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But then Gibby smiled at him, and he realized he should have kept his big mouth shut. Lola Gibson had three smiles: the loving one she gave to Jazz, the one she had when she was trying not to laugh, and the one when she was about to be a magnificent dick. He’d borne the brunt of that last smile many times before, andit never failed to make goose bumps sprout along the back of his neck.
“So, Nicky,” she said, and Nick gave very serious thought to ducking into the crowd and disappearing forever. “Speaking of the Summer of Love, how’s Owen doing?”
Nick scowled at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh. And how’s Seth?”
He scowled deeper. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Jazz, never having learned how to read a room, said, “I thought Owen and Nick broke up? Remember? Nick said Owen was a dumbass, and Owen was his usual self and said he couldn’t be tamed by one person, and then Seth saidhe—”
Gibby slapped a hand over Jazz’s mouth, cutting her off.
Nick knew he was blushing, but he powered through it. “What did Seth say?”
They ignored him in favor of having a silent conversation involving narrowed eyes and wiggling eyebrows. It went on for far longer than Nick was comfortable with. Finally, Jazz nodded as Gibby dropped her hand back to her own lap.
Jazz said, “I mean, I don’t even know what we’re talking about right now. Did I tell you about the pigeon and the burrito? It was a breakfast burrito.” She squinted up at him. “And a huge pigeon.”
Nick crossed his arms. “It wasmonthsago. We weren’t—it wasn’t like we were even boyfriends, or anything. Owen was…”
Nick didn’t know quite how to finish that sentence. In fact, most of the time, he didn’t know how to describe anything about Owen Burke. Oh, sure, Owen was hot and popular, and everyone seemed to worship the ground he walked on given that he somehow had the gravitational force of a super planet. All he had to do was grin devilishly, and most everyone (queer or not) would end up doing whatever he wanted.
Including Nick, much to his dismay.
Before Christmas break last year, Owen had appeared at their lunch table, smile wide and toothy, looking devastating in a leather jacket that had probably once been the finest bovine in the field. They knew who he was, of course; everyone did. He came from bigmoney (perhaps the biggest of all), his father being Simon Burke, CEO of Burke Pharmaceuticals. Seth was convinced it was a front for something nefarious, but Seth always thought everything was a front for something nefarious. Including Owen.
Nick, though. Nick had been… well. Notenamored,not exactly. But he’d been fifteen years old and hormonal, and Owen was probably the hottest guy in school, and for some reason, had decided to make Nick the focus of his attention.
Therefore, Nick proceeded to make an ass of himself on a regular basis.
Jazz had been confused. Gibby had been annoyed. And Seth?
Seth had withdrawn. Just a little at first, but it should have been enough to set off Nick’s internal alarms. But Nick had been sucked in by Planet Owen, and it wasn’t until Seth became downright hostile—something Nick hadn’t expected from his best friend of nearly a decade—that he’d gotten a clue something was off. It was never to Owen’s face (Seth was far too pure for that), but when it was just Seth and Nick, and Nick mentioned Owen for the tenth time in thirty-six minutes? Yeah, Seth could be hostile.
“It was nothing,” Nick finally said. “I barely even saw him this summer. I was too busy.”
“Uh-huh,” Gibby said, sounding bored with the entire thing. “Stalking an Extraordinary takes up a lot of time, I suppose.”
“I’m notstalkinghim—”
“Hey, sorry I’m late.”
Nick turned his head, and one of the best people in the whole wide world appeared next to him, pushing up his thick glasses, which had slid down his nose as they always seemed to do, a curl of his black hair hanging down on his forehead. Seth Gray, the person Nick trusted more than anyone else. He was wearing his usual baggy sweater, with a collared shirt underneath that was tucked into one of his many pairs of chinos. And today, for whatever reason, he had decided to wear abow tie,and Nick didn’t know what to do with Seth’s bow tie that didn’t involve wanting to reach out and straighten it for at least three hours, while whispering he was too good for this world.
He kept his hands to himself.
Except—“Did you get taller?”
Seth blinked owlishly at him. “Since you saw me a couple of days ago? I don’t… think so? I mean, it’s possible, I haven’t measured myself in a few hours, but—”
“You seem like you’re taller.”
“Oh.” Seth looked away, reaching up and tugging on his collar. “Um. Thank you?”
“Oh my god,” Gibby mumbled. “This still happens?”
“I think they’re precious,” Jazz whispered to her.
