Page 55 of How Not to Date a Griffin

He chewed at his lips as the elevator took him up to Nolan’s floor, and stuck his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t tap them against his thigh or pick at his nails.

By the time he was in front of Nolan’s door again, he was a ball of tension and nerves and exhaustion, and maybe he should just head home. He didn’t think he’d be very good company.

But fuck all if he didn’t want to see Nolan. Even if it was just for a moment. To tell him goodnight.

He was lifting his hand to knock before he knew what he was doing, and then there Nolan was, bright and beaming and pulling him through the door without a second thought.

It wasn’t until the door shut behind them that Nolan recognized his expression, and paused, a hand still curled around Reid’s wrist.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

And Reid kind of hated how Nolan could see right through him, but he kind of liked it too, and he couldn’t help but reach for him.

Everything felt too big and overwhelming, and this ease he had with Nolan wasn’t helping because it was all so confusing, but—

But.

It was a little easier when he buried his head in Nolan’s neck. When he sucked in a breath of the citrus florals of Nolan’s scent and Nolan wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly.

He was so fucked.

Because he took the first deep breath since their closet affair, and closed his eyes as Nolan’s hand threaded into his hair and scratched against his scalp. Like he knew what Reid needed and just provided it, no questions asked.

“Want a shower?” Nolan asked.

And it was perfect. The steam relaxed his shoulders, but he had an idea that it was more to do with Nolan’s hands on his skin than anything else.

“Want to talk about it?” Nolan asked as they dried off, as he led Reid to the bed and pushed him down on it despite the fact that his hair was still dripping water.

Reid murmured something noncommittal, and Nolan hummed in response, and then a smile was twitching at his lips.

“Wanna get your wings out? Take your comfy sweats off?” Nolan suggested, and…

Hey. That wasn’t a bad idea. And it struck him as a little silly, that Nolan had remembered such a small, inconsequential thing that meant so much to Reid, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

“Okay,” he choked out quietly, and found Nolan beside the bed, out of the way. Reid was prone, head tucked on his forearms, and with a sigh and shuffle, his wings were free and resting along his back.

“There,” Nolan said, voice soft and close to his ear as he pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “That’s better, hm?”

“Don’t go getting a big head about it,” Reid grumbled, fighting a shiver at the warm drag of his voice.

“I would never,” Nolan drawled, and then puttered around the room until Reid got curious and propped his head up on a hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for—aha! This,” he said, and proudly turned, boxers now stretching across his thighs—a shame— and a small bottle held in his hands like a commercial.

“What’s that?” he asked, laying his head back down as Nolan rounded the bed until Reid couldn’t see him without turning over, and to be honest, he was all melty-warm from the shower and couldn’t be bothered to follow him with his gaze anymore.

At least not until the bed dipped, and weight settled across the backs of his thighs.

“You’re not allowed to laugh at me,” Nolan said, and Reid was taken back to just the night before, when he’d said the same thing about the very tail that now swished around Nolan’s thighs.

“I would never,” Reid parroted. “What did you do?”

“I had some downtime and couldn't very well find another closet to suck you off in, so I did some research.”

“Research?” he questioned, interest piqued, ignoring the flare of heat in his gut.