Page 33 of Shattered By the Currents

“I didn’t tell him anything that wasn’t true. But in small towns, you do need to be careful who you piss off. Everyone’s connected.”

Her brows dipped. “Are you threatening me?”

A couple of younger women walked past, watching the exchange.

“Of course not, dear.” Lottie smiled, and it was the fakest thing Raven had ever seen. “But if I was, I certainly wouldn’t admit to it. You have a good evening.” Then she walked out, like she wasn’t the definition of evil.

“What the fuck is that?”

Connor frowned at Zac’s words and studied his painting. “It’s the damn frog holding a wine glass.” Not his choice. Mandy had demonstrated how to paint it, and he’d just followed her instructions.

Zac cocked his head. “He looks like someone stepped on him.”

“I doubt yours is any—” He gaped at Zac’s painting. “Why’s yours so good?”

“Because I’m good at this shit. I’m good atmostshit.”

“Not humble though.”

“It’s called confidence, my friend.”

Zac’s painting was so good it was possibly better than the instructor’s.

Connor looked back to his canvas, and yeah…Zac was right. It was shit. If it didn’t have two big black eyes, it could probably pass as a patch of moss with legs.

He set his paintbrush down and glanced up at Raven. She wore an oversized linen button-down shirt with black jeans. She’d paired the outfit with heeled boots and a pink headband.

“She looks cute tonight,” Zac said under his breath.

Cute? That didn’t even begin to describe how Raven looked. She had the kind of beauty he couldn’t look away from. Thekind that drew him closer because he needed to know if it truly existed or if his brain was playing tricks on him.

She suddenly looked up from where she was leaning over a woman’s shoulder. Their eyes met, and fuck if it wasn’t like a kick in the gut.

Her cheeks turned a pretty red before she quickly looked away.

Mandy clapped her hands from the front. “Okay, artists, brushes down. We are officially out of time.”

A few people kept going, trying to squeeze in a last bit of painting.

Not him. Anything he added would make his worse. There was no fixing this mess.

“Whatever you’ve painted tonight is yours to take home,” Mandy continued. “It’s a finished artwork, and you, my friends, are artists!”

Zac scoffed as he looked at Connor’s painting again.

Connor shoved his friend.Asshole.

Over the next half hour, people started packing up and leaving. Some stayed to finish the snacks—namely Joel. Others hung around to chat before eventually making their way out.

Connor didn’t leave. Not immediately. He planned to stay right to the end. Raven didn’t want to admit it, but she was sleeping here. And for some damn reason, she hadn’t taken Polly up on her apartment.

Why? Because she didn’t like accepting help? Surely, in this situation, she could acknowledge she needed it?

When it was just the two of them as she wiped down tables, she frowned. “You don’t have to stay.”

He grabbed a table and carried it to the back. His friends had offered to stay and help, but he’d told them to go home. He wanted some time alone with Raven. “I know. But who else is going to dazzle you with their wit?”

“I like that you think you’re dazzling.”