Staccato (Magnum Opus #2) - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,25

felt like a moron. “Shit. Sorry. It’s this stuffed elephant I’m holding. He’s like our emotional support stuffie.” He walked over and offered it out. “Want to hold him?”

Nik laughed, but he took the elephant into his arms and held him tight to his chest. “Wow, okay. I was prepared to call you a liar, but I could nap with him easy.”

Adam grinned and shook his head. “Yeah. I wasn’t really a stuffed animal kid growing up, but my sister’s room was covered in them. She got a menagerie every year for our birthday.”

Nik’s eyebrows went up. “Twins?”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Adam took a breath. Twins was an easy conversation, but identical twins led down another path that still made his stomach squirm with fear every time he approached it. “We are.” And he left it at that. For now. He took Chuck back from Nik and shoved him into the closet, then leaned against it when he turned. “So, I wasn’t sure I was going to see you again.”

Nik’s cheeks went faintly pink. “I’m so sorry. I meant to ask for your number, but Van was being an impatient ass about everything. The next couple of weeks are busy with the concert coming up.”

“Hey, I’m just giving you shit,” Adam said, pushing away from the wall. He stopped just a few paces from Nik’s side, and he breathed in the scent of his gentle cologne. “I’m glad you stopped by.”

Nik’s grin softened. “I was hoping you might be free for that slushie? Or maybe some terrible food court lunch?”

As wide as it made Adam smile, his stomach sank to his feet. “I’m stuck here. Vincent’s in the back with his all-day piece, and no one else is due in until four.”

Nik’s brow furrowed. “Have you eaten? I mean, I’m assuming it’s dead. The entire mall is.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Yes, and thank you for that.”

Nik laughed and reached out with his cane, tapping Adam in the foot. “I meant, I could grab sandwiches, and I can make sure you’re fed. Unless your boss is the time to lean, time to clean kind of guy.”

“No, thank fuck,” Adam replied, and his fingers trembled with the way his heart was racing. He was attracted to Nik, yes, but it was more. There weren’t words for it, and maybe it was just that he was starving for contact, for friends, to know someone who kind of got what it was like to stand on the outside of normal. And then the thought terrified him, because having Nik also meant he could lose him, and Adam still had no idea what he was going to do with himself when Cooper finally came home.

“We don’t have to,” Nik said when Adam’s mood became obvious, and Adam panicked, reaching for Nik’s elbow, who jolted at the contact.

“I would love to.” He realized then what he’d done, and he snatched his hand away. “Sorry. Sorry, I promise I don’t make a habit of just grabbing people.”

Nik shook his head, but he seemed a little shaken. “That’s not my favorite thing, but it’s fine. Just…don’t try to pull me anywhere, okay? I fall that way, and it’s embarrassing, and it sucks.”

Adam frowned. “People do that?”

“A lot of them do, yeah,” Nik answered, sounding tired. “The night of the concert, at the school, this mom decided I needed help finding the door in spite of the fact that I’ve worked there for years.” He swiped a hand over his brow. “I almost fell in front of everyone, and…I just. I hate it.”

“Scout’s honor,” Adam told him, holding up two fingers, then after a second, added a third.

Nik’s mouth curled up in the corner. “Were you a scout?”

The answer to that was no—in spite of the fact that he’d wanted to be. He wasn’t really a rough and tumble kid, but he wanted to be included, and it was years later that he understood why his mother hadn’t pushed the issue with the organization. “Nope. But I know what it means. Anyway, sandwiches?” He was practically begging for the out, and Nik gave it to him.

“Give me twenty minutes. Any allergies?”

Adam shook his head, then remembered. “No. Not a big fan of onions though, unless they’re pickled, but the mall is so not cultured enough for that.”

Nik laughed. “Got it. Don’t go anywhere.”

Adam gave him a salute, and again felt like an idiot, but Nik was gone before he could correct his mistake. He let out a