When George received the invitation to have drinks, he wasn't expecting the drinks to be at Nick's place. When Nick clarified the location via text, George almost went into panic mode.

He was really torn with how he felt about Nick. Things were so awkward between them that it was painful. Yet it was impossible to ignore his attraction. No matter what, Nick drew him in, and the desire to be close was strong.

It was foolish. It was bound to only end in more pain and misery. Would he ever truly be happy with just being friends? Or should he cut his losses now and once again try to move on with his life?

He picked up his phone and called Davin. “I need help.”

“Are you in trouble?” Davin immediately questioned, his voice guarded.

“Kind of? Nick's invited me for drinks at his place,” he blurted.

“That... isn't the kind of emergency I was expecting from your panicked voice,” Davin grunted, the irritation evident.

“I'm sorry... I just, what do I do? If I go over there, things will either be super awkward or we'll end up having sex again.”

“The latter really isn't a bad way to spend a Wednesday night.”

“Davin.”

“Okay, I get it,” Davin chuckled. “Breathe. Why don't you use tonight to sit Nick down and tell him exactly that? Lay down the law and tell him exactly what you want.”

I want him, George thought. Unfortunately, Nick didn't want him in the same way.

“That's... reasonable. Yeah, I can manage that. Sorry for the mini freakout.”

“I'm used to it,” Davin teased.

“Hey!” George laughed. “Rude. All right, I'll let you go.”

After hanging up, he thumbed back to his text messages, his fingers hovering over the buttons. After another moment or two of hesitation, he responded:

OK.

* * *

Finding Nick's apartment building a few hours later had been easy enough. He was at least relieved to know that they didn't live in the same neighborhood. If they'd been next door neighbors all of this time, George would've been stunned.

The building was nice enough. Newer than his own, certainly. It looked well-kept from the outside, as evident by the freshly done steps.

Once he was inside the foyer, he found Nick's name on the intercom and buzzed him.

“Hello?” Nick greeted from the other side. It was terrible that even that simple greeting caused his body to pulse in delightfully sinful ways. His voice was so low and rough around the edges. It also threw flashes of their fling in front of his mind, too. Oh, Nick's grunts and groans of pleasure had been amazing...

“Hey, Nick? It's me.”

“Okay, I'm buzzing you in.”

As soon as the buzzer sounded and the glass doors unlocked, George opened it. “I'm in.”

“All right.”

George hit the intercom again to end the call then stepped into the building, letting the door swing to a gentle close behind him. He made a beeline for the elevator in front of him and punched Nick's floor number into the panel. As the elevator whirred and lifted him up, his heart pounded in his ears.

“Calm down... We're just going to have some drinks,” George told himself under his breath as he watched the numbers change. When the elevator settled on Nick's floor, he stepped out. He walked down the hallway and stopped before Nick's closed door. He closed his eyes and took a moment to calm himself as he knocked on the door.

Rap. Rap. Rap.

Here goes. What's the worst that could happen?

The door flew open.

“George Bennet, will you marry me?” Nick proposed before George could even smile in greeting.

George stared hard at Nick as his brain tried to process what exactly was going on. He was shocked to the core, unsure if this was Nick's idea of a twisted joke. “Sorry?” he asked, his voice coming out a lot higher and squeakier.

“Come inside,” Nick said, his cheeks as bright red as George's phone case.

George blinked and took a step into the apartment. He didn't even register yet what the apartment looked like as he turned back around to face Nick. “Did you really just propose to me?”

“That was a terrible way to introduce an idea to you,” Nick said as he gestured for George to sit in the living room.

“What idea?” George demanded as he moved to the couch and sat down, taking note of the couple of beers on the coffee table before him.

Nick didn't sit beside him on the couch, instead remaining standing across from him, by the television. Nick took a deep breath before speaking in a calm, measured voice. “I got a letter today from a solicitor. I went in and found out that I'm in a relative's will. The guy left me a lot of money, but only if I get married. I only have a limited time to take advantage of this.”

“And... you want to use me to get the money?” George questioned as he raised a brow.

I wouldn't be using you,” Nick asserted, although George was sure he'd seen a little flinch. “We'd both benefit. It's for $250,000.”

“$250,000?!” George exclaimed, his jaw dropping to the floor. “Are you kidding me? You're messing with me, right?”

“I'm not, I swear. It's legit.”

