing embarrassment that I’d used the term of
endearment on her.
“ It’s like honey, or baby,”
I explained, cringing at my lack of self-preservation. “It just
slipped out. More creepy second date behavior on my
part.”
“ I’ll just interpret it as
you being comfortable enough with me that you could accidentally
give me a cute nickname. Where did you come up with
‘Doll’?”
“ If I tell you, I’m going to
sound like a desperately clingy person you’ll want to run away
from.” Damn. I’d made the divot above her lip too long. I flipped
the pencil and erased.
“ No, you won’t, I promise,”
she said, and added, “If I
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