“If you lie down too. You don’t have to take care of me.” He ached to be comforted, but he wasn’t a kid anymore. Adulthood didn’t work that way. “I want us both to sleep better.”Right? Nolan can’t be comfortable on that couch. Sharing’s just logical.
“Okay.” Nolan stretched out slowly on the empty side of the bed.
Fynn saw his feet were bare, and something vulnerable about those naked toes made Fynn reach over and pat Nolan’s hip. “Now relax. You have all those alarm things, right? Cameras and stuff to keep us safe?” Fynn lay down inches from Nolan. He imagined he could feel the warmth of that big man crossing the space between them. “We can sleep.”
Nolan freed his phone from his pocket without sitting up. “I’ll get Oliver to watch the camera feeds. He’s up at this hour anyhow.” He typed away, then set the phone on the nightstand. “There.” Easing a gun out of his holster, he placed the weapon beside the bed too. A motion of the mattress felt like Nolan had wriggled deeper into it.
Fynn fought the impulse to roll toward him and drape an arm or a leg over him. He’d never slept in the same bed with anyone. Never wanted to. With Leo, when the sex was over, one of them always left because Fynn was a restless sleeper and Leo couldn’t handle fidgeting when he wanted to relax. Fynn bet Nolan could handle being close to him.
But closeness wasn’t what this was about, so he rolled over to put his back to Nolan.
For several minutes, Fynn couldn’t get comfortable. He was hyper-aware of his own breaths and when he moved his legs, he accidentally kicked Nolan’s shin through the sheet. He realized Nolan was on top of the covers, and wanted to tell him to get under them, but it was summer and warm enough and Fynn was naked. That was probably another rule they shouldn’t be breaking.What do I do with my hands?It was like he’d forgotten how to sleep. He shoved a hand under his pillow, then pulled it out and laid his arm over the sheets along his hip, then slid it back under.Not touching my dick, at least.He huffed a shaky laugh.
Nolan rested a hand on Fynn’s shoulder, not rubbing, just pressing there like the comfort of the weighted blanket that was too warm for summer. “Go to sleep, Fynn,” Nolan murmured.
Somehow, he did.
When he woke, bright sun filtered through the curtains and the other side of the bed was empty and cool.Did I imagine Nolan there?The deeply pressed shape in the crumpled covers suggested no, and Fynn vaguely remembered being woken from the onset of a bad dream and pulled into a comforting hold.
Better than the best teddy bear. I wonder if someone could create a Nolan-bear that could detect restless sleeping and activate a hug function. It’d need to be really big and solid and still wouldn’t be the same comfort.He’d felt safe with Nolan, the echoes of the nightmare scattering before they’d fully formed, letting him fall back asleep.
Fynn rolled out of bed, stretched, and grabbed clean clothes out of the dresser. His phone said 8:04, so he hadn’t slept in much.I did sleep, though, for hours and hours.He felt better rested than he’d been in days.
Wearing his robe, he headed across the hall toward the bathroom, but heard a clink and scraping sound from the kitchen.Who’s on duty this morning?He squashed down the little ache that complained about Nolan not saying goodbye—because he wanted to let you sleep in, you fool— and headed out to see.
Standing by the stove, Nolan gave him a brief smile. “Hey. It’s Saturday. You could’ve slept longer.”
“No, I couldn’t.” He dropped his clean clothes and crossed the apartment, stopping a few feet from Nolan.What are we doing? Why are you still here? Am I imagining something special?Instead, he asked, “Did you get some rest too?”
“Yes. You were right. The bed beats the couch. Although your night shift isn’t supposed to be sleeping.”
“You are when you were also the day-before shift.”
Fynn was surprised to see Nolan color and look away.
That made Fynn bold. He moved closer. “I don’t understand. Why do you keep hanging around?”
“I can go—”
“No!” He grabbed Nolan’s polo-shirt hem.
Nolan looked surprised but didn’t pull away.
“I don’t want you to leave. I want you to stay more. Longer. I don’t know why you’d want to, though.” Fynn forced his fingers to open.
“Don’t you?”
“Well, I have money now, but you’ve worked for other people with money. I bet that doesn’t impress you.”
“No.”
“You like taking care of people.” Fynn was certain bodyguarding wasn’t just a job in Nolan’s skill set, but vitally important to him. “I happen to need guarding.”
“If that was the only reason, I’d leave you to my competent team.” Nolan reached toward Fynn, then aborted the gesture, folding his arms. “I meant to, when Amelia relieved me this morning. Except I couldn’t leave.”
Fynn whispered, “Why not?” He was pretty sure the answer was going to either make him happy or rip him to shreds. He held his breath.
“You don’t realize how special you are.”
