Page 78 of Seal the Deal
“Speaking of snacks,” Alec pipes up with a shit-eating grin. “I have one, but I don’t share him.”
Theo whispers something against the back of Alec’s neck that has him laughing, and that twinge of jealousy intensifies. He loves how happy his brothers are, but seeing them settled with someone who understands them so deeply is hitting different today.
Andrew needs to get his shit together. Now.
“If all of you assholes can settle down,” Andrew says loud enough to be heard over the whispering quartet on the couch, and Charlie who has taken to whispering something to Nicki that has him glaring, “you can see things are fine, which means you can go home and?—”
“But Annie,” Charlie interrupts with a charming smile, “we wanna get to know Nicki.”
“Nicholas,” he corrects through gritted teeth.
Fucking fantastic. Just what Andrew needs, more people to manage.
“I think—” Andrew starts but Eden talks over him.
“I still need to talk to Nicholas.Privately.”
“I don’t wanna talk to Polly Pocket.”
Andrew groans, Charlie whistles, Jason and Emerson sink down into the couch while Alec sits up just a little bit straighter. Andrew would give anything to be sitting at Nicki’s right now, listening to the sound of the waves crashing and not trying to anticipate how to stop a fight.
“Watch your fucking mouth, asshole.” Eden crowds into Nicki’s personal space, as if he isn’t daunted by Nicki having at least a hundred pounds and nearly a foot on him. He jabs a bony finger into the center of Nicki’s chest. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re rich or famous or the size of a fucking semi truck. If you call me Polly Pocket again, I’ll end you.”
Like watching a train wreck, Andrew stares at Nicki as he merely smirks. “Whatever you say, Polly Pocket.”
Charlie curses and Eden looks ready to fight, literally. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Charlie move but Andrew is faster, placing himself directly between Nicki and Eden—his back to Nicki so he’s facing Eden. He puts his hands on Eden’s shoulders, slowly marching him back into Charlie’s waiting arms.
“No fighting.”
“He’s a fucking asshole,” Eden says.
“I know,” Andrew sighs, “Nicki needs to learn to behave.”
“I’m right fucking here and I’m not a fucking child.”
Ignoring Nicki’s outburst, Andrew squeezes Eden’s shoulder before turning around, relieved when Eden stays pressed to Charlie.
“No fighting, Nicki.”
“But—”
“No.” Andrew marches closer, hyper aware of the eyes of every single person in the room on them. He hates it. The attention makes his skin crawl, and he would give anything to be back at Nicki’s house, just the two of them on that couch again, watching a movie so bad it’s good, the sea in the periphery and no expectations. Andrew isn’t sure he realized until today how exhausted he is managing, well—everything and everyone all the damn time.
Try as he might to keep his expression neutral, he must fail because Nicki frowns when he looks at him.
“Just try to be nice,” Andrew says, “please.”
“Fine,” Nicki says, sounding incredibly put out. Relief makes Andrew sag, unprepared for Nicki to reach up to finger the collar of Andrew’s polo. “Why did you change?”
“I didn’t wanna borrow your things longer than necessary,” Andrew says, which is a lot easier than admitting how difficult his brain was finding it to have to be the Andrew everyone needed him to be wearing Nicki’s clothes. Clothes that were soft and safe and comfortable and made Andrew feel oddly vulnerable.
“You can keep them,” Nicki grunts.
“No way, they were too nice, and they’re yours?—”
The tip of Nicki’s finger grazes the side of Andrew’s throat, making him swallow audibly. “Did you like them?”
“Yes,” Andrew admits, thinking back to how damn nice the material felt against his freshly washed skin. He wishes he was wearing them right now, but the way Alec and Charlie had raised their eyebrows at his arrival made Andrew anxious, as if they were perceiving him in a way he wasn’t yet prepared for.
