Page 8 of Kill Shot

Home Again, Home Again

Seb

When Seb finally returned home in the early hours of the morning, he was aching for all the wrong reasons. True to his word, Nico hadn’t allowed things to progress any further.

Instead, Nico had led him up to his own apartment, keeping the conversation light and impersonal. He had pointed out various things about the neighborhood, including areas and times one should avoid if they wanted to stay safe.

Seb accepted the indirect chiding, which was far easier to swallow than when his father said the same sort of thing purely by virtue of Nico being Nico and not his father. Or maybe it was just that Nico’s deep, steady voice was nice to listen to.

The apartment itself had surprised Seb in just how spartan it was, and any hopes he’d had regarding Nico changing his mind were swiftly dashed when he was shown a pull-out bed and given a very comfortable blanket for himself.

With that, Nico retreated to his own room, leaving Seb alone with his thoughts.

In the morning, Seb had awoken alone to a note informing him that Nico had gone out to tend to some business. It would have been a dreadfully disappointing end to the experience if it weren’t for one small addition at the bottom: Nico’s phone number.

And so Seb had slipped out, following Nico’s advice on navigating such neighborhoods even though it was clearly unnecessary in the warm light of day. There was plenty of traffic, both in cars and on foot, restoring his shaken faith in the community.

One bus ride spent quaking in his boots later, he finally returned home, sneaking in with surprising ease.

He held his breath, terrified that someone might have noticed his disappearance at some point during the night, but by some miracle, he managed to reach his bedroom without running into another living soul. Thank fuck.

And then, once he was sighing in relief and collapsing down onto his bed, Seb finally had a chance to reflect on just how frustratingly, exquisitely unsatisfied he was.

God, why hadn’t Nico asked to let that kiss go a little further? Why hadn’t he shown Seb everything that he knew? Granted, he was the one to say no sex, but… he wouldn’t have minded if Nico had hinted he wanted more.

For just a moment, Seb wondered if maybe he’d terribly misread the man’s preferences, and that kiss was just a spur of the moment kinda thing, but there was absolutely no chance. What straight man would be so comfortable kissing another man outside where anyone could see?

No, he was quite certain that Nico liked men, and unless the man was a very good actor, Seb was sure that Nico liked him quite well enough in particular.

Seb squealed, burying his face in his pillow and imagining how things might have gone differently. What would it have felt like if Nico had led him all the way to his room?

Or hell, maybe he didn’t even need to worry about what might have happened. Maybe he could just think about what was going to happen in the future, if they saw each other again.

Before he knew it, Seb found himself rolling back and forth on his bed, giggling with the giddiness that could only come from a combination of fear, infatuation, and not enough sleep.

But all that vanished in an instant when he heard a knock on the door.

It repeated, louder this time.

Oh God, had his father figured out where he’d been? Had his security forces informed him? Had he allowed Seb to creep back in, believing that he had managed to successfully sneak around, only to bring the whole thing crashing down onto his head?

“Are you alright, Seb?” a familiar voice asked, a voice that most assuredly did not belong to his father. “I heard some strange noises coming from in there.”

“I’m alright, Thornton,” Seb called out to the old servant. “I just thought I saw a spider.”

He winced at how ridiculous the explanation sounded. Was that really the best he could come up with on such short notice?

There was a short silence during which Seb was quite sure that he was being caught in a particularly devilish trap.

But Thornton did eventually deliver him from his suffering. “As you say, Seb. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

And then there was only the sound of his thumping footsteps fading away, leaving Seb holding his breath and tensing his body in ways that he hadn’t even realized were possible.

He squealed once again, but this time, much quieter, and with his pillow pressed much more firmly to his face.

After all, he had to let all that energy out somehow, and just kicking his legs out wasn’t going to cut it.

Most surprising of all, he hadn't expected the intensity of his reaction to Nico. He’d met hot guys before, and he’d even kissed them, jerked a few off, but absolutely none had shaken his world this thoroughly.

Seb whipped his phone out, going straight to the number that he’d saved on the bus ride back.

Nico .

He should text him. That should be alright. Or was it too soon?

But wait, wasn’t that just a rule for dates? And last night definitely hadn’t been a date. In a situation like this, wouldn’t it be polite and proper to let Nico know that he’d managed to get home safely?

Or was he just trying to come up with any reasoning possible that would allow him to text Nico?

But then a new unwelcome thought occurred to him. Had Nico only given him that number in case there was some sort of emergency and he needed to be alerted?

Seb smiled dreamily at his ceiling, basking in the fleeting sensations of that kiss once more. Surely this had to count as an emergency of some sort. His heart was certainly pounding fast enough for it.

And if he did text, then what would he even say? Could he handle it if Nico was cold and distant?

These were the questions bouncing around in Seb’s head when he got his second big fright of the morning.

His phone vibrated so intensely that he accidentally dropped it. When he picked it up, he was sure that he must have been misreading the notification and just imagining things.

Because there was no way that Nico had just sent him a text, right?

Seb laughed softly to himself at how silly he was getting, but as he unlocked his phone and took a look at the text, his amusement faded.

No, he hadn’t been mistaken. He hadn’t just been so taken with the idea of texting the man that he’d just manifested that very thing happening.

He had just received a text from Nico.

Nico: Did you get home safely?

How the hell did Nico have his number? Something wasn’t adding up.

As if he could read Seb’s mind, Nico followed up with a second text before getting a reply.

Nico: By the way, I got your number out of your phone last night

But there hadn’t been any time for that to happen… had there?

Not unless Nico had come in and gone through his phone after Seb had fallen asleep, he realized as a chill ran down his spine.

Seb: You could have just asked

He couldn’t believe he’d been so out cold that he hadn’t felt it when Nico took his phone from under the pillow.

Nico: I wanted to prove how vulnerable you were. Just like last night. You need someone who can teach you how to protect yourself

Nico: Especially if you’re planning on hanging around my neighborhood

Seb almost laughed at that. He had a dozen men protecting him at all times. Nico didn’t know that, so it made sense he’d assume otherwise. In fact, it made perfect sense, and Seb felt a wave of relief come over him. Really, this wasn’t any different from how Nico had saved him last night, was it?

And there was no harm in playing along.

Biting his lip and smiling, he tapped out his reply.

Seb: Someone like you?

This time, there was a pause, and it was a long one, giving Seb plenty of time to stare at his screen and wonder if he’d terribly miscalculated.

But Nico eventually did reply, and when Seb read his words, he nearly giggled loud enough to alert the house staff yet again.

Nico: Someone like me