“Stop having Sam pick you up books from the college library and ask me to do it.”
“…But you only let me take out five on your card.”
“Five is enough! I need to be able to take out college books too, you know?”
Connor’s agreement was reluctant. “Fine.”
“Does it bother you if I eat non-vegetarian in front of you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest,” Connor insisted. “I can tell Laurence to cook for you too.” It was something Laurence had stopped doing almost entirely when Connor joined the family, favouring learning every vegetarian or pescatarian meal he could to make for Connor instead.
Nick snorted. “Dad’s a chef, do you think I can’t cook for myself?” He blinked a few times, his insides feeling light. Would a conversation always have been this easy? If Nick had found the courage for one, months ago? “If Laurence goes to college next year, I want to help him move into the dorms.”
“I’ll make sure I’m busy that week.”
Helping Laurence move into a new apartment or flat for college was something Nick had envisioned since Laurence first started talking about art school at ten years old. Him, Trevor and Laurence would drive out wherever it was together, help carry boxes, check out the flat, suss out his new roommates… Nick would make sure he was available for the first few weekends in case Laurence needed a safety blanket for nights out until he had made new friends. “You should be there,” Nick said. “Just make sure me and Dad get the invite too.”
“I will. Anything else?”
“Don’t get kidnapped ever again.”
As if it were something Connor could control, he promised, “I won’t.”
Nick’s soul softened around the edges. Connor hadn’t pushed back on a single point; had he been waiting for Nick to bridge the gap between them?
“Where is everyone?” he asked.
The door creaked open as Kit re-entered the room, clothes and a tub of healing salve bundled under his arm.
“Trevor and Laurence are a day down the river on my yacht.” Connor’s head turned. He was peering through the screen at Kit, who stared back, tail lashing. Nick twisted to read Kit’s expression, and his movement dragged Kit’s attention back to him. He indicated the salve and Nick’s back. He stepped out of the spray so Kit could lather it on. Kit didn’t take off his gloves, but from the way his tail twitched in Connor’s direction, Nick knew that had more to do with Connor making him uneasy than a sudden unwillingness to touch Nick.
“I’m guessing Dad hasn’t slept.”
“Nobody has.”
“I was hoping you’d bring Laurence back first.”
Connor scoffed as Kit caught Nick’s arm between his hands and peered at the damaged skin.
“As if. He’d have convinced Bee and Dew to bring him right back to look for you himself, and then I’d be tracking him down too. Although that would be far easier than findingyouhas been.”
“You can still sense me, can’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Kit handed Nick a towel and watched as he gingerly dried himself, then stepped in to help Nick dress when it was clear moving pained him.
“So why’s he looking at you naked?”
Nick blinked. Kit’s tail twitched, his eyes meeting Nick’s. There was a question in his gaze. Not a ‘what are we?’ but more of an ‘are you going to tell him?’. Everything had happened so fast that there had been no time to sit down. Figure things out between them. Practical things. Like, how would a relationship work when Kit lived in Aridia, Nick on the coast of Ireland, and a months-long journey separated the two places? Long distance by letter? That would be far too little to satisfy Nick.
Nick had thought it out, of course. He had college exams and then summer break stretching out before him. He could train up a new hire for the café so his dad wouldn’t be short-staffed and then make the trip to spend the rest of his summer holiday in Aridia. Push back starting college a few weeks to squeeze in as much time here as he could. Maybe Kit might even be up for travelling with Nick to his world for a look around? He hadn’t even explained where he came from. Not really. He was pretty sure anytime Nick had mentioned another world, Kit had taken it as a turn of phrase. But he could picture Kit by his side there. He’d take up his dad on that college fund he’d thus far unsuccessfully tried to give Nick and find a studio apartment to rent. Two rooms, so there would be space for Mini.
Nick shelved his uncertainty and focused on the present. Right here, right now, what did Kit mean to him? “We’re together. He’s allowed to see me naked.”
