Page 54 of The Head Game

Skylar laughed. “Very true. Stupid stubborn idiot.” But her tone was fond.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” August admitted. “Nico and I just butt heads. We had sex once but we don’t even like each other.”

“He is pretty good in bed,” Skylar said with a little shrug. “There’s that.”

August laughed, surprised by her bluntness. Although maybe it wasn’t so surprising if she and Nico were friends. “I told him he wasn’t that great.”

“I bet he hated that. Did you mean it?”

“No,” August admitted. “He was …” He couldn’t quite put it into words. “Well, I’m here, aren’t I?”

Skylar gave him an understanding look. “He’s one of a kind.”

“Yeah,” August agreed. Whether or not August liked that about Nico was still up in the air but he did care how he was doing. “I really should go now though. It was stupid to come here.”

He started to rise but Skylar clamped a hand on his arm. “Oh no. I am not sitting here for three to five hours by myself. You can keep me entertained while we wait.”

“I don’t know,” August said reluctantly.

“Are you gonna go home and relax or are you going to worry about Nico?” Skylar asked.

“Worry about Nico,” he admitted.

“Then stay. Please.” For the first time, he caught a flicker of fear in Skylar’s eyes. “I don’t want to do this alone.”

“Aren’t his parents coming?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be hours yet. They’re flying from Amsterdam.”

“I don’t want to have to explain to them why I lied about their son having a fiancé.”

Skylar laughed. “His mom said she’d text me once they landed. It’ll be fine.”

“Oh. Okay.” August settled back.

“So, tell me everything about you.”

“Uhh.” August hesitated. “Are you sure? It’s probably going to be pretty boring.”

“What else are we going to do?” she asked. “Talk about the fact that they’re going to saw into Nico’s skull?”

August winced. “Right. So, I was born in Toronto. I have a twin brother, Julius, who is eight minutes younger than me.”

“Identical?”

“No. We look quite a bit alike but we’re not identical. He claims he’s the better-looking one.”

Skylar laughed. “Show me.”

Obediently, August pulled out his phone and brought up a picture from the hiking trip to Banff he and Julius had taken last summer.

She studied it for a minute. “He’s not bad. You’re more interesting-looking though.”

“Thanks?”

“No, it’s good. You’ll age better. He’s kind of a pretty boy and that doesn’t hold up as well.”

August laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell him Skylar Hanley said that. He’s been into you for years. It’ll crush his ego for sure, eh.”

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