My heart dropped when I noticed him sitting in a booth like a croissant, and moping over a dip dish slice. I burst through the door and rushed to him.
“Oh my sweet kitten, are you okay?”
Kaos jumped half a foot in the air then looked at me with wide eyes. He nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking, but I couldn’t just say goodbye to you.” He frowned.“Spiro… you should be on your way to the airport. Your flight was earlier than mine.”
“I don’t care. I had to see you. Can I sit?” I pointed to the space next to him, not willing to be as far as opposite him in the booth.
Kaos scooted to the side, wincing.
“What happened? Why are you sitting like this?” He was leaning on one ass cheek as if he was hurting.
Kaos looked away. “I did something stupid.”
A wave of dread washed over me.Did he find someone to fuck him to forget me?That would be fair to me, but I’d hate for him to be so drastic with himself.
“Whatever it is, I’m here for you.”
“That’s not true. You’re leaving, but at least I got something to keep you with me forever.” He lifted his hoodie, then stopped. “I can show you in the bathroom.” He stood up and walked slowly.
Confused was too weak of a word to describe what I was feeling. I looked around like a criminal to see if anyone was looking at us, but the place was packed with tourists nursing a hungover who were either focused on stuffing their faces or taking pictures of their pizza.
“Are you injured? Talk to me.”
Kaos took my hand and dragged me to a stall with him. I had to shrink my tentacles to fit in. He faced the side partition and slid his jeans to his mid-thigh.
“Don’t laugh.” He pulled up his hoodie, baring his perfect ass cheeks to me.
I couldn’t contain the gasp that tore out of me. “Oh kitten. Does it hurt?”
“A little. But it was worth it.”
I knelt on the sticky floor to see it up close. The red heart tattoo I kissed so many times now had my name in it. “Spiro” filled the blank space in beautiful swirly letters. Around it were suckermarks I’d left two nights before but freshly traced with a tattoo needle.
“Why?”
Kaos turned to me with eyes full of unshed tears. “Because I wanted to keep something of yours forever.” His bottom lip trembled. “Because I love you.”
My hearts staccatoed furiously. I cupped his cheeks and wiped the tears falling there with my thumbs. “Oh kitten, I love you too.”
A knock on the partition wall startled Kaos, and I steadied him.
“You could find a better place for that, guys. Just saying,” someone said from the stall next to ours.
We burst out laughing and ran out of the bathroom, returning to our seats.
I grazed my knuckles along his jaw. “You have a stubble.”
He grimaced. “I didn’t have the energy to shave for two days now.”
“I like it.” I kissed his cheek. “Are you done with your pizza? Can we go?” I asked.
“I couldn’t eat it, but my appetite is back when you’re here. It’s not as good as yours, though.”
I smiled. “As long as it doesn’t give you a bellyache.”
“Yeah. It’s bad enough that my ass hurts.” Someone gasped behind me, and Kaos glared at them. “From the tattoo I got on my butt cheek.” He rolled his eyes and picked up the fork.
I stifled a laugh. Seeing Kaos fighting for his place to be and express himself was pure joy. Only now I realized, he wasn’t wearing his hat, and his tail was out. I was so fucking proud of him. But saying that would feel patronizing. So instead, I stole a fork from the booth behind me and helped him with the pizza.
