Nico drove us home with the windows rolled down.

It was quiet as we breezed past the night. Nico reached over to place his hand on my knee. "Hey. We're okay."

I placed my hand over his. "She was your friend."

"She was our friend," he corrected tightly, grip hardening on the steering wheel. "We still don't know the whole story, and it's pissing me off because I have no idea if Paula's behind every mess that's gone down for the past year, or if she's willingly helping the asshole who hurt Anya, or if she's being threatened and blackmailed to do it."

"Or if the car was simply stolen under her name," I added quietly.

Nico sighed. "She panicked when she saw Sullivan."

I leaned back against the seat. "She was really involved, then." Where did we go from here? How could we look Paula in the eye and act like nothing happened?

The rest of the ride was silent. Upon arriving at his house, Nico shut the engine and turned to face me. He looked weary. Exhausted. "That guy from East Hampton recognized you."

"I know."

"I was ready to fight."

"I know. Stop. You're worried about Paula, but we'll be fine. We'll protect each other."

He stared at me. I melted under the intensity of his gaze. "Protecting each other," he murmured, "I like that."

I smiled at him and jumped out of the car. He followed suit and extended his hand for me to take. "Come on. Let's go inside. Are your parents home?"

"Probably," he said with a shrug, opening the front door. "But don't worry, they won't care. They're most likely asleep already."

He led me up the staircase. "I'm hungry."

Nico laughed. "Right, we didn't get to eat anything at the party. I'll order in after we both shower, sound good?"

"Yeah." His room looked the same. Glancing around, I slipped the jacket off my shoulders and took a seat on his bed—the sheets were still black in color. "The last time I was here in this room, you were flirting with me while I typed our assignment."

He shook his head and walked towards his closet and bathroom. There was the sound of water running. "No, the last time you were here, you'd just woken up from fainting."

"Oh. Yeah." I bit my lip. "You took care of me."

Nico leaned against the doorframe, eyes twinkling. "And here you are now."

I stood up, leaving the jacket on the mattress. Taking a few steps forward until I was in front of him, I brought my hands around his waist and stared up at him. His mouth brushed my forehead gently, and I closed my eyes in contentment. "Here I am now."

"The water's running already," he murmured. "Shirt and sweatpants are beside the sink. There's a toothbrush for you too."

I hummed, burying my head on his chest. Nico's fingers ran down my back as he held me tighter against him.

Not knowing where my sudden boldness came from, I muttered against his shirt, "Shower with me."

Nico's whole body froze as he pulled back to look at me. His lips were parted in surprise. "What?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I grasped his fingers and led him inside the bathroom. Nico looked hesitant as he followed me, stepping through the cool tiles. "Do you not want to?"

"You caught me off-guard," he mumbled, a small smile forming on his lips. "You're blushing."

I coughed into my hand. "You do know this is embarrassing, right?"

Nico grinned. "You're cute. What brought this on? Truth, Thea."

I didn't really know what to say. I shrugged and hugged my waist, clutching the material of my top tightly.

Nico's smile slipped. "Baby..."

I sighed. "You've waited so long, you know? I mean, I don't want you to think that you've waited for nothing—"

"Don't even finish that sentence," he said lowly, eyes piercing with a flash of indignation. He slid a hand around my neck and kissed me hard. "Stop thinking that way."

"Can't help it," I murmured, fisting my hands against his shirt. "Is that a yes?"

Nico exhaled heavily. "I want you to ask me because you want to. Not because you think you have to please me. We don't have to do anything, okay?"

I reached up on my tiptoes to kiss him again. "Remember when I said I thought it was so easy to love you? It is. I'm almost there."

"Shut up," he whispered, and I can feel him smiling against my lips. "My heart is going crazy."

I laughed, slipping my hands under the fabric of his shirt to graze the muscles of his back. He sucked in a deep breath and pressed his forehead to mine. "Shower with me. Please?"

"Yeah. Okay."

*

I knew we'd done nothing more than a few, steamy make-out sessions over the very short time we'd been together, but there was no denying the depth of my feelings for Nico. And yeah, I wanted to take shower with him—I really, really wanted to—but I also wanted to please him, despite him thinking and saying otherwise.

I stood under the water after the washing my body, facing the wall while I listened to sound of his clothes being stripped off on the bathroom floor, When I'd undressed, I took everything off all in one go, feeling Nico's eyes on me, and hopped in the shower before he could say or do anything else.

My heart was kicking in my chest loudly and I was afraid Nico could hear it over the sound of the water running. I kept my hands on my forearms as I tilted my head back, letting the water soak my body and closing my eyes. I also gave myself a pep talk and willed my nerves to calm down when Nico finally opened the glass door and stepped in.

"Fuck, you're gorgeous," he breathed, sliding his hands around the curve of my waist as he stood behind me, dipping his head down to gently kiss my wet neck. I shivered under his touch.

I decided to get a grip and turned, scanning him fully from head to toe, and fuck. He had the V.  Those beautiful indentions by his sides, a happy trail from his navel down. "I deserve a pat on the back, too."

