“What’d he say?”
“Generally or just today?” Nolan asked.
“I was asking about today,” Finn said. “But I’ll listen to generally, if you wanna talk about it.”
He leaned back against the wall, pulling Nolan with him and settling in for a long conversation. He’d shared last week, now it was Nolan’s turn.
“He never stops.” Nolan sighed, letting his weight rest against Finn.
“You know, in high school there was a boy I liked, and I told him about it, and he turned around and immediately told the very straight, very big guy that I had a thing for him. Brian… didn’t take it well.”
A sympathetic noise escaped Finn, his hand coming up to stroke Nolan’s hair automatically.
“Nothing actually happened, but I was scared for weeks,” Nolan said, leaning into Finn’s touch. “And I kept saying that he was full of it, and people eventually forgot. I even found a girl to go to prom with so I could live out the rest of my high school days in peace. Until Gavin asked her out instead and pretended like he meant it. She fell for it, too, but by the time she realized Gavin was just doing it to take something away from me, we’d had a huge fight about it.”
Nolan paused, chewing on his lower lip. “I never got an apology. From either of them.”
Finn blinked at Nolan. “And you voluntarily work for the guy?” he asked, shocked that Nolan would have anything to do with him.
“Voluntarily is a strong way of putting it,” Nolan said. “It’s… complicated. He’s like a brother to me. He’sfamily.”
“Family doesn’t act like that,” Finn said, aware they were wandering into dangerous territory here. Who was he to tell Nolan who he could and couldn’t call family?
“We’ve had good times. And his parents treated me like their own when mine were… difficult. I’ve been to their house for Thanksgiving every year since I came out. And Gavin needs my help.”
Finn sighed. Gavin needing Nolan’s help wasGavin’sproblem, not Nolan’s. If he wanted Nolan to help him, he should have treated him better.
But on the other hand, there was clearly a lot of history Finn didn’t really know about. It sounded like Nolan had never had an easy time making friends, for a start.
Which was probably somehow Gavin’s fault, too. Gavin was clearly the one with tons of social energy and something that might have passed for charisma to people who were easily fooled.
Finn had never been the kind of guy who was taken in by a big, false smile and a firm handshake. He liked people like Nolan. Good, honest, down to Earth people who weren’t in the habit of pretending they were any better than they were.
“I can’t tell you who is and isn’t your family,” Finn said aloud. “But Icantell you that the way Gavin treats you isn’t fair. And I know that maybe you’re not ready to hear that, and that’s okay. When youareready, I’ll be here.”
Nolan smiled wryly. “Did it hurt?” he asked.
Finn frowned, not following. “Did what hurt?”
“When you fell from heaven,” Nolan finished, his eyes lighting up just a little.
Finn snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m not an angel. I’m being the normal amount of kind to you.”
“You’re not, though,” Nolan said. “Not by my standards, anyway.”
“Then we gotta work on your standards.” Finn ran his fingers through Nolan’s hair one final time, and then curled his hand around the back of his neck.
A smile spread across his face automatically as he leaned in for a kiss, his heart swelling. He’d take care of Nolan. Hewantedto take care of Nolan, in a way he’d never wanted to take care of anyone before.
Nolan was special, and Finn didn’t plan on forgetting that anytime soon.
“I’m gonna go home with you,” Finn said against Nolan’s lips. “And I’m gonna take you to bed and take care of you. And you’re gonna forget all about all the stress of the week. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” Nolan said, just a little short of breath, standing on his toes to press a demanding kiss against Finn’s mouth.
Finn let it happen, parting his lips to give Nolan access, letting him explore and taste and get himself worked up for later.
Arousal curled low in his gut, heat and tension welling up together. Finn had always been a sucker for being kissed, and Nolan kissed like it was the most important thing in the world.
