Page 264 of For the Fans
“Do you… want us to live together?” My fingertip draws a figure-eight over his heart.
Kyran’s lips slope into a smile that compliments the fuck out of the shimmering excitement in his eyes. “I think living with you would be the most fun thing ever. We could wake up inbed together, do a little of the old in-and-out…” I cackle, and he beams. “Cook pancakes in our underwear, cuddle on the couch and watch movies… Argue about what takeout to order.”
I laugh again, shaking my head at his insufferable cuteness. “You mean like we were just on the cusp of being able to do in 446 before Ash Holloway showed up and ruined it?”
He chuckles. “Yea. Exactly.”
“Okay, then.” I pinch his chin between my fingers. “It’s settled. We’ll move in together. In our own place.”
Kyran is practically skipping in place, hugging me and kissing my face. Seriously, if this is what it’s like to make him happy, I think I might need to make a career out of spoiling the shit out of him.
And best of all, people are walking by us on the street while he’s showering me with affection, and he clearly doesn’t mind at all. At last, we’re in arealrelationship, out in the open.I have a boyfriend!
I might have slipped through a portal into another dimension. But whatever. I’m staying.
“Kyran, seriously,” I whine, peeling him off of me. “You’re derailing my surprise…”
“Sorry,” he chirps, backing up and covering his eyes with his hands. “So sorry, angel. Lead the way.”
My grin is like a neon sign flashinglove virginas I take him by the arm, walking him a few steps and around the other corner to the side of the restaurant.
I gaze up at it for a moment, beaming with pride whilst fidgeting with nerves as I breathe, “Okay… You can look.”
Kyran’s hands slide away from his eyes. I watch him closely while his eyes widen and his jaw drops, observing the giant spray-painted mural.
“Avi… Oh my God…” His tone drips with awe. “You did this??”
“Mhm.” I chew on the inside of my cheek, hoping like hell that he likes it.
He likes it, right?? I mean, I know it’s not the best thing ever, but… he probably likes it…
“This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” he gasps, turning to face me.
My stomach flips, and I let a timid smile out. “You really like it?”
“Likeit?? It’s fucking amazing!” He chuckles in disbelief, wandering closer to the wall. “Look, there’s me!”
I rumble a laugh. “Yea, that’s you, superstar.”
He peeks at me, beaming before returning to inspecting the mural. And all the little subtleties I put into it to make itours.
The owners of Chow Down, this awesome Asian fusion place here in Davis Square, were looking for a local artist to do a mural on their wall. Frankie heard about it and gave them my number, and of course I was thrilled to do it. I haven’t done any street art or graffiti since I left New York, but it’s always been a dream of mine to do a big mural in a place where tons of people would see it every day.
And that’s exactly what I did.
The cherry on the sundae is that Bette and Tony Chow, the owners, are huge college football fans. So when I told them I wanted to do something special for Kyran, they were obsessed with the idea of incorporating the Eagles and our win into the portrait.
“And there’s you, right?” Kyran points to the eagle with hearts around his head soaring on a rainbow. “The gay eagle?”
I laugh and nod. “Excuse me. I’m bi, remember?”
“Oh, is that why you did this magenta, purple, and blue here?” He smirks, and I nod. “Aww, there’s Robin,” he croons. “She’s wearing a mask and a cape like actual Robin!” I nod along.“And there’s a bat signal, and Mr. Freeze… Ooh, Vincent Vega doing the twist on a stage made of Twizzlers!”
I’m cackling.Seriously, I might be crying a little too.
“Avi, this is so fucking sick! There’s so much detail… I feel like I’d need to look at it for hours to find everything. Like aWhere’s Waldo.”
“Well… we’ll have to come back.” I wrap my arms around his waist from behind, kissing the nape of his neck. “Maybe we could even get a place around here… So we could see it all the time.”
