13
“Thought I was meant to be waking you up,” Finn murmured between kisses, his heart clenching in his chest. He hadn’t woken up to being kissed in…
Well.
Too long.
Way too long, apparently, considering how much he was enjoying it.
“Got bored of waiting,” Nolan murmured against Finn’s lips. He’d made sure Finn actually was awake first, and then kissed him like it’d been a hundred years since they’d last seen each other.
The fact that Nolan was still eager was nice. Finn had been afraid that he’d lose interest, that maybe he was taking things too slow for Nolan’s taste, but no. No, they seemed to be on the same page, and Finn could hardly believe how lucky he was.
“Hey, uh…” Finn began, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to ask. “I, uh. I was curious about… you mentioned a shoebox…”
Nolan grinned broadly the moment he said it, climbing over the top of him and kneeling on the floor beside the bed before Finn had a chance to react.
“I don’t show this to just anyone,” Nolan said, putting an ordinary-looking shoebox on the bed. Turned out he was a size 9.
Not that Finn expected to need to know his shoe size in the near future, but he filed it away anyway. Everything about Nolan was interesting to him.
“I mean, I’ve actually never showed it to anyone, but… I think I can trust you.”
“I promise you can,” Finn said. He had no intention of hurting Nolan. Not for anything.
Enough people clearly had.
Taking a deep breath, Nolan flipped the top of the box open.
To reveal the biggest collection of sex toys Finn had ever seen in one place.
He owned exactly one bullet vibe he’d gotten free with an online lube order, and he’d never used it.
Hell, he’d thrown most of the lube out a year after it expired. Not that he was convinced something that was mostly water really had an expiration date, but he’d decided it was better not to take chances.
“Holy shit,” Finn said before he could stop himself, eyes wide.
“Please don’t laugh at me?” Nolan asked, worry in his voice.
“Not gonna laugh,” Finn reassured. “Just… wow. Do you use all these?”
“I have used all of them,” Nolan said. “I’ve got favorites, though. They’re not on, like, an even rotation.”
“I guess they wouldn’t be,” Finn murmured, still staring at the brightly-colored collection. “You wanna, uh… take me through a few favorites?”
“Why?” Nolan asked, suspicious.
Finn looked up at him, realizing that maybe he was making Nolan feel weird about this. “Because I’m not really a sex toy guy, but I wanna know what you like. That’s it. I’m not… mocking you, or anything. I won’t.”
Nolan swallowed, looking down into the box. “I know, it’s just… embarrassing, I guess.”
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing,” Finn said. “I can’t stop you thinking that, but… from my perspective, it’s cool that you didn’t wait around for like… Prince Charming to come and show you how much fun you could have with your own body. You know what you want on your own terms.”
“And that’s not… I dunno, off-putting to you?”
Finn chuckled. “If you kick me out of bed because I’m less fun than a vibrator, I deserve it.”
“You’re more fun,” Nolan said, the relief of hearing that obvious in his voice. “So far, anyway.”
Finn reached out, curling his fingers over Nolan’s shoulder and squeezing firmly. There were a thousand things he wanted to say, but he couldn’t seem to settle on any of them.
Instead, he watched Nolan take each toy out of the box and lay it on the bed, handling every one of them with all the care in the world. He didn’t pause until they were all organized neatly, spread out according to type and size.
A curl of arousal heated the pit of Finn’s stomach at the thought of Nolan using all of these on himself, learning just how to touch and what felt best. Teasing himself endlessly and getting off in this bed, alone, happily satisfied without the need for anyone else to participate.
That made it kind of an honor that he was bothering with Finn at all. He didn’t need him.
Which obviously meant that he wanted him.
It’d been a while since he’d felt like that. Not being into hookups had its downsides.
“You weren’t kidding about having a huge dick among these, huh?” Finn said, nodding to a bright purple dildo at the center of the collection.
Nolan laughed. “Between you and me? He’s a little much. Too much prep, not really worth the trouble compared to something more reasonable. But I have been imagining the moment where I get to show him to a boy so they understand the standard I’m accustomed to,” he said.
