The Wingman by A. Poland

Chapter Thirteen

Miles led Nathan back to the car, half guiding, half carrying him with his arm around his back the entire time, mostly keeping the weight off Nathan’s ankle. He still wore Miles’s jacket (big and warm and smelling of a weird mix of vanilla and woodfire smoke—but damn, Nathan never wanted to take it off), leaving Miles in a thin T-shirt. Nathan was too attached to the jacket to feel bad about it.

The walk back was silent and felt as if he was moving through a haze, not quite able to see anything, only feeling Miles’s steady arm around him as he assuredly guided Nathan through the seemingly impenetrable forest.

Finally, Nathan spotted Miles’s tiny car, and his heart excitedly jolted in his chest. Nothing in the world sounded better to him right now than sitting down on something soft. Slumped against Miles, Nathan mostly gave up on walking the last few feet, figuring that Miles could take it from here.

“Almost there,” he murmured, steadying Nathan against him and unlocking the car, then gently maneuvering Nathan into the back seat. Nathan promptly lay down with a moan of pure ecstasy. With a cursory glance around, he noticed the others weren’t there, and before he could ask what was up with that, Miles spoke.

“Jordie and Lorcan will be back soon,” he told Nathan as he slid into the back alongside him and pulled Nathan’s legs onto his lap. “They went in the other direction to look for you. Said we’d regroup at ten. There’s really bad cell service out here, so I can’t tell them we found you.”

“You,” Nathan murmured quietly.

“Hm?”

“You found me, not we. It was a solo thing.” In the dim light of the car, Nathan couldn’t see his expression, but Miles had grown quiet.

“Here, you should have some water.” Miles hummed then as he uncapped a bottle and offered it to Nathan. Propping himself up with a grunt, Nathan intended only to take a sip but ended up downing the whole thing.

“Hey, can you really read the stars?” Nathan inquired and handed Miles the empty bottle. He lay back down and blearily stared up at the ceiling. There was a weird stain in the corner that kind of looked like a hot dog if Nathan stared at it long enough.

“No,” Miles replied after a brief moment of silence. Nathan shot up, supported by his elbows, and narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

“You were fucking with me.”

“I was fucking with you,” Miles agreed, clearly trying to stop himself from laughing but not doing a very good job.

“I can’t believe you did that.” Nathan was laughing now, despite himself, head thrown back as he chuckled at his own expense. “I was looking at the stars and trying to see a map up there.”

Miles completely dissolved into a fit of giggles, and Nathan couldn’t help but join in. After a moment, their laughter petered out, and they transitioned into a comfortable silence. Now, inside the car, Nathan could actually appreciate how peaceful being out here was.

But that might have been the exhaustion talking.

“I saw the opossums again,” Nathan said, nuzzling into the collar of the jacket.

“So did I,” Miles replied with a huff in disbelief.

“What?” Nathan glanced over at Miles with furrowed brows.

“Nothing. I just…kind of followed them to you?“ Miles didn’t sound sure, as if the experience had been so odd he wasn’t fully convinced it had happened. Nathan couldn’t blame him in the slightest. Since when did opossums serve as guides for humans?

But how else were they meant to explain it?

The rational part of Nathan’s mind told him it was pure coincidence, but he chose to believe the opossum family had led Miles to him. And Nathan would like to think Miles believed it too. He chose not to read into the Baby Opossum leading him off the path and whatever nefarious goal the cute animal might have had in mind.

“This has been such a weird fucking day.” Nathan sighed. “Next time we hang out, let me choose the activity, all right?”

Miles nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan.”

Not long after, Nathan heard low voices approaching the car.

Miles rolled down the back window and leaned out to call “Found him!” to the impending voices.

They quickly drew closer and were now distinctly those of Lorcan and Jordie.

Gang all back together, Nathan inwardly whooped.

Nathan was too tired to care if Lorcan was still pissed at him; he could go suck a dick (not Miles’s) for all he minded. Abruptly, the door that Nathan had rested his head against was pulled open, and two strong hands seized his arms to hoist him out of the car. Nathan was about as helpless as a limp noodle as Lorcan held on to him tightly.

“You scared the crap out of me,” Lorcan breathed in relief, Nathan held flush to him.

“That’s what you get for leaving me,” Nathan mumbled, his voice muffled by the fabric of Lorcan’s shirt. But he closed his eyes anyway, returning the embrace because Lorcan’s hugs were certifiably amazing.

“I thought you were following me,” Lorcan replied, seeming incredulous that Nathan had even entertained the idea of being left behind. “When I noticed there was no sign of you, I turned around but couldn’t find you anywhere.”

Nathan thought about the opossum and his subsequent downhill fall and figured Lorcan’s story lined up.

“Uh-huh, always knew you wanted me dead,” Nathan quipped back, unable to stop himself from teasing. Even though Nathan was exhausted, Lorcan had the innate ability to bring the snark out of him. Lorcan’s chest rumbled with a laugh, and Nathan figured all had been forgiven.

“We should get Nathan somewhere that’s not Miles’s deathtrap of a car,” Jordie said, offering Nathan a small smile when he looked over to her. He nodded firmly—it was a damn good idea.

“Hey,” Miles weakly protested.

“And with food,” Nathan added as he was bundled back inside. Lorcan settled in alongside him, and Miles took residence in the driver’s seat again.

