Page 62 of With This Mask
My eyes meet his again. “I know it’s insane, but yeah, I actually am. It’s only seven weeks. We could swap the bed out for a bigger one. We bring your clothes in. We can make do for a few weeks, Alec.”
The grin on his face tells me the differences in our circumstances. Alec is imagining it. But he imagines it from this luxurious, huge apartment he’s been living in for nearly four years.
It’s like the two of us committing to live in just his office and half his bathroom.
“You’ve got a deal,” he shocks me when he says the words. “So long as you move in with me after graduation.”
I blink, staring at him.
And something surges inside me. Something excited. A little unsure. Extremely ready.
“Where?” I question, biting my lower lip.
“Wherever you want to go,” he says, the grin on his own face growing by the moment. “I can work anywhere that has an internet connection. So, you tell me. So long as we go there together.”
I smile like a maniac. I haven’t even introduced my mom to Alec. She barely knows he exists. But I’m one hundred percent going to move in with him after we graduate. I’m ready. I’m so fucking ready.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I say as I tackle him against the couch, my lips claiming him as mine.
chapter twenty-one
I sigh as I walk out of my second to last class of the day. There are only two weeks left until graduation, and they can’t come fast enough. The stress is skyrocketing as I start studying for finals. I’ve got three job offers on the table and I have to pick one in the next week. One is in Seattle, one is in Miami, and the other is in fucking Italy. And I have no idea which one I’m going with.
Needing ten minutes to destress, I find my way to an alcove. I have twenty minutes until my next class starts. A little bit of mind numbing fits the bill perfectly.
I pull out my phone, and a cat’s grin spreads on my face when I see that Alec has posted a new video. I tap on it, and settle back for something spectacular.
The song has been trending all over lately. I’ve seen a dozen videos with it already. It’s something sultry and deep, about doing wild things to declare your love for someone. Alec starts out standing with his mask on, in front of a mirror. And there’s my mask, lying on the bathroom counter of our tiny little dorm bathroom. He reaches for it as the music comes to a crescendo. His eyes close with longing as he picks it up and holds it to his chest.
The music drops. The lights go out.
And then everything flashes red. And suddenly Alec is shirtless.
And holy fucking shit.
He has a tattoo of a butterfly, one that matches the design of my mask, on his chest, right above his heart.
Alec doesn’t have any tattoos. At least he hasn’t until now.
And it’s of my mask. My butterfly.
Alec leans into the mirror, his hand pressing against it. And slowly, a wicked smile curls on those painted lips.
The caption reads “Got a surprise for you when you get home.”
My heart is hammering.
Holy shit.
Alec got a tattoo. Of… me, essentially. For all of his followers to see, for the rest of forever.
My eyes drink in the design, tracing the lines and curves that now mark his flesh. It's a brand, a silent shout-out to the commitment we’ve made to each other.
"Like what you see?" his voice growls through the screen. He winks directly at the viewers, and the video begins to replay.
“You wicked man,” I grin, shaking my head as I click into the comments.
It's a torrent of emojis and exclamations, every user giving their two cents on Vice’s new ink.