That was… confusing, and not something Finn had the brain power to puzzle out right now.
Finn took it slow, giving Nolan plenty of time to back out if he wanted to. He reached out, running a single knuckle along Nolan’s jaw and then using it to tilt his face up a little way, smiling at him as their eyes met.
Blood pounded in his ears, his stomach tight. It’d been so long since he kissed someone that he wasn’t sure he’d remember how.
After a moment’s hesitation, Finn closed the gap between them, brushing his nose against Nolan’s as he tilted his head, muscle memory taking over as his eyes fell closed and he pressed their lips together, his own just barely parted.
Nolan gasped softly as their lips touched, shuffling closer to Finn and laying a hand on his thigh, fingers tightening just a little. Finn couldn’t stop himself from humming happily, the touch of Nolan’s lips warm, soft, and inviting. His stubble rasped against Finn’s freshly-shaved face, the familiar feeling reminding him instantly why he liked kissing so much.
With a surge of confidence, Finn parted his lips further, just barely nibbling on the edge of Nolan’s lip. He stopped himself from sucking it between his own, unsure how far Nolan would be willing to go in the pursuit of proving to his cousin theyweredating.
A soft, happy noise told Finn that Nolan was into this, and went right to the pit of his stomach as a spark of heat. This feltgood. Nolan was shy and sweet, but he could have been so muchfun. Blood was already pounding in Finn’s ears at the thought of pushing him back onto the couch and kissing him until they both ran out of breath.
Damn. Finn could have gotten into this.
And hell, maybe that was because it’d been so long, but the way Nolan parted his lips just a little, the way he leaned in as his breath caught in his throat, the warmth of his body seeping into Finn’s… it was hot.Reallyhot.
His little crush on Nolan definitely wasn’t about to go away.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss as he felt Gavin looming over him, smiling softly at Nolan even as he took his hand away. The last thing Finn wanted Nolan to think was that he didn’t want tokeepdoing that.
If Nolan was interested, he was interested. He wassurenow that he was interested.
Nolan kissed so sweetly that Finn could have done it all day and never gotten tired of exploring what kinds of happy noises he could get him to make.
“Nolan!” Gavin enthused, and Finn could smell beer on him from here. When he looked away from Nolan’s flushed cheeks and darkened eyes, he came face-to-face with a big, fake grin that was already faltering at the edges. “And… Finn, right? I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Finn turned to beam at him, shuffling over to give him space to sit if he was inclined to. He wanted to get the most out of Gavin’s reaction.
Gavin didn’t move at all, still hovering awkwardly in front of them.
“I actually owe you one,” Finn said, keeping his tone light and enthusiastic. “For introducing me to Nolan. We’ve really hit it off.”
He let his hand fall on Nolan’s knee, squeezing lightly. Partly for the sake of really selling the act, but also because Gavin made him want to protect Nolan.
“Glad to be of help, I guess,” Gavin said, glancing between Finn’s innocent smile and Nolan, who had a death grip on his soda. He was waiting for this all to go wrong, Finn assumed.
That wasn’t going to happen. Finn had been forced to be a part of Gavin’s attempt to make Nolan miserable, and he wasn’t just going to let that go.
Nolan deserved better. From Finn’s point of view, Gavin was just a bully. He hated bullies.
“Seriously, I can’t believe how much we have in common,” Finn continued. “And we never would have met without you.”
“Call me Cupid,” Gavin responded, glancing between them again. “What are you even dressed as?” he asked, obviously looking for an angle of attack.
“Vampire,” Finn said, pulling the set of teeth he’d removed earlier out of his pocket and waving them. “I bit my tongue and gave up on the fangs. Now I’m the kind of vampire with retractable ones.”
“Right.” Gavin turned his attention to Nolan. “And you’re… what, something out ofRevenge of the Nerds?”
“I’m a werewolf,” Nolan said, deadpan. “But the moon isn’t full.”
Gavin blinked at him.
“Smart, right?” Finn grinned up at him, happy to play the doting boyfriend for Gavin’s benefit.
“Uh. If you say so,” Gavin said.
Finn had no idea what or who he was dressed as, but he also didn’t care enough to ask. As far as he could tell, Gavin was just wearing a tuxedo.