“And with food,” Lorcan agreed, nudging Nathan playfully with his shoulder. A motion that would have sent Nathan’s stomach all aflutter if it weren’t for the fact that it was already gurgling.

Once everyone was buckled up, they set off. Because of the bags, Nathan was once again perched on Lorcan’s lap. But this time, Nathan was too lethargic to even consider worrying about mistimed boners, just happy to leech the warmth from Lorcan for the duration of the journey.

After expressing his concern about not keeping Nathan upright for longer than he had to be, Lorcan guided him to the car and took care of the bags. Nathan curled up on the back seat,

Miles’s jacket drawn tightly around him. Through the window, Nathan watched as Lorcan said his good-byes, giving Jordie a brief hug and Miles a considerably longer one.

When Lorcan hopped into the car, Nathan stuck up his hand and waved at Miles and Jordie, feeling a little rude that he hadn’t said good-bye in person but also not at all willing to venture outside again. They waved back with warm smiles, and Nathan figured he was okay where he was.

“Did you tell my dad what happened?” Nathan asked from his reclined position.

“I… No,” Lorcan said hesitantly. And rightly so.

“He’s gonna kill you when he finds out,” Nathan lazily replied, biting back a yawn. If he started yawning now, he was never going to stop.

“I… Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

Well, at least he’d come to terms with his fate. Not that Nathan would rat Lorcan out to Ben; he never liked worrying his father over needless things. But Ben would definitely be able to tell on sight that something had gone awry during the trip.

True to his word, Lorcan pulled into a drive-through on the way back and footed the bill for Nathan’s favorites. Most of the fries ended up on the floor of the car, considering that lying down in a moving vehicle while trying to shove food into your mouth wasn’t a winning combination.

By the time they arrived outside Nathan’s house, he’d officially entered deliriously sleepy mode. Holding out his arms for Lorcan to carry him inside, Nathan cited “Ankle hurts” as a legitimate excuse. But really, he just wanted to be carried. Nathan rummaged around in his pocket for the key as Lorcan bridal-carried him to the door.

As Nathan lifted the key to the lock, the door swung open to reveal Ben standing there with a raised brow. He wore the red-and-green tartan bathrobe Nathan had given him for Christmas, a mug of tea in hand and reading glasses perched on his nose—clearly in the middle of his nightly ritual of crossword puzzles and chamomile.

Nathan didn’t ask how he’d known they were there; he’d long since stopped questioning things like that when it came to his dad.

Ben raised a brow, taking in the scene in front of him. Lorcan, eyes wide and guilty-looking with Nathan in his arms—covered in dirt and a hole in the collar of his shirt.

Okay, what happened? Ben signed as he stepped aside to let the boys over the threshold.

Lorcan’s arms were occupied, so Nathan was compelled to explain.

I had a bit of a fall on the way back, no big deal, Nathan was quick to brush off, feeling Lorcan exhale with relief against him.

I thought you were going to be back this afternoon? Ben asked, looking over his son for any obvious injuries.

I slowed them down! Not a lie, exactly. I also didn’t sleep. So I’m going to go do that now.

Frowning, Ben held a hand out to stop Lorcan before he could make his way up the stairs and away from this conversation.

Do you need anything? Did you bang your head?

Nathan shook his head with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Nathan had definitely picked up being a worrier from Ben, there was no doubt about it.

No head bangs. I promise. I’m fine. Nathan looked to Lorcan, encouraging him to move. The longer they lingered, the more questions about the trip Ben was going to have. And Nathan wasn’t sure he could handle the mental gymnastics of evading any details right now.

Love you! Nathan concluded before Lorcan mounted the stars and signing anything visible became impossible.

“That was close,” Nathan exhaled in relief once they were inside the safety of his room. Lorcan carefully deposited him on the bed.

“For you, maybe. I still have to go back down there to get the bags…” Lorcan stood, hands on hips and brows furrowed. He paused, gaze lingering on Nathan. “Is that Miles’s jacket?”

Nathan blinked and glanced down at the black jacket Miles had put around him earlier.

“Shit. I was cold, so he gave it to me. I’ll have to give it back.”

“I can do it,” Lorcan volunteered quickly. “It’s a good excuse to meet up, right?”

Nathan was silent for a few seconds because, yeah, it was a damn good excuse—and Nathan had just handed it to him on a platter.

“Yeah, sure is.” Nathan tried not to sound as begrudging as he felt. He shrugged off the jacket and tossed it to the end of his bed. Once Miles’s musk of vanilla and smoke departed with the jacket, Nathan caught a whiff of himself and pulled a face.

“I’m not carrying you into the shower; that’s where I draw the line,” Lorcan countered before Nathan even had the chance to say anything. Frowning, he wondered if he should be offended by that.

“Are you staying here tonight?” Nathan asked, halfway hopeful and not one bit shy about it. Even after they breached their twenties, sleepovers with Lorcan had still been common. “Please?” Nathan added shamelessly.

Lorcan sighed and gave in with a long-suffering smile.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Great.” Nathan started to unbutton his pants to get into bed. He could change the sheets tomorrow; future-him could deal with that. “Then you can bring up the rest of my fries.”

“Asshole,” Lorcan chuckled fondly before leaving the room.

Lorcan had lost him in the middle of the forest; he owed Nathan a lot more than fries and funky hats.