Becoming His Muse, Part Three Read Online Free PDF Page B

you.”
    He reaches for a tissue box to clean himself up. He hands me one. As I retrieve my panties and my jeans, the word infinite echoes in my mind. I know Logan doesn’t use his words lightly, and infinite harks of some kind of longevity. And yet I know our muse arrangement is temporary.
    “Before we discuss your painting,” he says. “There’s something else I want to talk about.”
    We’re both doing up our buttons and belts and when I’ve finished he pulls me onto his lap and into a hug.
    “I hated you being gone from me for so long,” he says.
    Again, I say, “It was only four days.”
    I can’t imagine how we’re going to survive the Christmas break.
    “I want you to myself for a whole weekend. I’m taking you to New York with me. In two weeks. I already checked your exam schedule so no arguments.”
    “Really?!” As if I would argue about something so wonderful. “Just the two of us?”
    “We’ll get away from this stuffy campus and revel in the anonymity of the city. Just imagine, we won’t have to hide.” He nuzzles my neck and I notice he doesn’t smell as strongly of cigarette smoke. In fact, the ashtray seems to have disappeared from his office.
    “Despite missing my muse, or perhaps because of it, I wrote a lot last weekend. I’m almost ready to send my first chapters to Lowell, and if we go to New York, I can deliver them in person.”
    He’s smiling proudly, and I can’t help it, I’m proud of him, too.
    “Now let’s talk about your painting, so Rich knows I made good on his request.”
    I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to manage that. I suppose only until his next erection.

Chapter Six
    When my mom calls to ask about my exam schedule and booking flights to Vermont, I tell her one of my exams is very late in December so that I can set aside the days to go to New York with Logan. I have several paintings to work on, and exams to study for, but the thought of two days away with Logan gives me an extra jolt of energy. That and our upcoming Thursday rendez-vous. I told him about DnC’s loft. He was a little unsure, with them being students, but I assured him we would have the place to ourselves with no interruptions.
    I call Casey to arrange getting a key, but it’s Derrick who finally calls me back and says,
    “You can stay here Thursday night if you feed the turtles.”
    Turtles? “Uh, sure. No problem. What do turtles eat?”
    There is a pause. I wonder if he’s trying to remember what they eat or when he last fed them. Derrick always sounds a little bit high, a little not quite here .
    “You’ll find a container by the terrarium.” He enunciates this last word — terr-ar-i-um — very clearly, as if he likes it a lot or is afraid of mispronouncing it.
    “What about the key?” I say.
    “Casey will give you one in class tomorrow. Oh, and you mustn’t breath a word to anyone about our art project.”
    “Of course not.”
    He hangs up without saying goodbye.
    The oddness of my exchange with Derrick evaporates as soon as I think about a whole night alone with Logan. I text him to tell him the plan and then I go meet Ruby for lunch at the cafeteria.
    “How was your aunt?” I ask her.
    “Still pretty ill but happy to have visitors. My uncle over-cooked the turkey but I made a splendid pumpkin pie. How did the bomb drop go with your parents?”
    I frown. “Never got around to it.”
    Ruby rolls her eyes. “Maybe you should just send them a postcard after you get there.”
    “I’ll tell them at Christmas. It’s just a few weeks away.”
    “They’ll love that. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad. I’m breaking the family covenant and running off to join the circus.”
    “New York is not the circus.”
    “To some it is.”
    “I don’t know how I’ll manage it without their support.”
    “If you win that art award you’ll be set.”
    “Maybe… Are you still seeing Dale?” I say, purposefully changing the subject.
    Ruby scrunches up her nose. “He was fun,