“It’s not about how big it is,” Finn said, forcing himself not to laugh. “It’s about what you can do with it.”
“I mean, thelengthis by definition about how big it is,” Nolan said. “Personally, I have a huge dick.”
Finn raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Nolan.
“I keep it in a shoebox under my bed,” he continued, smirking.
The smirk went straight to the pit of Finn’s stomach, a little coil of arousal tightening there. When Nolan relaxed, he wasfun.
And exactly the kind of playful and sarcastic Finn looked for in guys. A sense of humor was the hottest thing about anyone, in his opinion.
He also now knew that Nolan’s virgin status didn’t mean he didn’t know what he liked. He just hadn’t gotten around to exploring that with another person.
That… could have been fun. Evenmorefun than teaching him from scratch.
“I have no idea how to respond to that,” Finn said, floored by how perfectly Nolan had delivered the line.
“Too much?” Nolan asked, a hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice.
“No, it’s fine. I started it. I’m just amazed by the way you got me to walk right into that one,” Finn responded, chuckling. “I’m gonna be laughing about that for a week.”
“I think I owe you at least that much,” Nolan said, turning to look out the window. “You’ve been ridiculously good to me.”
“Nah.” Finn flicked his headlights on as they passed through a shadowed patch of road. It wasn’t quite dark enough to need them yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to have them on.
“I’ve just been doing what anyone would do,” he added.
“You believe that, don’t you?” Nolan asked. “Like you sincerely think that everyone is as good and kind as you are.”
“Maybe noteveryone,” Finn said. “But most people. People are generally good, I think.”
“I hope you never have to think differently,” Nolan said with a note of sadness in his voice.
Finn’s heart hurt for him. It was obvious that he’d been kicked around a lot. By people he trusted, too.
He was hanging out with better people now. Maybe if he did that long enough, he’d be able to leave the bad ones behind.
Silence fell between them as Finn wound his way down barely-marked backroads to where the trapped otter had been reported. It was more contemplative than uncomfortable. The shared silence of two tired people who were happy to just be in each other’s company and think their own thoughts.
Most of Finn’s thoughts were about Nolan. And whether or not he should think about making a move.
He was starting to thinkoneof them would have to, and it seemed unlikely to be Nolan. Whether that was because he wasn’t interested or because he was just as afraid as Finn was of breaking their friendship was up for debate.
They could have been amazing together, though. The more Finn thought about it, the more convinced he was.
“Just up here, I think,” Finn said as he got to the place where the report had been called in, pulling over onto a wide lookout that was obviously well-used.
By the time he’d gotten out of the car, Nolan was already peering down at the creek below—more of a river at this time of year, on account of the storms they’d had last week.
“There,” he pointed as soon as Finn got close, and Finn followed the line of his finger to a small, dark shape on the riverbend. For a moment he wasn’t sure if it was moving, but then he noticed the steady rise and fall of its chest.
And the net tangled around one of its legs, extended at an odd angle away from the rest of its tiny body. Broken, maybe? Definitelyhurt.
“What now?” Nolan asked.
“Now we get to be superheroes,” Finn said, smiling. They’d found it, and it was still alive. The little guy had a better than even chance of pulling through.
He liked these moments. This waswhyhe did this. Why he didn’t mind living paycheck-to-paycheck and driving out to the middle of nowhere and turning up on weekends more often than not.
