Page 39 of Faithful

“It’s personal.”

“So is every fucking thing you write.”

Kai is silent, his face just a couple of inches away from mine. He holds my gaze for a bit, then closes his eyes and kisses me softly on the lips. It’s quick and chaste and not the kind of kiss I’m used to from him but that doesn’t diminish the fact that I’m still trembling in his arms.

* * *

The dinner arrives shortly after, and we eat with the TV on.

Kai is alternating between demolishing the lobster and providing commentary on the latest anime flick he’s following.

He offers to start the season from the beginning, but I don’t want to make him watch the episodes twice, so I suggest he just tell me what’s going on as we continue from where he paused last and I promise to catch up.

There are definitely several extensive Wikipedia consultations involved, but by 3:00 a.m. I’ve learned the backstory of pretty much every single character in great detail. And there are a lot of characters.

Meanwhile, Kai has dozed off next to me with the remote still clutched in his hand.

I don’t remember exactly when I fall asleep. It happens gradually. The night swallows me up little by little even though I struggle against it because I want to spend every waking, every conscious minute with Kai.

When I come to my senses next, the sun is beaming through the windows right into my face. I squint at the bright light and try to pinpoint the source of the noise I can hear.

Ah, yes… shower.

I slip from the bed and head over to the bathroom where I find Kai standing in the glass enclosure with hot water beating into his face and thick fog obscuring his body.

I halt for a second and allow myself to enjoy the view of the blurred image of ink splashed over pale skin.

Kai’s so engrossed in whatever mental exercise he’s doing that he doesn’t hear me pulling the door open to sneak in behind him until my hands snake around his trim waist.

He shudders.

Not quite the reaction I expected, yet…

“I’m sorry.” I press my chest to his back. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Shifting a little to move us away from the stream, he drops his head forward and runs his palm down his face to remove excess water. “I didn’t think you’d be up so early.”

“How early is it exactly?” I failed to check my phone.

“A little after seven.”

No wonder I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. “Why areyouup this early?”

“We have a studio session.” Kai turns around, his eyes locking on mine. “I’ll be leaving in a bit.”

“Okay.”

He brings his hand into the space between our faces and puts his index finger on my bottom lip. It’s just a graze, not a full touch, but my body reacts instantly. Little fireworks go off under my skin.

“It was selfish of me,” Kai murmurs, stepping forward to close the small distance between us. “Having you fly out here when I can’t really spend much time with you.”

“That’s cool.” I shrug. “You paid for the ticket anyway… sugar daddy.”

“Don’t ever fucking call me that.”

“Alright and I don’t mind. Making the trip, that is.”

“You’re leaving in the evening, and I don’t even know if I’ll be able to see you before then.”

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