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“Whoa,” Nick gasped. “I wasn’t acting like that atall.”

Seth paled. He must have been really sick. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

Then a thought struck Nick that made him frown. “Do you go around kissing a lot of people?”

“What? No!”

“What about the secret girlfriend and/or boyfriend you have?”

Seth groaned. “I don’t have a secret girlfriend and/or boyfriend. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Many more times,” Nick said. “Because I don’t believe you. I know I can be dumb about a lot of things, but you can’t expect me to believe that you were at the animal shelter volunteeringall summer.”

Seth said, “I was. There was a shortage of volunteers, and I had to do my part!”

“For the animals.”

“Exactly.”

Nick was starting to get a little annoyed. “Why, though? I get thatit’s the right thing to do because cats and dogs are cool and all, but do they need you all the time? I mean, there was a flooding problem, and you were the one they called? It’s like they own you.” Then Nick was struck with another thought. “Do they own you? Is there some kind of secret ASPCA no-kill-shelter mafia that you belong to now? Have they bugged you? Are theylistening right now?” He glared up at the biplane, sure it was the perfect place to hide a recording device.

“Oh my god. How the hell did you get from volunteering to the mafia?”

“It’s best not to question such things,” Nick said. “And I notice you didn’t deny it. If we need to get you to a safe house, cough once. I don’t actually have a safe house, but I have forty dollars in singles under my mattress, and that should be enough for one of those hotels downtown that rent by the hour.”

“Nicky, there’s no mafia.”

“Maybe that’s what they want you to—”

“Nick,” Seth said through gritted teeth, and that shut Nick right up. Because Seth, tolerant and wonderful Seth, looked exasperated. Nick had seen it before, though never on Seth’s face. He’d gotten it from teachers. He’d gotten it from other kids. He’d gotten it from random strangers. It wasthelook. Like Nick had spoken too much. Or had gone too far. Or had said something so stupid and crazy andout therethat it was impossible to understand how such words could have come out of a normal, sane person. Yeah, Nick had gotten that look from many, many people in his life, but never from those he loved.

Until today.

Dad. Seth. The two people he counted on most.

He didn’t know how to handle that. It hurt in ways he wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t like he could help it, and maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe he made too big a deal out of everything. And maybe, just maybe, Seth was getting tired of it.

“Um,” Nick said, unsure of what to do. His hands were shaking, so he rubbed them on his jeans. “I didn’t mean…”

Seth let out a sharp huff of air. “Whatever’s going on in your head right now, you need to stop. It’s not bad.”

Which was exactly what someone would say when itwasbad. “Maybe I should just go home.” That sounded good. He could go home and shut himself in his room. He could do his homework and be a good son, and maybe when Seth was feeling better, they could forget all about this.

Nick shouldn’t have eaten all those cookies.

“I don’twantyou to—” Seth sat up in the bed. As he did, the comforter sank lower to his chest. He was wearing a white undershirt, and for a moment, Nick was distracted by how strong his chest looked, how sharp his collarbones were, but then he saw the bruise on Seth’s neck, a purple thing that almost looked like—

“Is that a hickey?” Nick asked, voice high-pitched.

Seth quickly brought his hand up to cover the bruise, but it was large, and the edges still peeked out beneath his fingers. Either someone had attached their really large mouth to Seth’s neck, or he’d gotten hurt, somehow. “It’s not a hickey.”

“What happened? Are you okay? Does it hurt? Can I touch it?”

Seth flushed. “You can’t touch—it’s fine. It’s nothing. Just… hurt myself. Down in the basement.”

Nick nodded solemnly. “Because of the washing machine. Your aunt told me that it was on the fritz.”

“Yes. Exactly. I was trying to fix the washing machine. The motor is broken.”