Swooped | ✓

Chapter 16: To Get Your Ducks In a Row

By the time we had decided on a final design for my suit, Geoff was tiptoeing his way past the fine line of tipsy, Gia's hands were splattered with ink, Milo was still adamant on staring at me, and I was beginning to nervously sweat because Milo was still staring at me.

It was only when we were buying sheets of Kevlar off the internet that Milo got up from my bed to stand behind me. I stubbed my toe on the leg of my desk, swallowing back my hiss of pain when Milo's hands pressed against the desk's edge, pinning me in. His arms had tucked themselves under my wings, and I could feel the displacement of my feathers as his arms rubbed against them.

Oh my God, what the hell is he doing?!

All I could concentrate on was how Milo's chest was pressed against my back, his body hot, and his breath fanning across the back of my neck, making me hyperaware of his presence. My wings were tensed, toes curled. Even though he was a little taller, we were similar enough in height that he didn't quite swallow my form up, but the way his weight leaned on my just slightly made me feel like my chest was being crushed. 

Or was it just my heart?

I couldn't tell, because Milo was so fucking close.

I had been much closer with other people before - hell, way closer with no clothes in the way - but this was different. This was Milo. My straight best friend Milo. 

Straight. He's straight.

Right?

Okay, so maybe he was not bothered by the whole 'I was in love with you for a handful of milliseconds of my life as an early-pubescent teen' thing. Maybe he was just staring at me because he thought I was being weird about  it. Because I was being weird about it. Very weird about it.

Milo was probably super chill about it. Yep, yep, super chill. Chill enough to not be bothered by being close with me like we usually are. 

Milo was chill about it, so you should be chill about it, Culver.

Chiiiillll.

"Don't use your credit card to buy it, idiot," Milo said, voice low. I could feel the rumble in his chest as he spoke against my spine, which tingled.

Actual tingles.

Fuck, fuck. You don't just tingle Culver, what is this, a romance novel? Chill the fuck out.

"Why not?" I asked, focusing on keeping my voice steady. Nice. Easy does it. Super natural, nothing amiss. My heart isn't racing, and I'm not acutely aware of the way his hips sometimes bump my ass. Nope. Everything is normal.

"It's better to be careful. People are probably going to end up finding out about you if they start reporting on a man flying around saving kittens and the occasional person dressed in a unique Kevlar suit. A smart person would probably be able to track you down based on your online purchases, because what average 18-year-old from your neighbourhood goes around buying Kevlar," Milo said.

Tinglestinglestingles. NO.

"Well, if people track my purchases they'll probably be more interested in the toys I ordered the other day," I said lightly, Gia giving me a knowing look. "And yes, I don't mean kids toys, my friends."

"Jeez, you need to get laid," Gia said, shivering at my words. 

I could feel Milo's body grow rigid behind me, and I gulped.

"Uh, anyway. How do we pay for the Kevlar then? And where do we send it to?"

"Prepaid gift cards can work, as long as you paid for them with cash. And you can send the parcel to an institution, like uni or something," Milo said, his arms flexing around my sides.