“Hey,” Nathan grinned broadly as he greeted Tim with a hug and a slap on the shoulder. His gaze flicked between Seb and Tim, and if possible, his smile widened.
Seb groaned inwardly. In his excitement to see Jared, he’d forgotten all about Nathan and his shifter senses.
Nathan said, “Well, I see you two have been busy. And thorough,” he added, gesturing for them to follow him inside and holding the door open for Tim. “Good to see you’re taking this whole pretend-boyfriends thing so seriously.”
Seb stopped halfway through the door, leaned on the frame, and pointed his crutch at Nathan. “Like you did with Jared?” As Nathan laughed at him, he realised how that sounded.
“Yes,exactlylike that from where I’m standing.”
Seb tried to backtrack quickly, because he and Tim werenothinglike Nathan and Jared. “No, that’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He hadn’t wanted to go into it, but as usual, Nathan had riled him up. “We’re just making the most of the situation. Having a little fun.” Shooting Nathan a glare, he eased past him into the hallway. “Not everyone has to rush in feet first and bond for life.”
He expected Nathan to laugh or give him a shove, but when he looked back, Nathan’s gaze was fixed on Tim, their expressions unreadable.
Tim cleared his throat and gestured with his thumb towards the front door. “I don’t want to be late for morning surgery, so I’ll see you later.”
Seb frowned; he’d clearly missed something. “Okay.”
Tim was almost at the door. “About half past five?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
With a short nod, Tim left and didn’t look back.
“What’s up with him?” Seb stood rooted to the spot, watching the space where Tim had been moments before and feeling like he’d messed up somehow.Nathan stared at him, eyebrows raised, as if Seb was the one behaving strangely. “What? I didn’t do anything.”
“Fucking humans,” Nathan muttered, but his voice didn’t have any bite to it. “Jared’s waiting upstairs for you.”
Seb turned to see that Nathan wasn’t following him. “Not coming up?”
“No.” Nathan shook his head and gestured at the door Tim had just gone through. “Luke’s waiting for me in the van. We’ve got a shift at the warehouse.”
“Oh.” Even better, a day with just Jared. It had been a while since he’d had his best friend to himself, and Seb had a lot of questions for him.
Nathan took two steps towards the door, then stopped.
Seb knew it had been too good to be true. For a second there he thought he’d escaped without Nathan’s usual teasing.
Nathan’s pained expression made Seb think that whatever was about to come out his mouth would be uncomfortable for the pair of them.
“Tim’s a good guy.”
“I know that.”
“Just—” Nathan sighed and muttered something Seb didn’t quite catch. “I know you don’t want to be involved with a shifter for any length of time. And that’s fine. I’m not saying you should be.” Good, because Seb had some words for him if he was. “But for us it’s not so simple. We get…attached. Easily.”
“Whatever point you’re trying to make, just spit it out.”
“He likes you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” Seb nodded. “I like him too.”
Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “But for him it’s….”
Seb waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “It’swhat?”
“Fuck.” Nathan met Seb’s gaze, expression torn. “Not for me to say.” With that, he pointed to the stairs. “Go on up.”
And then he was gone, leaving Seb staring after him open-mouthed.
