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Back Love Lettering Save as PDF
Chapters (30)
  1. Praise
  2. Also by
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Chapter 1
  7. Chapter 2
  8. Chapter 3
  9. Chapter 4
  10. Chapter 5
  11. Chapter 6
  12. Chapter 7
  13. Chapter 8
  14. Chapter 9
  15. Chapter 10
  16. Chapter 11
  17. Chapter 12
  18. Chapter 13
  19. Chapter 14
  20. Chapter 15
  21. Chapter 16
  22. Chapter 17
  23. Chapter 18
  24. Chapter 19
  25. Chapter 20
  26. Chapter 21
  27. Chapter 22
  28. Epilogue
  29. Acknowledgments
  30. Teaser Chapter

I don’t say it to be a martyr, or because I’m feeling sorry for myself. I say it because Reid really does seem to have work to do, and I don’t blame him for that. And anyway, I have work of my own to do—sketches to return to, a new stirring in my mind and in my hands, and also work I’m determined to do with Sibby, and with Lark, too. I’d be wise to remember all of it—to remember that Reid is a temporary fixture, and always has been, no matter what’s happened between us today.

But then Reid moves, flicking a button on the side of his phone before setting it on the squared-off arm of the couch. With his now free hand he reaches for my thigh and pulls gently, maneuvering me so I’m straddling his lap, the T-shirt bunched around my waist.

My hair falls forward, messy around my face, and Reid reaches up, pushing it back behind my shoulders, stroking it lightly in a way that makes my scalp tingle in pleasure.

“It can wait,” he says, and I smile down at him, secretly pleased we don’t yet have to call it a day.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” he repeats, but this time it doesn’t sound plain or grim at all. He moves his hands from my hair so he can press them into my back, moving me closer to him. “Stay tonight?”

I lean in and kiss him, giving him my answer this way. When we finally break, long minutes later, he keeps only the barest space between our lips.

“You’re the best part of this city,” he whispers, and I close my eyes and kiss him again, lying to myself the whole time, telling myself I can keep this in l-i-k-e territory, telling myself that other, unruly, warning Illustration won’t slice right through my heart when he leaves.

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“Oh, I like this, Meg.”

In the back of the shop, Lachelle is peering down at my latest sketches for Make It Happyn, her expression serious, focused. This one, I’m excited about—Make It Happyn requires that one of my full-year treatments be a botanical, and it’s long been one of my particular blocks. Earlier this spring, steeped in March and April misery, every floral attempt I’d made had felt pedestrian, familiar, too similar to the jobs I’d been doing for my clients.