Page 47 of Heat Haze
Toro’s grip on my hand is so strong I’d swear he was trying to snap my bones. I want to comfort him, but I don’t wanna baby him in public either. He hesitantly points towards a slice of chocolate cake in the baked goods display, tapping at the glass with a short fingernail.
“Alright. Is that it?”
My boyfriend nods, slamming down twenty dollars on the counter even though the total was nowhere near that. The girl lights up, taking the money without a second thought.
“I’ll bring it out to you when it’s ready.” She gets to work with the machine, which is currently hissing at her.Toro and I go off to a table in the corner of the cafe, and I smile at the way he’s bouncing around in his seat.
“You really want that cake, huh?” My tone is teasing, looking up at him through my eyelashes. “Is chocolate your favorite flavor?”
He’s taking in the scenery, slowly looking around from wall to wall. “Yes. Like it. Sweet. Like you.”
It’s lame, but adorable—adorablyhim. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
“Nico cutest.” His hands rest on his knees, and I know he’s just itching to scoop me up into his lap. “My favorite.”
My heart flutters at that, a familiar red creeping up on my cheeks. Just when I think I’m getting used to his weird ways of showing his affection he brings out something new.
“You’re my favorite, too.” I say quietly, scratching at my nape sheepishly.
The employee returns with a black tray in hand. On it is a big glass full of coffee, and a white plate with Toro’s slice of cake on it. The cake looks delicious, fluffy and covered with icing and whipped cream.
“Here we are…” she says in a sing-songy voice while setting it down on the table. “Y’all let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Thank you.” I barely get the words out before she’s gone, just like half of Toro’s cake. “My god. You’re so messy…” Despite my words I’ve got this wide grin on my face, taking a napkin to wipe him clean.
Toro shuts his eyes, sitting there with his hands clasped between his legs while he sways. My big scary boyfriend enjoys being babied, and unfortunately I am not above that. It still feels weird to say myboyfriend. Something I always wanted, but never thought I’d actually get. When his face is clean he pulls his chair closer to mine, setting the cake down in front of me.
“Try,” he motions to the tiny piece still left. “Good.”
There’s not much room for protest since he’s already shoving the fork in my face, the cake brushing up against my lips. With a giggle I open my mouth, letting him feed me. I don’t regret it for one second, because this is probably the best cake I’ve had in my entire life.
I usually try to avoid eating ‘bad’ foods. The kind of food that might make you actually happy for once. But why the hell would I even care about that right now? I think Toro would love me no matter what I looked like, and if he wants me to eat the cake I’ll eat the damn cake.
“It’s good, Tor—”
His tongue licks a fat stripe up my chin and past the corner of my mouth. My eyes go big and I sort of just sit there unmoving, completely mortified. Did that really just happen? Did he just…?
“Mess,” he tries to explain. “I... cleaned…”
“You can’tlick my facein public, Tor.” My voice is anything but mad, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. “You kiss people in public, but you don’t lick them.”
Toro huffs, as if it’s so annoying that he can’t lap at my face like a dog. He nods before ducking his head in to grab my drink and takes a sip, face souring immediately at the taste. “Yuck. Bad.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I ask, taking a sip to try it myself. It tastes pretty normal for a latte, and considering I haven’t had one in forever I sort of love it. “It tastes good to me.”
“Sour.”
“Toro,” I chuckle, “coffee is supposed to be bitter.”
His nose scrunches again, eyeing the glass as if it insulted him. He settles on pulling me into a side hug, rubbing his forehead against my shoulder. I thought he’d be more hesitant on public affection but he’s really just going for it. I take a few more swigs of my coffee before finally taking notice of how antsy he’s being.
He ate his cake too fast, but I’m not ready to leave just yet. It’s nice to sit somewhere and just drink coffee like a normal person. To be surrounded by clean air and soft background music and all the things I thought I had lost.
“Bored,” he whines. I don’t look at him because I know he’s probably trying to work his puppy eyes on me.
“We’ll leave when I’m done.” My tone is calm and cool. I lean in to kiss the crown of his head, which soothes him seeing as he immediately settles down.
“‘Kay.” Toro bumps his head against me as if asking for more kisses. Of course I oblige, chest tightening out of sheer adoration when he looks up at me with nothing but love.