George thought he was going to pass out from shock. If they went fifty-fifty, George's bank account would be $125,000 richer. He'd never had even a tenth of that in his bank account at one time. Having this amount of money meant that he wouldn't have to work for a good few years, if he didn't want to. Heck, he could maybe look into starting that book store he always dreamed about. He'd be able to afford getting his aging car into the shop for its regular checks instead of pushing it and hoping for the best. He'd be able to go to all the book conventions he wanted until his apartment was stocked from floor to ceiling. He'd be able to get an even bigger apartment to hold said books where he didn't have to worry about broken heaters, leaky faucets, and Delores.

He wouldn't have to worry about anything, and that security alone was precious to him.

George was still trying to wrap his head around this. “Why me, though? You must have other friends that would want to take advantage of this, too.”

“Not anyone that I'm particularly close to,” Nick admitted. “To be honest, you were the first person that came to mind.”

George was stunned to hear this. His eyes were wide, his glasses slowly sliding down to the end of his nose.

Nick's first thought was truly to marry him?

“You are totally sending me mixed signals, man,” was all George managed to say. He let out a disbelieving laugh.

Nick laughed as well as he moved around the coffee table and joined George on the couch. “I know... I wanted to have you over tonight so that we could get to know each other again. This, like I said, was very new.”

“Get to know each other again... as friends?” George questioned while tilting his head slightly. Nick was sitting closer than George figured he normally would've. His body was turned toward him, too, their knees almost touching.

Nick shifted. “To be honest, George, I'm having a hard time figuring out what I really want. Since meeting up with you again, you've been on my mind. I keep bouncing back and forth about whether or not I should see where this goes.”

George's heart skipped a beat. “You've thought about pursuing me?” It was weird to put it that way, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

“Yeah,” Nick said once their eyes met.

A jolt shot through George at the single word. He opened his mouth to say something, but his mind drew a blank and his voice failed him. He really had no idea how to respond to any of this. It was all so sudden.

“Have a sip of beer,” Nick prompted him. “It might help settle your nerves.”

George flung his hand at the bottle and grasped it, popping it open and bringing it to his lips for a couple of gulps. He had to resist the urge to down it all. That wouldn't do him any favors.

After he sat back to let everything sink in, George's mind started to turn. “How soon do we have to get married?”

“I said we're getting married in a week...” Nick said while rubbing at the back of his neck.

“A week?!” George yelped, then took another couple of gulps to steady his nerves. He forced himself to think through this. “Okay, that's not too terrible... If we just did a simple courthouse wedding, it'd not only save us a lot of money but would be easier to have in such a short timeframe...”

“So you're actually considering it?” Nick asked carefully.

“Well...” George hesitated. Should he be considering it? It wasn’t the proposal or the relationship that he’d dreamed about, but... “That's a lot of money, even split two ways... Like, a ridiculous amount of money. I only ever dreamed of having that much. Wait, do we have to stay married?”

“No. It's likely going to be a few months before the inheritance properly pays out. I'd say six months after we get the payout, we should be able to get a divorce without raising suspicions,” Nick answered, although he shifted uncomfortably.

“What is it?” George asked, instinctively moving in just a touch to show his concern. As he did so, their knees brushed together, sending sparks of electricity raising along his skin. He definitely didn't want to drink anymore beer and risk doing something stupid, like throwing himself at Nick. Considering their conversation, how would it be any more stupid?

“It's nothing,” Nick dismissed, and George knew better than to push right now. Even if his heart leapt into his throat at the implications of Nick being unsatisfied with a quick divorce. The only other option would be to stay married, right?

George shoved those thoughts away and nodded slowly, leaning back into the couch and playing with the beer bottle just to keep his hands busy. After the way their conversation had started, he was having trouble figuring out what else to say that didn’t sound awkward. “So this relative must've liked you a lot to leave this kind of money.”

“He hated my guts,” Nick scoffed, his expression darkening as he scowled. “He was a homophobic piece of shit. He only offered this money so that I'd marry a woman. I'm glad he didn't specify marrying a woman—he must've not been following all the legal battles with gay marriage. Maybe he thought legalization would never stick and didn't bother updating the will.”

George's heart ached. “Oh, I'm sorry...”

“There's no need to be. The rest of my family's good about me being gay. He just never got with the program. In fact, it was him that scared me away from, um, experimenting in high school...”

