“What does that mean?”
“It means that if they don’t want you to come back, you won’t remember it exists.”
“I don’t like that.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “If it happened, you wouldn’t remember to dislike it.”
I lean close, pretending to whisper, “Have you brought me here before, and I just forgot?”
Laughing, he pretends to whisper too. “Not unless I forgot too, but that’s impossible. No force in the universe could make me forget a second spent with you.”
One tentacle curled under my chin, he draws me forward to him and when he kisses me, I know he’s right. Nothing could ever make me forget him, either.
CHAPTER 2
Sirin walks me home afterward, hand in tentacle, and it’s not until we get to my door that I realize thishasto be where the night ends.
“There’s not really space for you inside,” I tell him, and his lips quirk.
“I know. I did not look up where you live, but I know the layout of the station. These are perfectly cozy for one, and not much more.”
“Kita squishes in sometimes too, but we usually meet up at her place.”
He nods. “Your space is your own.”
And this is the first time I’ve been upset about it.
I open the door and jokingly say, “Would you like a tour before you go?”
I point toward the bed. “That’s where I text you from, and where I think about texting you from, and where I dream about you, and?—”
His tentacles wrap around me again, dragging me to him so that he can kiss me, long and deep, and I am very disappointed that I can’t pull him inside and curl into him to fall asleep.
We linger there longer than we should, and one of my neighbors walks by, making a sound that reminds me of a wolf whistle.
I laugh as I pull back, dropping down onto my heels.
“Have a nice night, Aoe.”
She winks. “You too, Annika.”
Sirin drops his forehead to mine when her door closes. “Let me take you to the baths.”
“Okay.” I lick my lips and try to catch my breath. “I’ll need to get a suit.”
“You don’t have to wear one.”
He might be right, but… “I’m still going to get one.” The idea of going to a public bathhouse without a suit doesn’t sit well in my mind.
“I’ll let you know when the appointment is.”
“Send me a message when you get home?” I ask, “So I know you got there safe?”
His lips twist in a smile that tells me just how silly he thinks it is, but he says, “I will.”
“Talk to you in a little bit.”
Kissing me one more time, he slides backward and waits for me to close the door.