Nico grinned, not even remotely shy about his body—and he shouldn't be. At all. "You're a dork."

"You love me."

"I really, really do."

He bent down and cradled my head between his palms, pushing me against the wall, claiming my mouth in only ways he could. I parted my lips, letting his tongue slip inside as his fingers dug into my hip. Nico brought his head down, marking my neck, tongue darting out against my warm skin as I arched my back to give him more access, my fingers sifting through the strands of his wet hair. His hands glided down to my legs as he lifted them to wrap around his waist, pressing his hardness against my belly. I moaned into his mouth when he kissed me again.

"I'm trying to keep my hands on appropriate places," Nico murmured, chest heavily rising and falling. His eyes lowered, travelling from my neck, to my chest, torso...I squirmed under the attention, and he twisted me around so my back faced him.  "Emphasis on trying. Let me wash your hair."

I grinned, suddenly loving the power I had over him.—but it wasn't like he didn't have any over me, he was a Greek god soaked in water, golden skin and jet black hair and pure, hard man.

Nico's fingers massaged my scalp, and I closed my eyes at the gentleness of his touch. While the last of the shampoo rinsed off, I turned my head, nuzzling his shoulder, and kissed his jaw.

"Don't," he gritted out in a strangled voice. "I'm already hard enough as it is. Don't make it any more difficult."

Water coursed down my body as I faced him, leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him. My hands pushed at his chest as I walked him a few steps, pressing his back against the wall. He looked at me in confusion. "May I?"

"May you what—oh, fuck."

Nico jerked against my palm as his chest rose sharply, head hanging back as he groaned. "Fuck, what are you doing?" he breathed.

I smiled as I moved my hand up the length of him and back down. "What does it look like?"

"Jesus fucking Christ," he gasped out. I leaned forward and kissed his throat, and he bucked into my hand when my thumb brushed the tip. "Thea," he struggled to say, digging his nails into my hips.  "You don't need to—" I kissed him, and his breaths became short, excited pants. "I mean—fuck."

"You want me to leave you here?"

"No," he bit out, jaw hanging slack. I wanted to grin in triumph, but I slowed my hand down instead, and he let out a sound that was half-moan and half-whine as his hips thrusted up. "Thea."

The Nico Romero who was always so composed, never having trouble to make me flustered—is absolutely helpless under my touch.

"Princess, faster, please," he hissed, shutting his eyes.

I sighed. So polite. I nipped at his jaw and did as he asked.

When Nico finally shuddered apart, moaning out an oh fuck, yes, Thea, Jesus, my mouth stretched into a grin as his body grew slack against the wall, breathing hard.

I didn't know if it were what we'd done—or what I'd done to him—was what gave me the courage, or the lazy, satisfied look in his eyes as he watched me, but I brought my hand to my mouth to suck my fingers.

Nico groaned again, loudly. "Fuck. Don't fucking do that, Christ."

I pulled my hand out and laughed, the salty taste of him on my tongue as I washed my hands, craning my neck to look at him behind my shoulder. "You good?"

"Amazing," he answered, still against the wall. "Fuck. Thea, I—"

I pulled him closer to me and kissed him. "Do you want anything for dinner? I'll order while I leave you to shower peacefully."

"You."

I laughed. "Next time, babe."

He stroked my cheek. "You sure?"

"Yes. Is Chinese okay?"

"Yeah." I smiled, feeling his eyes on me as I stepped out of the shower. "Chinese is perfect."

*

After eating dinner and brushing our teeth, Nico put on a movie as we crawled underneath the covers. I snuggled deeper into his bare chest and tucked my legs underneath me. "Your clothes are so comfy."

His mouth curved upwards. One arm came around the back of his head while the other snaked under my shirt, fingers stroking my skin lazily. "Glad you think so."

"And they smell like you. Think I'm gonna have to keep them."

"Take 'em all, baby."

Grinning, I leaned up on my elbows to look at him. "You're amazing. You know that, right?"

"You saying that just because I said that you can keep my clothes?"

I slapped his chest lightly, and Nico chuckled, tugging the hem of my shirt to pull me closer. "I'm kidding, princess."

My shoulders slumped. "I wasn't. You know I meant what I said earlier, right? Before...the shower?"

He arched an eyebrow. Heat crept up my neck. "Before you had your hand around—"

"Yeah," I nearly yelled, grabbing the nearest pillow and hitting his torso with it. He laughed loudly. "Yeah, before that."

"There's your blush," he said in between laughs. "I was wondering where it went earlier."

"Nico!"

"Okay." He cleared his throat and licked his lips, the teasing grin still evident on his face. I huffed and crossed my arms. "Okay, I'm sorry." He cleared his throat again and reached for my waist. "I know you meant what you said, baby. Just...say it when you're sure. Say it when you know you're there already."

I bit my lip and nodded. "Okay. Yeah. I'm sorry you're still waiting."

"Don't apologize," he said, "if it's you, I'll wait a thousand lifetimes."

And I knew he meant it. "Yeah?"

He smiled. "Yeah."