“Got it,” Finn said. “I’ll try to keep up.”
“You’ve got… hands and stuff. And you can talk to me. And you’re warm,” Nolan said, turning to look at Finn. “And I like you,” he added a little more softly.
Finn smiled at that, happiness curling around his heart. “I like you, too,” he said. “A lot.”
Nolan smiled back, small and shy, but so earnest it made Finn’s heart clench. The more he got to know Nolan, the less he understood how Gavin could treat him so badly.
Not that it had ever been acceptable, but Finn knew now that Nolan didn’t have a cruel bone in his body. He couldn’t have done anything to deserve it.
Finn’s phone buzzed suddenly, making him look over at his discarded pants. He had it set up so only notifications from a few people made a sound, so this had to be important.
Or at least, from someone important.
He climbed out of the bed, aware of Nolan’s gaze on him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened a text from Oscar, grinning at the screen.
“Ollie’s awake,” Finn reported, turning the phone around so Nolan could see the photo Oscar had attached.
Another message came through, and Nolan went bright pink across his cheeks.
“I’m not sure I’m meant to see that,” he said.
Finn turned the phone around to see please tell me you got laid last night from Oscar, and blushed as well.
He didn’t mind Oscar asking, but it was a little awkward that Nolan had seen.
Ezra had probably mentioned walking in on them making out in the living room like a couple of horny teenagers. Finn didn’t blame him for that, either.
The sanctuary was a family. They cared about Finn, and they’d started adopting Nolan, too.
All the same, the timing couldn’t have been more awkward. Finn wasn’t sure Nolan wanted this to be common knowledge, but on the other hand, he didn’t want to lie to Oscar.
“What do you want me to tell him?” Finn asked. He’d eventually have to tell Oscar the truth, but that didn’t mean he had to do it right now.
Nolan’s comfort was important, too.
“I… well, you don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to…” Nolan said, looking down at the collection on the bed instead of meeting Finn’s eyes.
Finn considered that response for a moment before coming to a decision.
“I want to,” he said firmly. “I’m just asking if you want me to. If you’re okay with him knowing.”
“I’d be okay with everyone knowing,” Nolan mumbled, finally looking over at Finn with unsureness written all over his face.
Finn felt something inside him break, some barrier that had been stopping him from sharing his real feelings give way.
“I meant it when I said I really like you,” he responded, heading back to the bed. “I’m okay with everyone knowing, too.”
“Really?” Nolan asked, as though Finn had just revealed something new and surprising.
Which he supposed he had. He’d been so busy worrying about this that he hadn’t really considered that Nolan might be worrying, too.
“Really,” he said, reaching out to cover Nolan’s hand with his own, squeezing his fingers lightly. “Just… so we’re clear, I’m really glad I met you and I’d like to see where this is going. And uh. While I’m being super honest, I don’t have anywhere to be for the weekend and I’m not sure what your schedule looks like…”
“Totally open until Monday,” Nolan said in a rush.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Finn murmured, lifting Nolan’s hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “Because I could go for sticking around for a while longer. If you’re interested.”
Nolan’s blush only got darker, but a tiny smile spread across his lips. “I, uh. I think I could go for that.”
“Good,” Finn kissed his hand again, squeezed it, and then put it down. “So, how do you like your eggs?”
Nolan blinked at him. “You’re planning on cooking for me?”
Finn shrugged. “I didn’t get to eat last night, so I’m planning on cooking for me and I figure you could eat right about now, too.”
“I uh. Usually poach them in the microwave. I have one of those… poaching things.”
Finn wrinkled his nose. “One thing I know is eggs. I’ll poach them the right way for you and then you’ll have to keep me around,” he said, getting off the bed and retrieving his underwear from the floor.
“I wasn’t about to kick you out or anything.” Nolan shrugged. “Bread’s in the freezer.”
Finn grinned broadly. “My kinda guy,” he said, padding toward the kitchen with his heart soaring.