“And then we can relax with pizza.”
“I also have some beers chilling in the fridge.”
“Music to my ears. Just for that tidbit of information, I’ll even help with the taping. You take the top, and I’ll take the bottom.”
It was an innocent enough comment, but tape wasn’t what came to my mind when I heard top and bottom.
“Luckily, there isn’t much to tape off,” I managed to say.
“And we can cover your table and chair with a sheet. I forgot to grab a tarp for the floor.”
“It’s okay. I have old towels and another sheet I can lay down. Just don’t be messy, and it should be fine.”
Brody snorted rudely. “You’re definitely the messy one. I guarantee you’ll be covered in yellow paint by the time this is over.”
“No way. It’ll be you. I bet there will be more on you than the walls.”
“Uh-huh. Get us home so we can get started, and we’ll see who’s the messiest painter.”
“You’re on.”
Painting the dining room was much quicker with another person to help, even though we both ended up covered in splotches of yellow. So what if I covered my roller in too much paint? It was a complete accident that some of it dripped off the roller and onto Brody’s head. Did he really need to retaliate by flinging some on me? I didn’t think so. But after we engaged in a war that left both of us, and the towels, covered in pale yellow paint, we buckled down and tackled the walls.
“It looks great,” Brody said as we stood in the middle of the dining room to look at our work.
“It does. The lady did a good job picking out the color,” I quipped.
“Excuse me? I believe it was me who picked it out. She just agreed.”
“Sure. Whatever you say.” I snickered as I started gathering up the paint rollers to hose them off outside. “I’m going to start cleaning up.”
“Me too,” he said before turning to head toward the bathroom.
“I meant the mess.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked and held up his paint-covered hands.
I shook my head as I grabbed the brushes we used for the smaller areas near the trim and edges, and then carried my items outside. The spigot was on the side of the house, and when I stepped out the door, I groaned when I saw Dennis on the sidewalk.
Dammit. Another awkward conversation with him wasn’t something I was in the mood for. Keeping my head down, I practically raced across the driveway in hopes he didn’t see me. I nearly breathed a sigh of relief as I reached the spigot but heard a familiar voice when I reached out to turn it on.
“Yellow is a nice color on you.”
I held back a groan as I straightened and turned to face Dennis. “Thanks.”
“What were you painting?”
I wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but I couldn’t bring myself to be rude. “The dining room.”
Dennis cocked his head to the side after giving me a thorough once-over. “Ah. That’s a shame.”
“Why?” I heard myself asking, though I really didn’t want to prolong the conversation.
He shrugged. “I liked the gray.”
I had to grit my teeth to resist telling him it didn’t matter what he liked. It was my house, and if I wanted to paint it, that was my choice. “Oh. Well, it was time for a change.”
“Speaking of changes…do you have any in your busy schedule?”
Damn, even I had to give him kudos for how smooth that was. I opened my mouth to tell him my schedule would always be too busy for him when another voice rang out in the air, filling me with relief.
“Sol, you forgot one.”
Brody rounded the corner, a paintbrush in hand, and paused when he saw Dennis. His wide-eyed expression was almost comical, and I would have laughed if I wasn’t feeling extremely awkward.
“Oh, hello. Am I interrupting something?” Brody asked as he stared at Dennis.
“Nope. I was just telling Dennis here how I painted the dining room.”
“I see. Well, I just wanted to bring this to you. I’m going to stow the leftover paint in the garage, and then take a shower before the pizza arrives.”
I gave him a wide smile. “Thanks, Brody.”
“Well, it makes perfect sense now,” Dennis piped up after listening to the exchange between Brody and me.
“What does?”
“Why you keep turning me down. If you’re seeing someone, why didn’t you just say something instead of giving me excuses like you’re too busy?”
“I, uh, I—” I stuttered.
“That’s Solomon for you. Always trying to be nice rather than hurt feelings,” Brody spoke up.
I gave Dennis a sheepish shrug because what could I say?
“I see. Well, I won’t keep you any longer. Have a good afternoon, you two. Solomon, you know where I live if things…” he trailed off and gestured between Brody and me.
I could only give a jerky nod at his audacity and turned back toward the spigot.
“Wow. Want to tell me what that was about?” Brody asked once Dennis had left.
I shrugged. “Nothing to really tell. I had a lapse in judgment, and Dennis read more into it than he should have.”
“That’s more than a lapse in judgment. He looked like he wanted to skin me alive before climbing you like a tree.”
“Well, he won’t be climbing my tree anymore. He needs to go look in another forest.”
I could feel Brody’s questioning gaze on me while I turned the spigot on full blast and shoved a paintbrush under the gushing water to wash it off. Realizing I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, I could hear Brody’s exaggerated sigh before he left me alone. Only then did I breathe easier. The entire thing had left me feeling awkward as hell, and I could feel the hurt radiating off Brody since I’d never told him about Dennis. Even though he told me about all his dates, I was more of a private person, and that one night with Dennis wasn’t something I was exactly proud of. But I guess I owed it to Brody to give him some sort of an explanation since his presence got Dennis to leave me alone.
After giving the brushes and rollers a thorough wash, as well as my hands, I put the items on a shelf in the garage and went inside, where Brody was freshly showered and waiting for me. I made my way into the living room and hovered beside the couch since I was still covered in paint and didn’t want to ruin my furniture.
“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else?’” I asked him.
“Of course I have. And I’ve tested out that theory a few times.” He wrinkled his nose at a memory. “It doesn’t always work, though.”
I nodded because I wasn’t one bit surprised. “Dennis has made it known more than a few times that he is interested in me, but I never took him up on his advances until recently.”
“What changed?”
“I ran into Geoffrey at the store with Lonnie—the guy he cheated on me with.”
Brody sucked in a breath. “Ouch. I get it now.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t handle it, so I stopped at the liquor store and bought the biggest bottle of tequila I could find to drink the sick feeling in my stomach away. When I pulled into the driveway, I saw Dennis…”