6
Nolan was an idiot.
That was the only explanation for the conversation he’d had with Gavin before he’d come here.
When Gavin asked him how his date went in that smug, patronizing tone, he’d panicked. And he’d wanted, for once in his life, to come out ahead.
But when the wordsit was great and I’m seeing him again tonighthad escaped him, Nolan knew instantly that he’d made a mistake.
Gavin didn’t justdropthings. That wasn’t how their relationship had ever worked.
He’d demanded proof.
Great! You can bring him to the company Halloween party.
Which was next week, because that got it out of the way, or something. Who had a Halloween party in mid-October? Who had acompanyHalloween party?
Every other year, Nolan had avoided it by scheduling a full server update that had kept him cooped up alone in the server room, which wasmuchbetter than having to go and socialize with people.
This year, Gavin had managed to catch him off-guard.
And now he’d have to find a way to excuse Finn’s absence without giving away that he’d lied in the first place. Gavin would make his life miserable if he ever found out.
And even if hedidn’t, he’d already managed to ruin the joy of volunteering at the sanctuary for him, because now he’d be uncomfortable around Finn.
What had he ever done to Gavin to deserve this?
Seeing Finn waving at him from the porch as he pulled his car up only served to make Nolan feel worse. Finn had been nothing but kind to him.
Was it too much to ask to want to make a friend?
Probably, considering Nolan’s life so far.
“Ready to learn the ropes?” Finn asked, beaming broadly.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Nolan forced himself to smile back, tugging on the hem of his t-shirt as he stood in front of Finn on the porch. He was wearing the same too-small one again, since Rita hadn’t given him any other advice and his wardrobe was limited if nerdy t-shirts were a no-go.
“Most of this is just boring common sense stuff we have to do for insurance purposes, and I need you to sign a waiver to say that if, like, Buttercupdoeseat you, you won’t sue. But nothing worse than a bite or a scratch has ever happened to anyone here, and I’m pretty good with antiseptic and bandaids.”
“Since you’re practically a doctor,” Nolan said, relaxing the tiniest fraction.
This place was good for him. He didn’t want to lose that because Gavin was an asshole.
“Well, in the event of an apocalypse I guess I’m better than nothing.” Finn shrugged. “So if the zombies come, you definitely wanna stick close.”
Nolan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help smiling at that.
Which, as he followed Finn inside to sign papers that said he wouldn’t hold the sanctuary responsible if he got eaten or otherwise injured, made it all the worse. HelikedFinn. Finn was the kind of person he could have been friends with.
If Gavin hadn’t totally sabotaged him from the first minute. And if he wasn’t an idiot who lied about dating the guy to save face.
There was no way in a million years Finn would actually be interested in him—even if hedidsomehow convince him that he was cooler than he was, eventually, Finn would see through it. And then he wouldn’t be interested anymore. He’d probably be mad.
Nolan wasn’t sure how his whole life had ended up full of lies in the space of a week, but he suspected it was mostly his fault.
All he’d wanted was a little happiness.
Clearly, that really was too much to ask.
