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Gideon ignores the fact that Nix would have left the house by himself, focusing instead on the importance of the request. He’s never been one to dismiss significant “feelings,” and if Nix says they’re supposed to go together, then he’ll go. “It’s going to be—”

“Hard. I know, maybe that’s why it’s supposed to be you. Everyone else is too…”

“I get it.”Too emotional.“Okay, let’s do this, but you better put pants on. I’m going to get enough shit from Rowan and Gray without your ass hanging out all over town and dealing with Jay, too. Shit, I should leave a note.”

“You, too?” Nix says as he points to Gideon’s very naked butt. He’d forgotten he’d stripped down when he’d ended up pressed against Grayson’s back, too hot to even consider leaving on the extra layers.

They choose something from the laundry cupboard where Jay and Finn had toiled during the movie last night (if making out against the washing machine could entirely be considered work) and creep out past the front door, with Nix in the lead.

Once they reach the end of the road leading from the cul-de-sac, Nix grabs his hand and asks him about Quest, and whether he thinks Maureen and Elias are doing well without him. Whether Gideon misses the kitchen, he even asks for the story about the cilantro. It passes the time in a flash, and they arrive in front of a two-story home with a giggle still falling from Nix’s lips. He’s managed the walk by rote and seems surprised they’re there so soon.

They just stand there under a streetlight, while a million emotions pass over Nix’s pale features.

“We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to, Kitten. This is far enough if it’s too much.”

“No. I want to do this with you. But…if I change my mind, you won’t think I’m a coward?”

Gideon isn’t a hypocrite, especially given he’s the one who’s hidden from just such a place in his own past, for almost a decade. “No, Kitten. Never.”

“Okay, then. Let’s kick it in the ass,” he says, in an exact mimicry of Luca’s on-stage persona.

“Been watching too much YouTube?”

“He’s fucking hot on stage. Everywhere, really. Don’t tell me you don’t have a favorite video,” he says as they climb the steps up to the front porch. Even the dark can’t hide the small yellow-orange marigolds lining the walk. As if they were waiting for Nix to return, and wanted to be welcoming.

“I do. It’s their Chicago stage from last year,” he offers, and pulls open the screen door so Nix can get to the door locks.

Nix doesn’t even look at the white tag, just uses the largest of the four keys to open the door and enters the code into the security system from memory. Could it be unchanged since he’d left all those years ago?

They’re frozen in the small foyer at the end of a hallway. Gideon can’t see beyond that, but when he tries to turn the light on, Nix stays his hand. “No. Wait. Just…I need a minute.”

“Okay, Kitten. Wanna sit here?” Gideon asks, and Nix sinks to his butt right there, keys jangling. “You have four keys there. May I see them?”

Nix nods and passes them over and rests the side of his head on his knees. “Soon I won’t be able to sit like this. The babies are getting in the way of my moping.”

“You’re not moping. You’re processing. This isn’t something you barrel through unless you’re Rowan Foster.”

Nix gives a soft chuckle. “This is why I brought you. No barreling.”

“Well, I am honored. Hey, this looks like a key to an outbuilding. Shed, maybe?” Gideon asks, holding up the small gold key. The second is a bank key for a safe deposit box. No bank information on the key, but maybe the neighbor knows something. If not, Lauren could find out, he’s sure. The third hasEZ-Storageembossed on it: Unit 1106.

“And the others?” Nix asks, but Gideon isn’t sure he’s really listening.

He answers anyway. “A safety deposit key and a storage unit key.”

“Oh.” He rubs his nose on his knee and then meets Gideon’s gaze. “You think my grandmother put stuff in there for me? Weirdly, she never told me about the house.”

“I’m sure she had her reasons.” Although Gideon can’t conceive of anything that doesn’t piss him off, now isn’t the time to plot against a little old woman more than a hundred miles away. Later, though? He’ll make some time.

“Yeah, well. I am sure she didn’t want Hayes to know about it. It’s a relief actually, because she was right, you know? He destroyed everything good in my life back then, and I wouldn’t have been able to stop him fromdestroying this, either.”

Gideon can’t help the scent of petrichor that fills the narrow space at his mate’s words.

“It’s okay, Gideon. Remember? It wasn’t my fault. None of it,” he states quietly, as if he’s said it a hundred times, and if maybethisis the time he’s going to believe it’s true.

“It wasn’t, Kitten. Truly.”

“Yeah, well. Let’s see if there’s anything in the house. It smells empty.”