There seemed to be no end to the jokes about Nick's "date". Clay thought it was really wonderful that Karl was so direct about what he wanted, even though Nick assured him that he had made it very clear that nothing would ever happen between them. Well, maybe he didn't use those exact words. It might be an exaggeration, because it would suggest that Nick didn't spend hours thinking about how Jacob's flirty attitude was actually really charming. Because it was, and Sapnap knew that if he used it on someone else, everyone in his path would probably melt. Not that Nick didn't do that... I mean... of course he didn't melt.

Karla pulled away from him when he kissed her harder in anger that his mind was wandering to Karl, whose stupid Pokémon card was on the shelf in Sapnap's room.

"Hey, don't be so harsh," she pleaded, looking at him somewhat uncertainly.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he muttered with a slight embarrassment. "I got carried away."

After that, they returned to a calmer pace. Although Nick wanted more. He was vibrating with the desire to do something more exciting. They got high and everything felt a hundred times better. Nick screamed internally because he still wanted more. A lot more. He wanted to push Karla or have her push him... that would be hot. He wanted them to go from gentle edges to sharp ones and wanted to touch every inch of her body. He wanted to leave a mark on her neck. He wanted her thighs to wrap around his head so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

"Nick" the embarrassed girl chuckled. Did he say that out loud? "I'm not going to sit on your face. That's awkward."

"You're killing me," the boy muttered, gently tugging at her thongs and lifting her, changing their position so she was under him.

It wouldn't be awkward. Nick thought it would be scorching hot. His body burned at the thought, but he couldn't force the girl to do something she didn't feel comfortable with. So instead, he just lowered himself, placing heated kisses along her chest and stomach, playing with her belly button piercing for a moment before reaching the line of lingerie he definitely wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. His fingers tingled, and Nick groaned softly as he finally pressed his mouth between the girl's legs.

Nick was usually quiet. He suppressed any strange noises because he knew guys were typically quiet. Plus, Karla wasn't the biggest fan of loud sex either. She liked to have music playing in the background to mask some of the wet noises, and she tried to keep her moans under control, covering her mouth when something threatened to escape her throat. Usually, it was because when they had sex, they weren't alone in the apartment, and it was nighttime, so they didn't want to wake their roommates. But sometimes, on days like this when they had the apartment to themselves, they were high out of their minds and giving each other more pleasure than they could imagine was possible, Nick wanted to hear something more. He loved Karla's muffled moans, of course, but he wanted more. He was thirsty.

So his muscular arms wrapped around her thighs, and he pressed her harder against his face, eliciting a surprised squeak from her. He wanted to eat her whole.

"Oh my God, did a sex demon possess you today?" Karla whispered after they were lying exhausted next to each other in bed.

"I don't know, I think I'm just too high" he muttered evasively, looking at her and her slightly smudged mascara. "But was it good?"

"With you, it's always the best," she assured him with a smile and moved closer to him, snuggling into his hot body. Nick wrapped his arm around her and sighed, staring at the ceiling.

He wondered if Karl would agree to choke him with his thighs.

---

Nick felt embarrassed that he remembered in detail very precise thoughts about Karl's thighs. Especially when the next day at the skatepark, the boy showed up in shorts. Not enough to reveal his thighs, but enough to make Nick blush even before Jacobs could notice him.

"What's wrong with you?" Luke asked, as if worried that his friend would faint from lack of oxygen. "Karl hasn't spoken yet."

"It's not because of him, idiot," Nick muttered seriously.

"I know, but I like to annoy you," he reassured him, pleased. "Don't blush like a teenager. You look like you're about to die."

Maybe Nick was actually dying - from total embarrassment, as his head was spinning with thoughts about Karl's thighs. He imagined that Karl probably had more strength in his thighs than Karla did. Would Nick be able to hold him like a girl? Did he have enough strength to prolong the moment of elation and make him beg for a break?

Yeah, Nick shouldn't be thinking of something like that in public.

Sapnap cleared his throat, making himself even redder.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jacobs asked, approaching to greet the boys that arrived, especially Nick.

"Y-yeah," he mumbled, feeling like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Do you need water or something? You look a little-" Karl stopped, looking at Nick's red face. "Come on, you need to sit down."

"Yeah, man, you look sick" James admitted, looking concerned.

Karl didn't even hesitate for a moment when he grabbed his arm and probably wanted to help him walk towards the nearest bench.

