It was instinct to sit up and wrap his arms around Misha, and if not for Misha’s startled squawk, Riley wouldn’t have realized he shouldn’t have been able to move the taller man so easily. Riley opened his mouth, to apologize or explain, but Misha shrugged it off philosophically and smiled down at him. The raw emotion in his eyes hurt to see.

Then the idiot just had to open his mouth again.

“I don’t give a shit how long it’ll take you to get over who I am, Riley.

You left me. I saw you die. I’m not letting you out of my sight again, ever.”

That’s a long time, McClane noted, sounding awed. Is he serious?

Damned if Misha hadn’t sounded dead serious.

Panic reared its head, because there was one hell of a difference between admitting to himself that maybe he wanted Misha to stick around and being told point blank that walking away wasn’t an option anymore. It felt like a trap door slamming shut. No emergency exit. Nowhere to run.

Nowhere to retreat. It was enough to make Riley’s adrenaline levels spike so fast McClane clutched at his bones with a yelp. Riley barely noticed. He wasn’t good at dealing with panic or with being cornered. It made him aggressive and a little dumb. Kind of like tequila. He took his hands off Misha, which didn’t do him much good since Misha was still straddling him, and snarled.

“I’m not fucking a hit man.”

“You already did,” Misha reminded him testily, “and you liked it.”

His eyes widened when his brain caught up with his mouth and he raised a hand quickly in a pacifying gesture to keep Riley from snapping and punching him again.

“Whoa. Sorry. I’m tired. That just slipped out. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Unfortunately, that didn’t make it any less true.

Riley fought his flight reflex and lost. For the second time since Riley had woken up, Misha ended up on his ass on the floor. This time, though, Riley didn’t stand his ground. He skirted around Misha, snatched up his duffel bag and boots in passing, and retreated to the window where he didn’t feel quite as boxed in. McClane tactfully covered him in armor again from the waist down, but mercifully kept his comments to himself.