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“Uh,” Seth said, “that might be a little advanced. Why don’t we save that for—”
“Backflip of Chaos!” Nick shouted, jerking his body forward, ready to send Seth toppling over him. His back twinged painfully as Seth’s grip loosened. Nick promptly fell flat on his face.
“Oh shit,” Seth breathed. “Shit, shit, Nick, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
Nick shot to his feet, almost falling again. “I’m okay! I meant to do that. I wanted to see if you were paying attention. Ignore the way I’m hunched over. I’m standing like this because it’smychoice. Again!”
Seth hesitated before nodding.
Ten minutes later, Seth groaned as he held his side, Nick’s elbow apparently bonier than even he knew. And that didn’t begin to cover that Nick had made friends with the floor seven more times.
Nick pulled himself up again, flinching as he poked at his nose. Didn’t seem to be broken, though it hurt like hell. “Again!” he demanded.
Seth wheezed, grimacing. “Let’s … hold off on that for a bit. I don’t think my ribs can take it.”
“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 readingCosmo.”
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 isnotsomething 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?Iwouldn’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.
