Page 41 of How Not to Date a Griffin

Reid’s eyes widened. “Yeah, sure.”

As Nolan circled Reid, his tail swished again, and Nolan couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips. The flare of affection in his chest expanded, leaving no room for his own breath.

He reached his hand out and lightly brushed his fingertips over the feathers. “Wow, you’re soft,” he said. Reid’s wings fluttered under his touch and he pulled back. “You’re not ticklish, are you?”

Reid’s voice was tight when he said, “No, just, uh, startled me, is all.” Then he cleared his throat.

Nolan felt honored, suddenly, that Reid was showing him this. Sharing this half-shifted form with him, even though he was clearly hesitant. Well, in Nolan’s opinion, he had nothing to be ashamed of, and he kind of wished he could go back in time to whoever had said something to make Reid feel like he had to hide.

Just to talk, of course, as one did.

He paced around and sought Reid’s gaze out, finding his brows furrowed in worry over those dark, decadent eyes, and tried to return even a fraction of the moment’s significance in just a look.

When that couldn’t do it justice, he murmured simply, “Thank you, for this.”

And Reid’s huge eyes stared up at him, emotion wavering in them, and god, Nolan was so fucked.

“You still won’t drop me, will you?” Nolan asked, shattering the moment before it swelled into too big territory with a clumsy chuckle. He was mostly teasing. Their first night, when Reid had flown him to the top of that building and then back to the hotel, was still vivid as ever in his mind. The way Reid’s arms had wrapped around him, enveloped him and kept him safe.

Reid’s lips twitched up. “No, I won’t drop you.”

“Promise?” His stomach flipped.

Reid reached out, grabbed Nolan around the waist, and pulled him close. He gasped as their bodies formed one line, pressed together from chest to toes. His tail wrapped around their thighs, holding them together.

“Promise,” Reid answered, voice soft in the same breath they shared.

Before Nolan could untangle his thoughts to come up with a response, Reid’s wings moved, and Nolan grabbed onto him instinctively. His arms slid around Reid’s waist, fingers pressing into his back as their feet left the ground.

“Oh god,” Nolan said, and slammed his eyes shut. “I forgot how high it was up here,” he whispered, words lost to the wind as Reid’s wings worked in strong, full beats, propelling them through the sky and over the many tall and small buildings of the city.

It seemed to take longer to get back to the hotel than it had to get to the rescue, and Nolan realized halfway through that Reid was going slowly for him. Instead of diving and plummeting around buildings, he was taking his time, leisurely flapping his wings to get them to their destination instead of racing there in heart-leaping speeds.

His hands tightened around Reid’s waist, emotion catching in his throat that he couldn’t put a name to.

Nolan wanted to live in this moment forever, wrapped in Reid’s arms, feeling safe despite the height they dangled from. He could feel Reid’s heart thumping in his chest alongside Nolan’s, caught in the intimacy of the moment.

His stomach swooped as the hotel came into view again, and he tried not to mourn the moment before it had even ended.

They landed in front of the hotel again, at the rideshare drop off, and ignored the many curious glances as Nolan finally slid his arms from around Reid’s waist. He cleared his throat, and by the time he was brave enough to meet Reid’s gaze again, he was human, wings and tail tucked away, standing there with a smile on his lips and his blinding golden halo of hair.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Reid asked him.

Nolan shrugged, heart suddenly in his throat. He spoke around it when he said, “The flying thing is growing on me.”

“Thought so.” Reid held out his hand, as if motioning Nolan forward. “Lead the way.”

Nolan did, but not without grabbing Reid’s hand first. If he wasn’t imagining it—god, he hoped not—Reid’s breath caught just a split second before their fingers threaded together.

It was a small gesture, but his heart pounded just the same in his chest. They’d just been close enough to breathe the same breath, and yet a simple touch sent his heart racing.

Thankfully there was no sign of his father or Chance or anyone he knew, for that matter, as they took the elevator to his floor once again.

“Something tells me we’ve been here before,” Reid said as the doors closed on them.

Nolan wheezed out a laugh, meeting Reid’s eyes in the reflection of the metal doors. As similar as it had sounded, Nolan’s intention had not been to invite Reid to his room to… hook up, or whatever.

The image in his head went like this: separate showers, maybe a borrowed robe or a shirt and pants or something of the like, and then ordering room service, watching something silly on the unnecessarily large television mounted to the wall.