"Stop it, I'm fine," Nick said, taking his hand away instantly. "I can sit down myself."

"I'll take care of him," Jacobs said, looking at the boys who nodded.

"If anything happens, just shout," Luke said calmly, knowing that Nick would actually be safe in Karl's hands.

That was a very bad decision. Nick sat down on the bench and even took Karl's water to not be super suspicious, but after that, the older boy sat next to him and his shorts rolled up a bit, revealing more skin, causing Nick to choke on his water silently.

"Nick, are you okay?" Karl looked disoriented for a while and glanced at his thighs, twisting slightly. Nick looked away. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I just think I had a bad trip or something. I think I smoked too much yesterday or something. I haven't done it in a long time, maybe that's why."

Karl sighed and gently rubbed Nick's arm, almost tenderly.

"You could have stayed home and rested instead of coming here" Karl decided, continuing to massage his arm with very little force.

Nick wanted sharp and hard edges.

"I'm fine," Nick muttered seriously.

"If you wanted to see me so badly, you could have just texted me. I would have come to visit you," Karl said, smiling charmingly at him. Nick looked at him intensely. He could really do something foolish if Karl came to visit him, and he had such thoughts. Like checking if Karl would agree to-

"It's okay," he assured, turning his head. "Thanks for the water. I feel better now."

"Are you sure?" Karl asked, not entirely convinced, his hand moving from Nick's arm to his shoulder and ending up at the back of his neck. His fingers tangled slightly in his hair. "Take it easy, you should still sit for a bit. I'll watch over you because I don't want to have your death on my conscience. It would be a great loss to the world. I'm not ready to experience that."

Nick took a deep breath again and closed his eyes on the exhale, which calmed him down a bit. He opened his eyes and looked back at Karl's legs. Their thighs were so close that they almost touched.

Nick had to resist the temptation to place his hand on them.

"Are you really feeling better now?" Karl asked, still watching as Nick tried to calm down.

"Let's say so," he muttered, so Karl grabbed one of his hands with his free hand and held him gently for support.

Jacobs moved their hands to his thigh. Nick felt his skin burning. It wasn't good.

"Breathe deeply," Karl advised in a gentle voice. "Take a deep breath and a long exhale."

Nick looked at their hands as if it were the last thing in the world.

"Weed messed up my brain," Nick suddenly said and pulled his hand away, then moved away from Karl a bit.

"I'm not going to eat you," Karl said. "I'm just worried. I didn't want it to seem like I was using this as an excuse to touch you or something."

"That's not it," Nick muttered, handing the water bottle back to Karl. "I don't think like that. I know you would never do anything weird. I think."

"Do you need me to walk you home?" Karl asked shyly.

"Fuck no," Nick replied too quickly and decisively.

"Um... what?" Karl whispered, disoriented, and looked back at his thighs as if searching for an answer. "Am I not qualified to walk you home?"

"It doesn't matter," Armstrong replied and they looked into each other's eyes. "I'm not telling you anyway."

"Okay? You're extra weird today" he decided but smiled and his hand returned to the back of his neck. "I like your weirdness, luckily for you."

Nick just wanted to spend a calm day at the skatepark. It wasn't his fault that he had stupid thoughts and his strange fascination with thighs was born the night before. It was entirely Karl's fault for seeming to know how Nick would react to his stupid legs.

---

The next day, Nick choked on water so badly that he coughed for a good two minutes. Jacobs was late for their usual meeting time, but when he appeared, he was wearing even shorter shorts than the day before. They were loose, their ends rolled up, exposing more skin. They ended about five centimeters above the knee.

Karl approached him with a sly look and a satisfied grin on his face. The thing was that Karl didn't usually show off too much and liked clothes that weren't tight. That's why he often wore sweaters and bigger shirts. His pants were usually looser too. Once in a while, he wore more fitted pants, but Nick definitely didn't see him do it that often. In comparison, Nick practically wore shorts non-stop.

"Hey Nick, is there a problem?" Karl said, pleased, standing in front of him with a board hugged to his body, as he often did.

"What problem?" Nick replied, pretending to be completely calm and cleared his throat one last time.

"I understand, I understand," Karl nodded innocently, then began to bend down.

Nick watched as he squatted to tie his shoe better. His legs were tense in the right places, and Nick should definitely call Karla because of how unhealthy he was getting over a piece of skin. Like he was some kind of pervert who had seen a piece of ankle.

