The Bucket List

20 - He's Like Art. Terrible Art, But Still, Art

This is one of my favorite chapters and I hope y'all love it too! It's just so simple but intimate. I could really use some encouragement rn so I'd love to know what you think!! 🩵

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Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Quieter thud.

Quieter thud.

"Awe, you do love her." Jeff's monotone voice cooed from across the aisle.

Rainn stopped banging her head against the seat in front of her to shoot Jeff a look. The softer thud was due to Grayson's hand blocking her from doing so. It was meant to soften the blow but hitting her head against his rings kinda hurt more than the seat.

After Jeff got the news about Grayson's Grammy nomination, the rest of the band came over to celebrate. The celebration went well into the night, everyone seemingly forgetting their 5 a.m. flight they had to catch the next morning- which was where they were right now, on board, flying to Tennessee.

"Are you going to tell me why you were banging your head against the seat?" Grayson asked in a bored tone of voice, not looking up from his phone.

"Oh, you noticed that?" Was her sarcastic reply as she sat up. "I'm bored and we have 4 more hours left."

He scoffed a laugh and put his phone down. "I thought Jeff gave you something to color?" He said as if he were talking to a child.

"He gave me a blue, black, and red pen, and a piece of crumbled up paper." She deadpanned.

Grayson turned and looked to Jeff for help, but he let out a snore instead. "It's amazing how fast he can fall asleep."

Rainn watched as Grayson released a long sigh and reached behind his head to grab the back of his hoodie. With a tug, he took it off, leaving him in a wife beater. He tossed the hoodie aside and draped his big arm across her lap.

She blinked at his heavy arm and then up at him.

He looked back at her, an almost smile gracing his lips. "You can color them in if you want."

He was referring to his tattoos. He was heavily tattooed on both arms. He kept adding little tattoos over the years and eventually they became sleeves on both arms. They continued onto his chest, bits of the sides of his neck, and fingers.

She pursed her lips at the idea. With a shrug, she popped the cap off the pen. She picked up his hand to rotate his arm to search for a place to begin.

He nearly flinched when she touched him- for the opposite reason you may think. His life now was frantic fans grabbing at him, throwing themselves at him, and sometimes almost even groping him. They all wanted something from him and would be embarrassingly desperate to get it- whether it's a picture, an autograph, his body, or a free ticket.

But Rainn's touch was slow and gentle as she flipped over his hand that completely engulfed her own. Her other hand softly traced over the black pieces of artwork permanently on his skin. She touched him as if he was a canvas and she was admiring the art, like she forgot he could feel her touch and it was a painting she was tracing, not his arm.

He watched her intently, admiring the few stray pieces of hair that fell out of her messy bun and the way her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth as she concentrated. She was wearing one of his hoodies... correction- she was swimming in one of his hoodies. It was far to big for her, but he liked the way it looked on her.