Sunflower Love

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"Cade Montgomery took another harsh hit this past game, but luckily our Knock-out Knox Campbell was able to get a revenge hit in...or three. Am I right, Cleo?"Mr. Radio Voice laughs as if there is a funny inside joke that was just said. I'm currently sweeping the floor of my studio turned showroom seeing as I have a small little gallery coming up this weekend.

"Oh my, Carl! Knox Campbell is definitely a knock-out!" Miss Radio Voice cackles and I roll my eyes as the two continue to gush over the different men of our...sports team. One that I still haven't received hints for as to what kind of sport it is, but I think I'm getting close.

Contact sport, obviously, Knox hit someone and was praised for it. So not soccer. Probably not tennis...or basketball? Swimming is looking to be the last sport this could be. It's a team game, which means things like boxing, wrestling, etc are out of the range. I paused in my thoughts as a lightbulb went off.

Maybe it's racing, like Nascar or F1! They have teams now right? I think? And if one person hits their car then someone from the team would probably hit them back? Okay, nevermind. Not Nascar or F1.

Back to the drawing board for you, Winifred.

I know I can obviously just Google what sport they play, but I Iike the idea of trying to guess what it is based on the clues given to me through this radio.

Maybe...football?

Reaching up, I brush my hair behind my ear as I thought over the possibility of football being the sport. I pushed another set of shelves to the side to clear up space for the art that I still had to put up. Every month, I held a small Gallery for myself and a couple of local artists, welcomed to all ages. It usually pulls in like a little over 100 people who just enjoy art and want to walk through to browse, or by huge miracle, they decide to buy a piece or two. This year I had a total of 10 artists sign up, each with 1-3 pieces and if you include mine...then it comes to a whopping total of 32 pieces that I have to find space to display.

In order to get everything set up, I usually have the studio closed for roughly 2 days before the gallery. Today, I will be working on set-up and tomorrow, I will be working on making sure the information cards are all made with names, prices and little detail on the piece/artist.

Paintbrushes clank together and I'm pushing myself to a standing position, "We're closed!" I call as I continue to push another shelf to the side. I heaved a breath, winded.

Mental note: Exercise more often. What if a zombie apocalypse happened right now, Winnie? You'd be a zombie chew toy by noon.

The bell ring on the front counter rings loudly throughout the studio and I groaned, making my way to the front. "Listen, We're closed! We'll be open again come Mon-" I am met with five guys, three of which I know and two who are somewhat familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Cleo, have you heard of the upcoming F1 track that is currently in the making of coming quite near our little slice of South Haven?" I cough as heat rushes to my ears, ruing the day that I decided to leave these two radio voices on instead of changing to another music station. I press the off button on the radio and send a small smile at the guys.

"You into F1?" Sebastian says as I make my way to them.

I shrug, "Nascar more, I guess." I mumble, chewing on my lip. "My parents were really into it at one point or another. So much so that we went to the Coca Cola 500 quite a bit when I was younger and the speed park in North Caro-" I pause, silently cursing myself. "I'm talking too much, huh?" I let out a quick laugh as I examined each of them. They all hold amused looks, but don't seem too put off by my rambling.

"You're fine, doll." One of the guys that I don't know speaks up as he leans against the counter behind him, he sends a wink and I quickly look away, slightly afraid I might faint or something at this point. "Nascar, F1, racing in general is pretty cool I guess." Sebastian chuckles as he sends me a thumbs up.

Okay. They're definitely not racers.

Theo clears his throat which brings my attention to him, "Julianna told me that your shop was closed for a couple of days usually around this time of month. Something like you host an event here or ya know..." He mumbled, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words.

"Did you need help?" Knox finishes, sending me a smile and motioning towards all the shelves that were slowly making their way to the storage room.

"Oh." Is all I can respond with as I take in the fact that five very attractive men, very fit men were offering me their help.

The paintbrushes clank against one another again and I turn to see Kate walk in with a box of donuts. "Girl, I have brought you donuts! Gallery day is one of my favorite times, love!" She sings as she comes around the corner. But when her eyes meet the five men, her smile drops and eyes go wide as she brings them to me.

"I love donuts." Knox says as he walks up to grab the box from her. Kate smiles at him, but then blinks back at me as she tilts her head. She was silently asking me 'WTF?' and all I had to offer was a thumbs up as I turned back to the men.

I gulp, "Help?" I question, which they answer with nods and I nod back as I stupidly decide on what excuse to come up with so they'd leave. Coming up with nothing, I sigh as I spread my arms out beside me, "Why not!"

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What I normally accomplish in a two day's worth of effort from Me, Myself and I...Our little group finishes in five hours and I finished tomorrow's outlines as well, so all I need to do is make the cards and everything is all set up.

"Wow! I knew South Haven had some artistic minds, but there are quite a lot more than I originally thought." One of the guys, I have learned to be named Lincoln, says as he looks at one of mine. The other unknown face is Parker, who had a cute ghost tattoo on the side of his wrist. Parker was the sweetheart of the bunch while Lincoln seemed more quiet and reserved, a bit of interest in the arts it seems. Obviously, Sebastian was the comedian and Knox was the brute with a soft spot for donuts. Theo...well Theo was Theo.

"Yep! Winnie, here, is absolutely beloved in her tight-knit little art group." Kate says proudly as she wraps her arms around me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. I just shake my head, letting out a laugh. I lean to kiss her on the cheek and she cheers about how easy this month was to fix up the studio. As she makes her way to grab her bag from the back, I see Theo approach me.

"I see she gets her kiss, huh?" Theo jokingly says as he taps my cheek. I blush as he sends me a wink, "You gonna be busy tomorrow night?"

"Well, I mean you guys did help me cut the time by like a day and perhaps I might have to do a little shopping with your sister...But I guess I'm free after that tomorrow." I send him a smile, "Why?"

"Ahh...uhh..." He rubbed the back of his neck as a bit of red dusts his cheeks.

Was he blushing?

"Cade!" Knox holds up his phone and nods in the direction of the door, "We gotta go."

Theo cursed under his breath, reaching a hand forward to grab mine, flipping it over to place a piece of paper in it. "Sorry, duty calls. Actually how about next week, keep Wednesday or Friday open for me, okay? I have something I want you to go to with me...us! The guys and me." As I'm nodding, he leans to press a kiss to my cheek before pulling away to head towards the door with the rest of the guys. "Text me!" He calls over his shoulder.

"He's got it bad." Kate says as soon as the door shuts. I roll my eyes, but feel a weight in the pit of my stomach at what is happening between me and the bride's brother.

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enjoy.

xoxo,
happiness