We arrive at Splatter Paint Room in San Diego in a little under two hours. We're immediately greeted and directed to the room Theo reserved for us. It's a fairly large room, the white walls still streaked with faded paint. Against the front wall are two blank canvases and surrounding them are small buckets of paint in various colors and buckets of water and brushes. In the far-right corner is a small table with a Bluetooth speaker. We're given plastic protective coats and goggles and told they'll fetch us in a couple of hours.
Once the door is shut, I stare at the blank canvases, biting my bottom lip, "I don't know what to paint."
"That's the point."
I look over my shoulder at Theo; it's amazing how even in something as basic and boring as a plastic coat and goggles, he's still cute, "What do you mean?"
"You're not supposed to know what to paint. Or even think about what to paint. Just do what feels right to you."
I hum in agreement, heading for the table with the speaker. I connect my phone and scroll through my Spotify, randomly stopping on a favorite and pressing play.
Doctor, doctor, need you back home, baby
Doctor, doctor, where ya at? Give me something
I need your love, I need your love, I need your lovin'
You got that kind of medicine that keeps me comin'
I turn around to face the canvases, catching sight of Theo's raised eyebrows. I grin, "Problem?"
He shakes his head, slowly smiling, "Not at all."
My body needs a hero, come and save me
Something tells me you know how to save me
I dunk my brush in red paint and start flinging it at my canvas. Next to me, Theo's doing the same in black.
I've been feeling weird, oh
Oh, I need you to come and rescue me
Oh-oh-oh-oh
For the next hour or so, we alternate between colors and brushes, tossing random colors haphazardly onto the canvas. I'm not worrying about the color scheme or the paint dripping down my jeans and onto my shoes or that in our careless hurling, we've managed to get paint on the uncovered bottom of our faces.
I'm just having fun with Theo Raeken and I'm loving every second of it.
I pause for a second, panting slightly. I remove my goggles and put my hands on my knees. Theo stops as well, removing his dotted goggles to watch me closely, "You okay?"
I look up at him to assure him I'm okay but instead, I start laughing.
Theo blinks in confusion, "What?"
I shake my head and say between giggles, "You should see yourself. You're covered in paint."
Theo shakes his head in amusement, grinning, "You don't look much better, Dove."
"Hey!"
He shrugs, "You're still cute, but you look like a peacock's feathers."
My mouth drops and Theo laughs at my offended expression. I wave my hand, "I do not-"
I gasp as streaks of cherry red paint from the brush I'm still holding fly onto Theo's right cheek. I'd completely forgotten I was still holding it, "Oh my God, I am so-"
Spots of baby blue paint scatter across my nose and lips. I blink rapidly, my mouth dropping open again. Theo cocks an eyebrow, smiling sweetly, "Problem?"
"Oh, it's so on."
We start splattering each other with our paint brushes, laughing and yelling over the music. After a few minutes, I'm completely out of breath, my laugh turning into silent wheezes.
I wave my free hand, gasping, "Timeout, timeout."
Theo grins triumphantly, "You forfeit?"
I just nod, wiping away tears. I hand him my brush so I can use both hands to fan my red face, "I can't breathe, holy crap."
Theo laughs, "You okay?"
"Better than okay."
"You still look like a peacock."
I scoff, "Like you look any better."
I walk closer, examining his face, "You've got so many red spots, you could pass for a Victorian child with chicken pox."
Theo laughs and I join in, continuing, "Lots of red on your lips. You got green and black in your hair and gray smudges all around your nose. Some yellow, white-"
Theo cups my face in his hands and my words trail off, "blue...purple...
Theo ducks his head slightly so he can look me in the eye, "You nervous, Dove?"
You're from a whole 'nother world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
I swallow hard, shaking my head, "No."
He lowers his head more until he's so close I can taste the mint in his breath, "You're not gonna stop me?"
I shake my head lightly, "No..."
And I'm ready to go
Lead me into the light
Theo gently presses his lips to mine, careful not to push me. I easily melt into the kiss, already addicted to his taste, his smell, just...him. I know I said I'd be cautious, but caution be damned.
In one kiss, Theo Raeken has me breaking every principle.
I play with the hair at the nape of his neck, inching closer to deepen the kiss. His right hand slides from my face down to my hip-
A knock at the door forces us apart. A female voice calls, "10 more minutes!"
I'm still panting and unable to talk, so Theo replies for us, "Thanks, we'll be out soon."
I wipe away the curls of my hair that escaped my braid, "Um...we should...probably get going."
Theo hums, helping me tuck my hair into place. We remove our coats and gather our canvases. Bidding farewell to the hosts, we head back to Theo's truck. Theo holds the passenger door open for me, "Did you have fun?"
I look up in his hazel eyes and smile, "More than you know."
____________________________________________
Theo kills the engine outside my house, sighing lightly, "Here we are."
I rest my head on the seat, "I just want to stay here."
Theo grins at me, "I won't argue with that. But Jaliyah and Emma wouldn't like that."
I sigh heavily, "Yeah."
Theo unbuckles his seatbelt and goes to open my door for me. He holds out his hand and I gladly accept it.
We're on the first porch step when the front door swings open. Jaliyah steps onto the porch, arms folded, "Finally." Her eyes zoom in on our locked hands and her eyes narrow.
Emma appears behind her, smiling when she sees our joined hands, "Hey guys. You have fun?"
Theo answers with a grin, "Loads."
I ask, "How's Jacob? Is Aunt Aury home?"
Emma says, "Your aunt's on her way. She said she was going to pick up dinner so neither of you would have to cook. Jake's perfect. He was an angel all day, I got Steven to stop by for a bit and play with him-"
"Wait a second," Jaliyah interrupts, her eyes darting between Theo and me. "I thought something was off."
I blink innocently, "What?"
She points at us, "Y'all kissed."
I sputter, "Wha-Jali!"
"Oh, please. It's so obvious."
"We did not!"
Emma rolls her eyes, "You have matching purple paint marks all over your mouth."
I rub my thumb over my bottom lip, remembering how we teased each other about the red and blue on our mouths. I mutter under my breath, "Oh my God."
Emma laughs, "Ha! We knew it!"
She high-fives with Jali while I flush red, and Theo keeps grinning triumphantly. He lifts our hands and kisses the back of mine, "I hate to run, Dove, but I'm gonna be late heading home."
"Of course, go. I'll see you Monday."
He winks at me and nods to the girls before heading back to his truck. I watch him back out of the driveway and drive away before turning back to my friends. Emma is still grinning but Jaliyah, as usual, is much more cautious. She examines my face before saying, "You're fucked, huh?"
I offer a weak smile, "Completely and utterly."