24
At some point of the evening, Nolan had lost Finn.
By itself, that wasn’t a disaster—the house was onlysobig, and Finn had probably just been dragged away by Rita to show off to some of her friends. Hell, Nolan evenlikedthat he had something other people wanted for once. That Finn was coming home withhimtonight and at least a few people might be a little jealous.
Unfortunately, Gavin was just about to corner him, and Nolan didn’t have an escape route planned out. All he could do was watch as his cousin stalked over, eyes glinting like a panther going in for the kill.
Well, the way Nolan assumed they’d glint, anyway. He’d never actually been stalked by a panther. Spot definitely didn’t count.
“Glad you could make it,” Gavin said, a broad smile spreading across his face.
Nolan winced as he threw an arm around his shoulders. Although, at least Gavin didn’t smell of beer for once. Clearly, he hadn’t started drinking yet.
Maybe getting older was good for him.
“Happy Birthday,” Nolan said. “I left a card on your desk on Friday.”
“I know,” Gavin enthused. “I kept it there so everyone knows you love me.”
That was a surprise. Gavin liked people ingeneralto love him, and Nolan knew that, but he’d never seemed all that concerned over whether or not Nolan did.
He’d always just expected Nolan’s loyalty. And he’dgottenit, so he had no reason to change.
The conclusion Nolan had come to was that Gavin’s behavior was his fault, because he’d never pushed back. Never told him no.
He’d been so desperate to havesomeoneaccept him that he’d just put up and shut up.
Which meant it wasn’t impossible that the tiny amount of pushback Nolan had been managing against him recently was having an effect. Maybe Gavin was finally realizing that if he kept treating Nolan like crap, he’d only push him away.
They’d been through a lot together. And Nolan had complained to Finn, told him some of the worst of it, but they’d had good times, too.
Gavin admitting that he cared what Nolan thought of him was enough to make him feel guilty about not sharing the whole picture. Painting Gavin as a monster wasn’t fair.
“You’re my favorite cousin,” Nolan shrugged, deciding he’d put up with Gavin’s arm around his shoulders for the time being.
“I’m your only cousin,” Gavin pointed out.
“And therefore favorite,” Nolan teased. Finn had showed him that teasing didn’t have to hurt. It could be affectionate, too.
Gavin chuckled, so Nolan figured he’d landed on affectionate rather than hurtful.
Hewantedto have a good relationship with Gavin. He’d seen what a good relationship looked like now, and realized how wrong things between them were.
But they could be fixed, Nolan was sure.
“So did you come here alone? Because there’s someone I’d like you to meet, but if you’ve beaten me to it…”
“I came here with Finn,” Nolan said. Surely Gavin believed they were really dating by now? Even he wasn’tthisstubborn.
“Dude, haven’t you moved on from him yet?” Gavin asked.
Which was a change from not believing they were dating in the first place.
Nolan shrugged Gavin’s arm off, anger making his chest feel tight. “I’m not planning onmoving onfrom him. He’s my boyfriend.”
“He’s your what?” Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Come on, I know you’re not great with people, but…” he trailed off with a sigh, looking away from Nolan.
“But what?” Nolan asked after a beat, not about to let Gavin just insult him and run like always. He’d have to stand and fight this time.
