Page 55 of Follows with Intent

Nico shoved more clothes into the suitcase. He closed it, started on the zipper, and it caught immediately.

“Nico,” Jadon said. “Will you please open the door?”

“No.” Nico yanked on the zipper again. It wouldn’t budge. He got a better grip and tried again, hauling on it this time. For an instant, it wouldn’t budge. And then it came free completely. Nico fell back, hard, still holding the zipper in one hand. His head hit the metal bed frame. The pain made tears come to his eyes, but it all felt distant. He threw away the broken zipper and got to his feet.

Jadon was still hammering on the door. “What happened? Are you okay? What—”

Nico threw open the door. Jadon stood there, his gaze automatically flicking past Nico, as though checking for a threat.

“Go. Away.”

“I’m sorry for how that went down—”

“Go away, Jadon. Go the fuck away. Are you hearing me?”

Jadon’s mouth tightened. “I’m sorry I embarrassed you—”

“Embarrassed me? You think I care about being embarrassed? I’ve had people talk about whether they want to pluck my crack right in front of me. I’ve had people tell me my balls are weird and ask if I can’t tuck them for the shoot. For fuck’s sake, one time, Emery got us kicked out of a movie theater because he insisted on seeing the ingredients label for the artificial butter. You tanked me, Jadon. That was it, right there. My career is over.”

It was strange, seeing it firsthand. How Jadon’s face relaxed. How his whole body said, without using a single word, Oh, that’s all?

When he spoke, his voice was more measured. “I’ll apologize to that professor, and I’m sorry, but Nico, there’s no way your career—”

“He knows I used to model!” The words came out more like a scream than a sentence, and Nico barely managed to wrestle his voice down again. “He knows, you stupid, selfish fuck. Because you had to go bragging to your fucking buddies about how you were fucking an underwear model.”

Jadon looked like Nico had slapped him. “I never—”

“And you know what’s worse than having your fucking cop buddies show up and blab in front of Dr. Meza? You know what’s even more humiliating? The fact that you stood there and talked for me, like I was some fucking braindead piece of meat, like I’m not capable of making my own decisions. How fucking dare you?”

“I was trying to—”

“I know what you were trying to do. You were trying to mark your territory. You didn’t like that he was looking at me—”

Jadon’s normally composed face was ruddled with emotion. “No, I—”

“—and so you decided to do your fucking alpha-male routine and ruin my fucking career, even after I told you how important this seminar was.”

“Nico, why in the world would your career be over? I was trying to keep you safe.”

“That’s my choice! I get to decide what I’m going to do!”

Something in Jadon seemed to snap. His expression hardened. “No, you don’t! Because the fact that you think drinking wine and talking about old books and giving fuck-me eyes to a bunch of old men is a good idea right now tells me you have zero fucking sense of self-preservation!”

The silence between them had the sensation of falling.

Finally, in a trembling voice, Nico said, “Get out of my room.”

“No.”

“Get out!”

“No. Pack your bags. We’re going to a hotel—”

“I want you to leave.”

“—and we’re going to stay there until Emery can pick you up.”

“I can take care of—”

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