“You already knew?” Lincoln sat up to catch his response. “Did Sam know, too? Was I the last one to know?”
I pleaded silently with Naomi. She didn’t want me to manhandle them out of the room, but damn, they were on thin ice.
“Relax,” she mouthed, eyes bright with amusement.
“Probably missed it when you were talking so much,” Henrik said.
“This space…” I gestured around my room. “Is a drama-free zone for my girlfriend to do whatever the hell she wants, alright? And right now, you two are f-ing with the vibe. I don’t take vibe f-ing lightly.”
“Holy shit.” Lincoln clutched his chest. “He’s actually a good boyfriend. Henrik? Are you seeing this?”
“Taught him everything I know,” Henrik teased and instead of moving down the hallway like I hoped he would, Henrik claimed one of my bean bag chairs.
“Of course, he’s a good boyfriend,” Naomi said, beaming up at me. “Why would you expect anything different?”
“Because…” Lincoln gestured up and down at me. “Have you met him?”
My jaw tightened. “Naomi, you have to let me—”
“Alright, alright.” She popped up from her seat before I could make any rash decisions. “Time to separate you two.”
I let her pull me to one corner of the room while Henrik scolded Lincoln in the other corner.
“You are so worked up today.” Naomi rubbed the side of my arm. “What’s really bothering you?”
“Nothing. I just want this space to be comfortable for you and Lincoln’s ruining it.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’m not buying it. You love it when we’re all together.”
“Do I?”
“You pretend like you don’t, but I know you do,” she insisted and kissed my cheek. “Stop being so difficult and tell me what’s up. I can’t have you two bickering in the background. My mic will pick everything up.”
“Which is why you should let me kick them out,” I said. Sam was now lingering in the doorway, listening to Lincoln's spiel about our streaming "secret." “It’s getting a little crowded.”
“You know I love when we’re all together, too.” Naomi’s smile was wide and content. My annoyance faded at the sight of her happiness.
“Fine.” I cleared my throat before continuing, “You're right. I… I might be a little on edge tonight.”
Her expression changed to something more serious. “What’s wrong?”
“I wanted to be alone with you because I have to ask you something,” I explained. “And I’d prefer not to have an audience.”
Her eyes went wide, on the brink of panic. “Is it something serious? Is something wrong?”
“No, no, nothing’s wrong. It’s not serious… Well, not a bad serious. Just your typical serious.” I hadn’t realized just how nervous I was feeling until now. My heart drummed quickly.
Naomi laughed at my rambling. “Finn, just ask me. They’re not paying any attention to us right now. Besides, even if they were, they’d figure it out, eventually.”
I frowned. “I guess you’re right.”
“Ask me,” Naomi whispered, and stepped closer to create more privacy. She placed her hand on my chest, thinking her touch would be soothing. Instead, my heartrate picked up even more.
“Sorry.” I let out a shaky sigh. “Didn’t think I’d be this nervous.”
She tried to press her lips together so she wouldn’t smile too much. “I don’t know if it counts for anything, but you always wear nervous well.”
I chuckled. “Thanks.”
