Mal dipped his head, pressing his lips just behind Nico’s ear in a barely-there kiss before saying, “It’s not my fault she made the mistake of flirting with someone who belongs to me.”
Mal felt Nico shiver, leaning into his lips. He scraped his teeth along the sensitive skin there just to hear Nico gasp, then righted himself, staring after Kimmy, watching her behind the counter. So what if he was a little possessive? Someone had to be. Nico was constantly putting himself in danger. He was too trusting.
“You’re too trusting,” he said, out loud this time.
Nico grinned at Mal. “Too trusting with…the waitress? What did you think she was gonna do? Swindle me out of my inheritance? If you opened my wallet right now all you would find is fifty cents in change and a condom that has been in there so long I’m almost positive it expired. I think you’re safe, Bunny.”
Mal glowered at him. “She clearly thought you were cute.”
“I am cute,” Nico countered, pressing his chin into his own palms and making a silly face at Mal. “I’m fucking adorable.”
Mal’s heart cartwheeled in his chest.
Nicowasfucking adorable.
That was the problem.
How was Mal supposed to protect him from the world when he was just walking around with that angelic face and that mischievous personality that made everyone want to be near him? It was hard enough scaring off the men who approachedNico. Now he had to worry about overly flirtatious girls in ugly shoes, too? At least when they were out partying, Nico and Mal looked so pretty the girls there all just assumed they were gay.
Which, to be fair, they were.
“You’re alright, I guess,” Mal said grumpily, earning another laugh from Nico.
When it died, Nico asked, “Do you think she’s coming? We’ve been here a while.”
Mal looked out the window again, then at the front door. “I don’t know. Maybe she changed her mind.”
“You don’t think anything happened to her, do you?” Nico asked, unease creeping into his tone.
Mal shrugged. “I hope not.”
When they’d talked to Lisa earlier, she’d clearly been afraid. Her eyes had darted around like a deer in a hunter’s scope. Like she could sense the danger coming at her from all sides and didn’t know where to run. She’d been wary of the two men who’d sat there seemingly paying them no mind, but she’d also appeared worried about the women surrounding her as well.
When it came to the criminal underworld, someone was always watching. And someone was always snitching. Lisa clearly had thought those around her couldn’t be trusted. How much of their conversation had they heard? Mal tried to remember if they’d talked about anything too suspicious.
Kimmy returned with their drinks, her eyes widening as Nico ordered eggs, bacon, hash browns, a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, and a side of french fries. Mal ordered a black coffee, earning a scowl from Nico.
“What’s wrong?” Mal asked, biting back a smile.
“Now, it just looks like I ordered a bunch of food,” Nico said, huffy.
“You did,” Mal pointed out.
Nico gave him an exasperated look. “Yeah, but, like…I’m not going toeatall of it.”
“If I ate like you did, then we’d both be sick later and then who would rub your belly and baby you while you loudly yelled at me for letting you eat so much?” Mal asked, raising his brows, daring Nico to deny it.
“Whatever, that’s not the point,” Nico insisted.
This wasn’t a new fight. They had this argument at least twice a week. Mal would take Nico out or they’d order in. Nico would order entirely too much food while Mal ordered almost nothing, then Nico would complain about it. In the end, Nico would only eat a quarter of what he ordered, and Mal would be forced to eat the rest so Nico didn’t complain about them wasting money.
Even though it was Mal’s money to waste.
Mal rolled his eyes, knowing he’d be eating more than enough of Nico’s leftovers. Mal didn’t care about food the way Nico did. He ate to stay alive. He ate to nourish his body so he could keep dancing. Nico loved food. He loved to eat. And Mal liked watching Nico eat. It was always a full body experience. The exaggerated facial expressions, the moaning, the whining later about his upset tummy, insisting Mal baby him for the rest of the night.
Mal pretended this irritated him, but he secretly loved it. Though, it was obviously not the secret he’d thought it was. While they waited for their food, Nico tucked himself up under Mal’s arm, propping his phone screen in front of them so they could watch cute animal videos on TikTok. Their eyes were still on the screen when their plates were set in front of them.
“Can I get ketch—” Nico started, glancing up at their server, the words dying on his lips.