After that, Karl stood up, deliberately brushing against Nick and grabbing his wrist as if he needed to support himself to stand up. Sapnap knew that he was taking full advantage of the situation, and Karl's mysterious smile confirmed it one hundred percent.

"Do you want to say something?" he asked expectantly.

"No," Nick pretended to be uninterested in the worst possible way.

How did he get from an obsession with lips to drooling and comparing other people's thighs?

"Too bad. Your loss," Karl said mysteriously. "You look better today, just a little distracted I think."

"You just got here, you don't know that" Nick decided seriously. "Everything's fine with me, in case you wanted to know."

"I'm sure," he nodded with a smile of amusement. "You wouldn't be ashamed to admit anything, right?"

"N-what would I have to be ashamed of?" Sapnap snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Nothing," Karl confirmed and straightened out the crease on the young man's undershirt. "Definitely nothing to be ashamed of around me."

Yes, Nick definitely needed to make a phone call to Karla as quickly as possible.

---

There wasn't even any questioning when Nick showed up at the skatepark a few days later. Karl knew. There was no way he couldn't. It was an attack on Nick, who had been trying to purge any thoughts of thighs from his mind for the past few days. Clay had literally told him he was acting like a lunatic when Nick asked George which thighs he preferred: big or slim (George later told him the meatier the better. It was an opinion which Clay supposed to never find out about for some reason).

However, Nick never expected to show up at the skatepark and see Karl Jacobs in incredibly tight shorts, a pale pink tank top with some print on it, and a beige, oversized shirt that seemed to only serve as a cover for his obvious attack on Nick, who almost started drooling. His socks reached halfway up his calves.

Thank god Punz didn't come with him. Oh my God, Nick wouldn't hear the end of how he was rendered motionless for a few seconds.

When he approached the boys, they were all so focused on Karl that they didn't even notice him coming.

"Damn, dude, you're smooth as hell," Paul said, his hand sliding up Jacobs' thigh, who giggled.

Nick couldn't even see it from afar. Up close, it was obvious. Karl had shaved legs. Two pale pink bandaids stuck to his skin.

"It's a pretty nice feeling," Karl said sincerely, looking at his extended leg forward so everyone could watch. "I understand now what girls mean when they say there's nothing better than the feeling of shaving their legs and getting into fresh sheets."

"I'd feel naked without hair on my legs," James said amused.

"That's definitely a new thing, but I think I'm starting to like it," Karl said with a smile.

"What are you guys doing?" Nick asked, feeling very awkward as two different hands were touching Jacobs. Not that he was jealous, but why did Karl let them touch him so freely?

"Oh, hey Nick," Karl greeted with a sweet smile.

The guys took their hands off, as if caught doing something wrong.

"We're just checking out Karl's legs. He shaved them and wanted to show off," Nolan chuckled.

"Cool," muttered Nick, fighting the urge to look down again.

"Seriously, touch them, man. That's funky," James commented, pointing to the guy's legs in tight shorts.

"What's so strange about it?" Nick replied, pretending to be uninterested.

"I don't know, just..." James shrugged.

"You can touch them, your hand won't fall off," Karl said with a laugh, extending his leg a little more towards him, pulling the shorts tighter around his thighs. Nick had an actual excuse to stare now, but he still felt incredibly awkward.

"I know what shaved legs look like compared to you guys, so..." Nick said instead, looking at the fascinated trio around Karl.

"Have you ever shaved your legs?" Paul asked in surprise.

"No. But as we can clearly see compared to you guys, I've touched women in my life," Nick commented confidently, doing everything to convince the rest that he was the only one who didn't lose his head, when in reality his brain was melting and all the cogs couldn't keep up. If his brain were a machine, steam would probably be coming out of it now, because it was a complete overload of every system Nick had.

"You're an idiot," James sighed in dissatisfaction, and Karl immediately withdrew his foot. "That's different."

"How can two legs be different?" he shrugged.

"Because one is Karl's," Paul said as if it were obvious.

Oh, Nick was more aware of it than he should have been.

"Okay, so maybe a man's shaved leg is different. If that's what you think," he replied evasively, then looked at Karl, who seemed to dislike his comments and appeared somewhat embarrassed. "Uhm, do we want to actually skate or delve into the mysteries of leg shaving? Touch the grass sometimes guys."

