Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

out," Chase said, yanking Ty out of his thoughts with a whisper-like voice, squeezing a little tighter, and Ty barely manage to stay still. "I'm much too interested in other things."
    The way he looked at Ty gestured towards what he was interested in and Ty felt his insides leak with heated moisture. Suddenly the pain was irrelevant and so were the people and the noise and even the fact that Ty was sitting shirtless in the middle of hundreds and hundreds of people with the master of his own personal decay right next to him. He didn't see any of it. Didn't feel at all confused now, not at all like he was lost. And Chase's hand, the one that had held on to Ty's wrist like he wanted to print the skin with the shape of his palm, let go and moved higher. Slowly, as if he actually gave Ty time to move away but he was nailed on his chair, hooked into those eyes and the way that man looked at him. Like Chase was actually seeing him, unlike anyone had ever seen Ty before.
    Hand against the side of Ty's neck, thumb brushing his jaw and the man sitting next to him leaned closer. Breath against Ty's cheek and his eyes closed even while he knew they weren't alone. And then the warm air was against his ear, waking up millions of jingles in his mind. "I've seen you since day one. And I always knew what I saw." A transparent echo of a kiss against Ty's temple before the man pulled away.
    Chase turned his eyes towards the mass of people gathering around, obviously much clearer about their surroundings than Ty was. "People tend to stay around and ask all kinds of things, so just say if it bothers you."
    Ty frowned, blinking a couple of times and turned to look at what Chase was seeing, there were a lot of people. And not one of them seemed to know how screwed up Ty was. "I'll…manage."
    Chase was much more determined now. Not quite as slow as before and Ty wasn't sure if he had imagined the slowness altogether because the work was done with the same talent and drive as before. But it hurt more. Burned deeper. And against everything Ty had done before, he tried to ignore the pain now. Tried to keep it on the surface only and not care. Not care about the pain or the buzzing or the hand that was squeezed around his wrist. Not give a shit about how it captured him once again and held him in the cradle that was his only and no one else's; and one he could stay in until the world ended. But he failed. And while his efforts came tumbling down, the man he had wanted and then wanted some more and hated too at some point before falling even harder for him, only smiled and glanced up at Ty when he was indeed biting his lip. But the moan escaped, if only quiet and probably voiceless enough for Chase not to hear it, but it was still a defeat.
    The crowd that had only passed by was now stopping next to the booth. Some made a few comments before moving along but some stayed in place and watched Chase work. And some stayed in place and asked questions. From Chase, thank God, because Ty was starting to slip again and he wasn't at all in a state that would've allowed him to be too responsive. But there was a woman, in her late forties judging from her voice and the way she looked, though Ty was only able to quickly glance at her, and she was asking questions that pretty soon required Ty to answer.
    And he wanted to tell her to leave because he was too busy slowly losing his mind.
    "Has he done all of your pictures?" she asked, leaning against the counter with a curious smile on her lips. She really didn't look like someone who was that into tattoos, but what the hell did Ty know. His staff probably had no idea half of his body was covered in ink.
    "Yeah, he…has." Ty took a deep breath when Chase reached a tender spot a few inches beneath the crook of Ty's arm. "And it's only one picture."
    "Oh…yes, it is. Sorry, I didn't notice. Very beautiful. Very well done," she said, smiling and Chase responded with a quick thank you before wiping excess ink from Ty's skin. And Ty hoped she would leave, just get going already and stop pestering him. But she stayed, and while others looked for a while and then moved along, she stayed in place and seemed to be very intrigued by what she was seeing. "Have you had any other tattoos on you or only the one he has made?"
    "Just this."
    "Did you two plan on making one big picture or did it just kind of evolve?" she went on. Ty closed his eyes, biting his lips again but the tuck on his wrist was enough for him to