Page 80 of How Not to Date a Griffin

As the clock ticked on, Reid and Nolan didn’t have a single moment alone together. It gave Nolan time to think – to obsess over every exchanged laugh and analyze every shared touch, chaste or not. A background track running on repeat in his head as the numbers blurred together.

Despite it all, Nolan found what he was looking for. John almost cried as he sent the story to his boss.

They celebrated with fruity drinks as the sun melted behind the skyline, casting the space in a tangerine glow.

His father never checked on him, never texted. It was for the best, because what would Nolan say, anyway? By tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter.

John left after the first drink, and Nolan helped Reid clear their borrowed table. Then Nolan was out of excuses to stay.

“Thank you for your help today,” he said, standing and stalling in limbo in front of the table.

Reid huffed a laugh. “I should be the one thanking you,” he retorted. “Are you going back to the hotel?”

That would be the obvious next move, probably. “Yeah.”

“Right. Of course.” Neither of them moved. “So, noon tomorrow, huh?”

Noon. The brunch mixer where Nolan would expose his father as a colluding, evil little man.

“Yeah. It feels… easier than I’d thought it would, in a way.” Nolan cleared his throat.

They seemed to be tiptoeing around something. Reid probably knew what it was. Nolan certainly knew what it was. But he wasn’t brave enough to ask.

Thankfully, Reid was. “So you’re just going to hide in your hotel room for the next…” He glanced at the clock on the far wall. “Eighteen hours?” Reid’s gaze was startling as it tracked back to Nolan.

“Guess so,” he said weakly.

“Alone.”

Nolan swallowed. “Sounds right.”

We have all week.

Well, all week had passed and here they were, with the last bit of it stretching out before them, close enough not only to touch, but to grab and hold onto.

Was Nolan ridiculous to deny himself that? It felt ridiculous, suddenly, when faced with walking away, to deny himself the presence of the one person he wanted to be with most. To deny himself someone that made him happy.

But Reid had lied, had hidden his real motive, and that meant… something, right?

Was it worth enough to warrant missing out on this time with Reid? Time that they had considered precious, had been desperate to grasp onto the entire week. And now he was just going to… give it up?

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he heard himself say, a poor substitution.

Reid stared at him, those honey butter milk chocolate—Nolan finally remembered the truffle—eyes flicking over his face rapidly.

“Stay,” Reid said.

That match struck against his ribs again, but this time, the spark took.

“Okay,” Nolan agreed.

Reid’s apartment was just as silent as the restaurant had been, almost eerie without the buzz of patrons below.

The bed was soft beneath them, more comfortable than any five-star hotel’s, or maybe Nolan was biased, because his head was currently on Reid’s chest. He didn’t plan on moving anytime soon.

What was the point in even being upset about any of it? When Reid’s heart thumped steadily beneath his ear, when his hand dragged fingertips across the back of Nolan’s bare shoulder, skin cooling despite the warmth they shared?

And yet.