The boys immediately got moving, complaining that they weren't weird at all because they had watched their friend, and one by one they started to scatter in different directions.

Nick allowed them to do so with great enthusiasm. He only stopped Karl, grabbing the back of his shirt.

"What do you want?" the boy asked, freezing in place.

"You did it on purpose" Nick more stated than asked.

"I don't understand you" Jacobs muttered, still standing with his back to the younger one. "Do you have a problem with me wanting to shave my legs? You didn't have to be so rude."

"I didn't say a word about having a problem with it" Nick said, feeling his heart beat a little faster than it should, and his eyes focused on the older boy's legs. "The most important thing is that you like it. Who cares about others' opinions?"

"I do," Karl grumbled, turning around to look at Nick. "Your opinion matters to me."

"Haven't you heard enough compliments from the others already?" he asked uncertainly, still focused on the boy's fair skin thighs.

"I don't care about other people's compliments. I want to know if you like it," Karl replied firmly, and Nick sighed, biting his lip for a moment.

"I think objectively you look good," he said softly, looking at the older man's face. "But shaving your legs is more of a preference than looking good."

"Hmm, I prefer to look good for you, definitely," Karl said a little quieter. "So I was right."

"About what? That shaved legs don't bother me?" Nick replied, pretending to be an idiot.

"And yes, I did it on purpose" Karl confirmed Nick's words from a moment ago. Sapnap swallowed nervously. "You're not as subtle as you think. You know when you stare at my legs when I'm on my skateboard."

"I don't stare at anyone's legs" he whispered, feeling his cheeks turning red.

"It's okay. I like it when you look at me. I can wear shorts more often if you want," he said softly, his face getting closer to Nick's, who had to retreat slightly because his heart couldn't take it. Karl didn't say he would dress in any particular way for him. "And you can touch them if you wan- oh," Karl suddenly frowned and reached out to pull the boy's hoodie a little, revealing his neck, where there was a small bitemark. Barely visible, but enough for Karl to notice it.

Jacobs let out a quiet, dismissive snort. He let go of Nick's hoodie, who looked at his face, expecting sadness or anger, but instead saw determination. "Yeah, a few lovebites would look even better on my thighs if you did them," Karl said, and the blush on Nick's face grew stronger.

Karl grabbed his hoodie again, pulling him a little closer. "And someone didn't try very hard, that bite is pretty weak. I barely saw it" he commented meaningfully. "I can fix it if you want."

"Learn how to properly shave your legs first. Band-aids don't look so attractive," Nick replied, pushing himself away from Karl with difficulty in breathing. He had to say something so as not to come off as a complete loser. Karl had too much power over him in those shorts and was well aware of it.

Nick really tried to clear his thoughts completely, but Karl's comment about the possibility to give him hickeys on his thighs, which he was a bit obsessed with, made it difficult.

He tried not to look in the boy's direction, nor at how his shirt flowed, revealing everything as he rode at high speed. Nick didn't need another problem, really. He didn't need to think about anything anymore. What he needed was to get rid of these intrusive thoughts.

The boys were leaving one after another. Nick needed a little more exercise. If he called Karla for another day in a row, she'd probably think he was crazy. Plus, she wouldn't let him give her hickeys even on her thighs. She liked skirts too much to allow such a thing. She didn't want people to see. Nick definitely should go home and stand under a cold shower, or things could end up very awkward.

Then he saw that Karl was still at the skatepark. A moment after he almost threw his board to the ground. Jacobs and his outrageously long legs. The older boy looked at him with a gentle smile on his face. He leaned against the side of one of the ramps, hugging his board tightly. Nick frowned and, pretending to be composed, rode up to the boy in shorts.

"I thought you went home with Nolan?" he asked in a questioning tone, as Karl bit his lower lip, trying to restrain his smile.

"Nolan left, I wanted to watch some thunderous thighs," he answered happily. Nick had never heard anyone use such an adjective to describe any body part. "You know, I'm not ashamed to say I like something. I told you yesterday, Nick... you don't have to be ashamed of anything in front of me."

Nick could see that Karl was breathing deeper than usual, looking at him attentively.

"I like looking at legs, okay? Satisfied? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Nick responded, slightly annoyed. "You didn't have to do...all of this just to hear me say that."

"Come on, really?" Karl raised an eyebrow, as if enticing Nick to say more.

"I just like legs. Not just yours. I look at other people's legs too" he clarified, trying to get out of the trap set up specifically for him.