George was amazed that Nick was opening up to him as much as he was right now. That kind of connection—that trust—was what he craved more than anything else. “What do you mean...?”

“Right before I went to high school, just before I met you, he was visiting for my mother's birthday. It was late, I was in my room... Like any other teen, I was looking up... stuff...”

The way Nick kept his gaze down made George angry on Nick's behalf. It was like he was ashamed even just reliving the memory. George instinctively placed a hand on Nick's knee to soothe him, although he wasn't sure how Nick would respond to the touch. Nick's eyes flicked to the hand, but then back up to George's face as he continued.

“I thought my bedroom door was locked, but it wasn't. He walked in, I never knew why, and saw what was on the screen.”

George held his breath. “Did he hurt you?”

“I got a good slap, yeah,” Nick murmured. “He screamed a lot. My parents came rushing in and took care of everything. They kicked his ass out and it was years before we spoke with him again. It was how my parents found out, too, but when they questioned me about it... Fuck, I was so shaken up that I denied everything.”

“I'm so sorry...” George murmured. “I had no idea...”

“From then on, I tried to be straight. In high school, it was even harder, but I managed. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to kiss you,” Nick admitted as he moved a hand to brush over George's.

The air was sucked right out of George's lungs as he went rigid. “You did? I thought you weren't interested in me at all! You were a very good actor. You should've become a professional actor.”

Nick laughed shortly as he squeezed George's hand. “After I left for college, I didn't hide it anymore. It led to a lot of mistakes, but that's life. The biggest mistake was not keeping in touch with you during all of it.”

George's cheeks warmed as Nick moved in toward him. He didn't reject Nick's advance, instead half-closing his eyes and parting his lips to accept whatever was given to him. A moment later, there was the gentle glide of warm lips against his own. As overwhelmed as he still was about everything, George moaned softly and appreciatively through the kiss as he raised a hand to grip Nick's arm.

The kiss was wonderful and George wanted to lose himself into it. “Yes,” he whispered.

“I know it was a mistake. You don't need to rub it in,” Nick said with a surprised laugh, their lips still so close they were almost touching.

“N-No! I meant yes, I will marry you,” George clarified as the heat of embarrassment—and arousal—caused the back of his neck and ears to burn.

“You will?” Nick straightened up.

“Yeah, why not? Life's short, right?” George said. He was more bold in that moment than he'd ever felt in his life. There was something about being around Nick that made him want to take risks.

Nick grinned before shoving George down along the couch, straddling him. “Then I think we should celebrate,” he rumbled as he swooped down to claim George's lips again.

George was startled, but so turned on by this powerful move. His body was already screaming for attention, adrenalin coursing through him. He had no idea if going along with this marriage was the right thing to do, but he'd committed to it, and he wasn’t about to take it back. Not when Nick kissed him like that.

“I like that idea,” George breathlessly agreed when their lips parted. He slung his arms around Nick's shoulders and leaned up to kiss him again, but jumped when his phone went off.

He groaned his protest as he unwrapped his arms from Nick's shoulders and raised his hips to get his phone out of his pocket. This move made their fronts bump together, and his body pulsed with need.

“I gotta get this,” he said apologetically as he popped the phone to his ear. Only a few people had his mobile number. “Hello?”

“George? This is Delores from apartment management.”

George tensed beneath Nick. Oh, this couldn't be good. “How can I help you?” he said, unsure how else to respond to such a greeting.

“I just wanted to let you know that there's been a plumping accident in your apartment.”

George sat up so fast that he accidentally smacked his head against Nick's, causing them both to yelp at the same time. He furiously rubbed his forehead to stop the smarting as Nick crawled back off him. “What happened?”

“We had someone come in to look at the faucet and a pipe burst in the process. We're getting it taken care of immediately, but it's recommended that you be gone from the apartment for a few days. If you need to come back and get some things, now would be ideal.”

“Oh, my god. Yeah, sure, I'll be there soon.” George hung up the phone and stared at Nick.

“I overheard everything,” Nick said, his expression serious. “Want me to come with you to get your stuff?”

“That'd be great, thank you...” He slipped out from beneath Nick, the mood for some lovin' instantly gone. He was nothing but a bundle of nerves as Nick grabbed his jacket and keys. Then the two were out the door together, and George dreaded what he was about to go home to.