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You’re safe here

No He wasn’t He didn’t feel safe anywhere Emotion clawed at his throat He’d let a wall down, and noas furiously trying to put the bricks back together

Were they going too fast? Had he done that, or had Adam?

The hell with easy

For a breathless instant, it had been aht, to let instinct rule hisfor it, and he couldn’t analyze everything fast enough

"Look" Adaet it" Nick shoved off the couch The path to the door see

"Hey" Adam came after him "Hey"

Nick’s hand closed on the doorknob Adaer than Nick was ready for, and he spun hiirls couldn’t do that, either

"What?" Nick derees

"Well, you’re definitely gy A straight guy wouldn’t be such a drao"

"Can I finish what I was going to say?"

Nick stared back at hith Nick had seen it once before, and he was seeing it now

"Fine," he said "You don’t wantyou’re not ready for"

Oh

Adao "I’ve dated guys before who don’t want to be out It’s a personal decision, and I get it, but"

Nick sed "But what?"

Ada yourself, I don’t want you taking it out onso if Gabriel would hurt Nick The tension in his eyes when he said, "You’re strong"

Even now, he was holding hiht distance

There wasbehind this easy self-confidence

Nick shifted his weight, and Adam almost flinched Without the air to reinforce his iether

Slowly, carefully, Nick reached his hands out and put them on Adam’s shoulders "You’re safe here," he said softly "Okay?"

Adam’s eyes widened as Nick fed his words back to him

Nick smiled, just a little "You don’t have to watch your words or your thoughts or whatever has you so wound up"

Now Ada "Okay, okay--"

Nick kissed hio, but a bare brush of lips

When he tried to pull away, Adaainst his "You’re going to break my heart I can feel it"

"Not if I can help it" He put a hand over Ada his head to kiss Nick’s palrinned "Well," Adam said "Slower"

CHAPTER 5

Quinn pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up and shivered

She still had her dance shorts on, but there hadn’t been tie Her jaw hurt like a bitch, and she knew there’d be a bruise there to her face into the wall and de to knohere his money was

Like she had a clue Quinn would be so happy when Jake went back to college Her little brother Jordan had already taken to crashing at friends’ houses every night, rotating through his circle of gaot suspicious

Quinn had been sitting on the curb out in front of the 7-Eleven, but the old Korean woers loitering, so now Quinn was sitting on ato the darkness

She was this close to stealing food fro distance of Becca’s house, Becca’s mom had always left her a plate of food She’d known about Quinn’s disagreements with her

But now that Becca and Chris were an itely felt like a third wheel

Especially now that she knew the truth about Becca and the Merricks

A truth she’d learned froer clawed at Quinn’s insides and she wished she’d gone with Nick and Adam for coffee But she didn’t have any money and she didn’t want to be a mooch and a third wheel

But now that she had nowhere to sleepHer fingers traced over the face of her cell phone, and she considered texting Nick

A metal door slammed, a little distance down the back wall

Quinn saw a flare of light, then a cigarette glowed red The light over the door was out, but frouy Dark clothes

She pulled her hood down, tucking her blond hair

It didn’t help "Hey!" The sharp arettes burned her nostrils He was co toward her "You can’t be out here"

Quinn didn’t move "Says who?"