"Okay," Karl replied, leaning loosely against the ramp. "I didn't think it would affect you that much. I wasn't sure if it wasn't just my imagination."

"I don't know what else you want to hear," Nick muttered. "Because... if I'm being honest, it's hard for me to think about anything when you look like that."

"If I knew that shorts were enough to make you weak in the knees, I would have been wearing them for a long time" Karl said, delighted. Nick shook his head and tried to walk away, but Karl stopped him, grabbing his wrist. "Do you really think band-aids are unattractive?"

Nick let out a frustrated groan.

"Karl" he said seriously.

"Please, tell me. I want to hear" he murmured lowly.

"Your legs look so damn good that I can't think straight, and you're asking me if band-aids bother me?" Nick asked incredulously. Karl's grip on his wrist tightened slightly. "No, I don't think they're unattractive."

"Do you want to touch them?" he asked with a trembling voice. "My legs, I mean."

"Oh my God, Jacobs," Nick muttered, feeling himself giving in to the fact that Karl was pulling him towards him.

Nick let go of his board, allowing it to move slightly to the side. Karl immediately discarded his board, which helplessly hit the ground.

Sapnap's hands found the taller man's hips, pressing him against the ramp.

"Did you do this just so everyone would touch you?" Nick asked, looking into Karl's grey eyes, which sparkled with excitement.

"I only wanted you to touch me," he replied gently. "I wanted to look good for you, Nick."

"We're friends," Nick muttered, his hand sliding lower along the seam of Karl's tight shorts. "You shouldn't do things like this for friends. You shouldn't do it for anyone."

"Mhm," Karl murmured softly, placing his hand on top of Nick's, which was almost at the end of his shorts. "We're friends. But I really want to destroy our friendship."

Nick swallowed, feeling Karl's hand pushing his own lower onto his bare skin. Sapnap felt the velvety texture of Jacobs' thigh, and his breath was caught in his throat. He literally wanted to fall to his knees and worship those legs for the rest of his life.

For the first few seconds, Karl had to guide his hand, but eventually, Nick tasted a little bit of the forbidden fruit and spread his fingers wide, squeezing tightly, eliciting a surprised grunt from Karl, and his thigh surrendered, rising slightly as if begging Nick for more.

"They're really smooth," Nick muttered, still looking into Karl's eyes. His hand travelled in a small circle until it reached the back, and the man hooked his fingertips on the edge of Karl's shorts. "Please, stop teasing me. You don't have to wear shorts like these. I already know how nice your legs are."

Karl's cheeks turned red when Nick's thumb slipped beneath the fabric a little.

"Do you have anything on under them, Jacobs?" he asked softly, looking down because it was definitely too much to process. "You know what? Don't answer. I don't need another thing to worry about. I already have to walk you home."

"You're coming with me?" Karl asked in surprise, probably imagining a million things at once.

"Just to walk you," Nick muttered meaningfully. "Do you think I'm the only one who thinks your legs are amazing?"

"You don't want other people looking?" he asked, smiling, his hands finding their way to Nick's neck.

"I don't want anyone doing something stupid to you, idiot," Nick muttered seriously. "I won't stop anyone from looking. After all, you dressed up so that people would stare. Don't complain that they do."

"As long as you're looking as well" Karl assured him, pressing his leg towards Nick's touch.

"Just go back to your regular pants, Karl" Nick murmured. "Please."

"Ask nicely" Karl replied slowly, looking pleased and licking his lips. "Because I'm currently convinced that I'll never wear long pants again in your company."

"Karl, you're doing very annoying things to me," Nick muttered seriously, squeezing his soft thigh in his hand again. He liked how he could actually catch something compared to when he was touching Karla, who was slim enough that practically the only thing you could grab on her thighs was skin.

"Ask nicely, at least that's what I deserve for how good I look for you today," Karl decided.

"Better than good," Nick murmured, still with a rapidly beating heart. One of Karl's hands pulled him closer, wrapping around his neck. "You're just fishing for compliments. I saw how much you liked it when the others complimented you."

"So tell me more about how good I look. Simple" he shrugged, their faces getting closer together.

"Jesus! Get a fucking room!" a disgusted voice echoed and the two looked to the side, where some teenager was staring straight at them.

Nick had never moved away from anyone so quickly. Karl made a face and smiled apologetically at the kid, but he was already ignoring them.

