Plastic Hearts by Lisa de Jong Read Free Book Online Page B

he said, shrugging his shoulders.
    “Yeah? Well you can try all you want because this is all you’re getting,” I said, picking up the pace. A part of me wanted him to try harder and another part was telling me to run. Right now the latter was winning, but if he kept this up it might not stay that way.
    “Hey, Alex?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I won’t have to try for long. I guarantee it.” He looked at me with fire in his eyes and emphasized the last three words by letting them roll off his tongue slowly. I felt warmth spread through my entire body. This guy was really something else.
    As we walked we made small talk about the weather and the layout of the campus; I couldn’t tell you half the things that were said because I was so distracted by his proximity to my body. I felt his arm brushing against mine from time to time and his cologne tickled my nose. We made it across campus in record time, due to the brisk pace I used to try and make our time together as short as possible.
    "See you Friday,” he said, moving one step closer to me. I noticed his eyes were fixated on my lips. I moved toward the door before he could get any closer. I wasn’t going to let Dane kiss me today - or ever for that matter.
    He waved as I opened the door to the main building. "Bye," I mouthed as I disappeared into the Med Center. I rubbed my thumb the over my lips, thinking about what could have been. I was in trouble. Dane was the most exciting and scariest thing to ever enter my plastic world.
     

     
    Friday arrived faster than I would have liked. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of sharing my art with the rest of the class.
    Dane arrived before me again and I couldn’t help how my lips turned up when I saw him sitting there in his jeans and tight navy t-shirt. I’d never been one to ogle a man’s body, but my eyes flew to his with magnetic force every time we were in the same room.
    "Wow, you look great," he said as I took my seat. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I walked in the door.
    I felt my face growing warm under his stare. "Thanks, I guess. I figured my old jeans wouldn’t make the best impression in front of the class." I had carefully chosen a fitted black turtleneck dress with black knee-high boots. My hair was down, allowing it to flow to the middle of my back.
    The presentations started and I was impressed by everyone’s artwork. We had several painters in the class and a few were very talented. I wasn’t sure if mine would measure up, but there was no going back now.
    Dane and I were the last pair to go. My chest tightened as I stood up to present. I was nervous because I had to stand up in front of the class. And nervous because Dane Wright was less than two feet from me and I had to talk about him. Walking over to gather my painting from the easel, I regretted my choice in shoes. I had a serious case of Jell-O legs thanks to my growing nerves.
    I placed my canvas on the easel that faced the class. My eyes were focused on Dane, waiting to see his reaction. When he finally looked up his eyes widened and I watched him take a deep breath through his nose then let it out of his mouth. Our eyes met briefly and I quickly glanced away as I tried to speak.
    I stood there for a moment, looking at the giant red heart that was centered on the canvas. Within the heart was an angel. I filled the rest of the space on the canvas with a colorful abstract art piece, repeating the word INSPIRE to spell out Jenna at the bottom of the canvas in black paint.
    "This is Dane Wright. He grew up in the city and, after taking time off after high school, decided to study art at NYU." I cleared my throat before continuing. "Beneath the leather jacket, he has a tattoo of a guardian angel with the word Jenna underneath. Jenna was Dane's sister who passed away when she was just five. She’s the inspiration for most of his art." I took a deep breath as the class started to applaud. I was still nervous about Dane’s