“I win!” Nick said, throwing his hands up in celebration. “All I have to do is make sure the bad guys keep grabbing me, and I’ll wear them down eventually.”
Seth winced as he went to the washing machine and hoisted himself up, legs dangling down. “Weirder things have worked. Don’t tell your dad about this. He might try and make a dental dam that covers your entire body.”
Nick groaned. “I don’t know why he’s hell-bent on making my life miserable, but that was bad, even for him. I’ll make sure he knows that wasn’t cool.”
“Should we talk about it?”
“Furious Lightning Punch!” Nick cried instead of answering. His fist landed with a meaty thud against the bag, causing his knuckles to pop painfully. It was probably for the best that he never became an Extraordinary. Punching things hurt like crazy. If anything, at least he knew for sure now he wasn’t into pain.
“Nicky.”
Seth was onto him. Curse him for knowing Nick so well. “Yeah, yeah. I’d rather not, but a relationship isn’t a one-way street. You have to give as much as you take to keep your man happy.”
“You really should stop reading Cosmo.”
Nick approached the washing machine, pleased when Seth parted his legs without question. He collapsed dramatically against him, his face on Seth’s chest. He smelled good, like a fire burning on a cold winter day. It made much more sense now that Nick knew why. He shivered slightly as Seth reached up and scratched the back of his neck, fingers going into his hair.
“You need a haircut,” Seth murmured.
“I’ll get one,” Nick said, voice muffled. “But thanks for giving me an out. We can talk about it.” He lifted his head to meet Seth’s gaze. “Probably should talk about a couple of things, you know?” Maybe now would be a good time to ask Seth to slow down a little, and not just for Nick’s own selfish wants. Seth looked tired. He had dark lines under his eyes that never seemed to go away. He needed to take care of himself more.
Seth studied him for a moment before nodding slowly. He took a deep breath, exhaling through his nose. “So. Sex. Between you and me.”
Nick immediately chuckled nervously. He coughed to cover it up, but Seth wasn’t fooled. No matter what Nick had been through, no matter what he’d discovered lurking in the darkest corners of the internet, he was still a bit of a prude.
Seth let it go. Good guy, that Seth. “Is that something you want?”
Nick tapped his fingers on Seth’s thighs, suddenly cognizant of how close his hands were to Seth’s junk. He pulled away, crossing his arms to try to keep from fidgeting. “Yes? No. I mean, not right this second, obviously, because your aunt and uncle are still upstairs with my dad and that is not something I want to think about when we’re going at it like rabbits in heat. Did you know there are furries who dress up like rabbits? That’s so rad, right? I wouldn’t be a rabbit if I was a furry, because little kids would think I was the Easter Bunny and I don’t want kids accosting me for my eggs—”
“Nicky.”
Nick deflated. “Thank you for stopping me. I have no idea where that was going.”
Seth chuckled quietly. “I figured.” He cleared his throat as he sobered. “I like the … stuff we do already.”
Nick nodded so hard his neck cracked. “Me too. A-plus on the making-out thing. Go you. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d’ve gotten a lot of practice with that secret boyfriend and/or girlfriend that you said you never had.”
Seth poked him hard in the chest. “Or maybe I ordered a pillow online with a certain Extraordinary’s face on it and made out with it.”
“We agreed to never bring that up again,” Nick hissed.
“Secret boyfriend and/or girlfriend,” Seth reminded him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Nick mumbled. “Fair’s fair. I won’t do it if you won’t.” He picked at a loose string on the hem of his hoodie. “Honest?”
“Honest,” Seth agreed, and because it came from him, Nick knew he wouldn’t be made fun of for the thoughts racing through his head. Ever since the day he’d met a boy eating pudding on the swings, Nick would do anything for Seth, even speak the hard truths.
“Sex sounds amazing,” Nick said, hating how his voice broke in his nervousness. “If the porn I’ve watched is any indication, it feels good too.”
“Porn isn’t real life,” Seth said, keeping his hands to himself, which Nick was grateful for.
“Right,” Nick said. “But there has to be something to it, you know?” He looked away. “And, like, the making-out stuff we do is awesome.”
Seth chuckled. “So awesome.”
Relieved, Nick said, “So glad you agree. We’re pretty good at it, if you ask me.”
“Might even be the best at it.”
“But it’s more than that,” Nick said, looking up at Seth and holding his gaze. It’s …” Here, now, a chance. A chance to say some words he’d been thinking about lately, words that he couldn’t quite get to unstick from his throat. Words that were enormous and terrifying and would change everything, even if everyone already knew they were true. Three little words about how much Nick cared for Seth.
He remembered standing in this very house, just upstairs, angry at all the lies Seth was telling him, only to have Bob flap his lips and reveal that Seth was in love with him. Love, like sex, was a vast, complicated thing that Nick didn’t have a firm grasp on yet. He loved Seth. He knew that. He’d loved him since the moment he’d met him. Aside from his dad, there was nobody on Earth who Nick loved more. But what was the difference between love and being in love? Nick wasn’t sure. Everything he felt for Seth was jumbled up in a complicated knot in his chest. It wasn’t a bad thing, but Nick wasn’t sure he was ready to parse through it yet. But no problem was ever solved by not talking about it, and Nick thought he might be ready to say … well. Something.
“What is it?” Seth asked, startling Nick out of his thoughts. “Hey, you all right?”
Nick smiled tightly. “Yeah, I’m good.” He shook his head as he snorted. “Lost in my head a bit. You know how it is.”
“I do,” Seth said. “You can tell me anything, Nicky. You know that.”
He opened his mouth to say this. To say all this and more.
Before Nick could, Seth’s phone beeped, as did his own. Nick stepped back, pulling his phone from his pocket. He frowned when he saw a text from Jazz.
We have a problem.
He looked up, brow furrowed. Seth was holding out his own phone. He had a text from Gibby.
We have a problem.
“What the hell,” Nick muttered. “What’s trying to kill us now? You think it’s some new Extraordinary villain bent on—”
He never got to finish. The door to the basement flew open, causing them both to jump. “Guys?” Dad called down. “You need to get up here. We have a problem.”
“Why is everyone saying that?” Nick asked. “It’d better be a real problem, or I swear to god, I’m gonna do whatever I can to help because we need to take everyone’s issues seriously, no matter how minor.”