"I live closer" Nick said embarrassedly. "Come on, I'll give you a car ride. I won't skate through the whole city."

Karl took a deep breath and bent down to pick up their skateboards, feeling Sapnap's burning gaze on him.

"No, you know what? Never mind. Let's go. I need to get you as far away from me as possible" Nick decided completely seriously, and Karl just chuckled, handing him the skateboard.

"Okay" Karl agreed lightly with a smile. "Lead the way, I'm not sure if I remember it correctly."

Nick looked at him for a few seconds too long.

"Okay, okay... you can't be staring at my ass. What if you fall off the skateboard?" he chuckled, locking his gaze.

"Sure, it's better for you to stare at mine instead" he replied shortly and shook his head.

"Yeah, well, you have a really nice cake right there" the boy shrugged. "Come on, let's go. We don't need more depraved people noticing our behaviour."

So they went, and Nick only calmed down halfway through the journey, when his heart stopped pounding like crazy and he realized how fucked up it was. He let himself go to a place where people could see them enough that someone had noticed.

"Wait here, okay? I'll be back with the car keys" Nick said when they arrived in front of the building where he lived.

"Mhm, whatever you say" Karl smiled at him, although there was a glimmer of hope for an invitation.

Nick was like a storm. He didn't even wait for the elevator. He ran up to the 4th floor, to his apartment, ran through the hallway, and grabbed the keys from his room, completely ignoring Clay's question about whether anything had happened.

Karl stood by his car patiently, waiting exactly as Nick had asked him to.

"Get in, it's getting late, I'm sure you have important things to do," he muttered.

The two got into the car and Nick swallowed, seeing those milky thighs within his reach.

He had to control himself. He started the car and pulled out of the parking space, ready to hit the road. He knew exactly how to get to Karl's place. The radio turned on automatically, but it played softly enough that Nick could hear every deep breath the boy took in the passenger seat. He was too aware of his presence and his legs, which were nervously flailing about.

So when they stopped at a traffic lights, the two were able to look into each other's eyes, and Karl nervously chuckled.

"We can't do things like this. It was stupid," said Nick.

"Yeah, a little, but I like doing stupid things with you," Karl murmured softly. "It's fun. Did you have a bad time?"

"No," Nick whispered defeatedly, glancing briefly at the boy's thighs, remembering what it felt like to hold his hand on them.

"Just touch them" Karl said, sounding like he was begging Nick to do it. "Come on, I won't break if you touch me."

"But I might," Nick admitted as one hand actually ran along Karl's thigh, causing him to murmur contentedly and grab Nick's hand, pressing it against himself.

"Green," he whispered with a smile to Nick.

The boy started driving, but he didn't take his hand away. It was a bit impossible, because Karl held onto it as if he was afraid Nick would back away. His legs were spread a little wider apart.

Jacobs loved how the younger boy's hand looked against his thigh. It was an addictive sight to the point where he lost track of time and realized they were at his house when Nick slipped his hand away to turn the key in the ignition and pull the handbrake.

"So..." Karl began shyly, reaching for Nick's hand again. "We can finish what we were doing."

"Don't you have anything to do?" mumbled Nick, embarrassed. "Some work for classes, maybe?"

"No," chuckled Jacobs softly. "Okay. I'm not pushing. Just threw out a suggestion. Thank you for driving me."

"Anytime," assured the boy and they looked at each other again. Karl leaned in and pecked his cheek.

"I hope I gave you something to think about for the next few days," teased Jacobs. "You definitely gave me something to think about."

"It's starting to feel like torture, I think," muttered Nick.

"Mhm, you'll have something to ponder next time someone gives you such a lame hickey," he said shortly. "Well, I'll go now. Bye, Nick."

"Bye."

Karl got out and headed straight for the entrance, turning only for a moment to wink and wave.

Nick felt so fucked up. There was no point in denying that he wanted to do more. To kiss him, maybe even lock both of them in a room and see where it would go. Karl wanted that too. There were only green lights here. The catch was that Karl wanted more out of it, while Nick was only driven by desire. Karl actually felt something for him, and Nick couldn't break his heart even more, because Karl could pretend to be open to something more casual, but Sapnap knew him a little too well. Karl was an emotional guy who attached himself to people at breakneck speed and didn't handle it well when others were jerks to him. Nick would rather die than let himself hurt Karl for his own curiosity and to satisfy his own urges. He had to protect Karl from himself.