Page 29 of Just A Little Fling

And then I slid my hands under his arms, plucked him off his feet, and deposited him directly under the showerhead. I wasn’t mean enough to have left it on cold. It was warm enough. Just wet. Nico sputtered through his ruined hair.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Watch your language. You want to act like a brat, I’m going to treat you like one. Stay in this shower until you’re sober. I’ll put some extra clothes on the counter and some coffee on downstairs. Don’t bother getting out until your attitude has vastly improved. Any questions?” Nico shook his head. “Good. I meant what I said. I want you sober before you get out.”

Without waiting for Nico to answer, I turned on my heel and left to get him some clothes. Rummaging around in my dresser drawers, I found some flannel pants and a Rainier College sweatshirt. It was my favorite, and I wanted to see him in it.

When I returned to the bathroom, Nico had shed his clothes and tossed them into the sink. Given that I’d dumped him fully clothed into the shower, I was going to be on the hook for buying him a replacement suit in the near future. No regrets bubbled to the surface. I put the dry clothes I’d brought for him on the counter, then leaned back against it. The steamy interior and small space made it feel quiet and intimate.

“Sweet Boy, you okay in there?”

“Yes,” Nico replied in a small voice. “I just need a little more time.” He wasn’t slurring his words anymore. That was an improvement.

“Did something happen tonight?” I caught an almost imperceptible sigh from behind the curtain.

“Yeah, but it’s dumb.”

“It’s not dumb if you’re upset enough about it to go get drunk and show up on my doorstep.” I heard some suspicious sniffles and knew Nico wouldn’t appreciate me being witness to any kind of breakdown. I pushed myself off the counter and opened the door. “I’ll let you finish up in here and meet you downstairs. Coffee or tea?”

“Tea, please.”

* * *

“Here you go.” I handed Nico his mug of tea when he appeared in the kitchen doorway. His wet hair was pushed back from his face and my clothes hung off his shorter frame. He looked fucking perfect in that sweatshirt.

“Thank you,” he said before clearing his throat and repeating, “Thanks.” Under normal circumstances, he was polished to the point of brittle, but in the kitchen stove light, he looked like the boy he was.

“No problem. I usually drink tea at night anyway.” I nodded toward the empty seat at my kitchen table, and Nico joined me.

“Before I came downstairs, you said something about a rough day?” His hands cupped around the mug trembled a little. Tonight wasn’t the night for deep discussions or thoughts. So I backtracked and offered, “I was watching a movie. I could start it over and you could join me?”

“Okay, Babbo.” A small smile played across Nico’s lips, and it was the first real one I’d seen from him since he got here. His drunk flirting didn’t count. Drunk words might be sober thoughts, but at least tonight, they weren’t real joy. What I did know was that Nico also felt the strain of the strange dance we were doing. And I needed to fix it before it became unfixable.

We arranged ourselves on the couch with our tea and some salty snacks. The movie restarted and we snuggled in under our respective blankets. The late-ish hour and dimmed lights had us both relaxed enough to be sluggish and slow. Next to me, Nico struggled to find a proper position. Without speaking, I lifted the corner of my blanket and Nico dove into the space. He snuggled into me, and my hand found its way to his hair. The mostly damp strands slid easily through my fingers. He melted when I lightly scratched his scalp, and soft moans and sighs mingled with the movie.

“You okay?” I asked before kissing the top of his head.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He stopped to savor the scratches before adding, “Why did you have a rough day?”

“Because my employer and I don’t see productivity the same way. I think there’s value in my assistant going to college because he’ll be better at his job. He’ll also probably leave me when he graduates, but we’ll handle that later.”

“He’s college-age?”

“Uh?” I was distracted by the screen before the meaning of his words his me. “Oh no. He looks younger, but he’s late twenties, maybe. Why?”

“Just curious. Why didn’t he go to school right away?” Nico seemed inordinately interested in Jack’s history. Was I supposed to know this? I liked Jack. He was a good employee who was conscientious about his work, but I didn’t know a tremendous amount about his personal life. He was a single father who was proud of his kid and working hard to do right by him. I wasn’t sure beyond that.

“I’m not sure. Now I wonder if I’m a bad boss since I haven’t asked about it.”

“I can’t imagine you as a bad boss.” Nico snorted.

“But I could be… Maybe I’m unreasonable? I could…I don’t know…ask him to send flowers to my boyfriends.”

“Throuples aren’t bad,” he retorted.

“They are if you don’t know you’re in one.” Nico scoffed at that but then reared his head back to search my face. “I’m not seeing anyone,” I added hastily.

“Really?”

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