Page 128 of The Head Game

Nico grumbled his way to the bedroom but twenty minutes later he came out in a sheer black and white shirt, unbuttoned halfway to his navel, black trousers, and a pair of leather ankle boots.

August wore his usual wool trousers, button-down shirt, and cardigan—a look so painfully dorky Nico found it hot.

August raised an eyebrow. “No more sweats?”

“Nope. I was getting sick of them.” Nico pulled a toque on. “Nothing I can do about the hair, unfortunately.”

“Do I want to know how long it takes you to get ready when your hair has grown out?”

“Nope. But stick with me and you’ll find out.” Nico smacked August’s ass.

Jesus, that is hard enough to bounce quarters off.

Once August let him be a little more active in the bedroom, Nico was totally getting his face all up in there.

Nico’s dick was still being frustrating but showing a few more signs of life so he was hopeful it might start behaving normally. Someday.

August laughed and opened the door of the entryway closet, shrugging on a coat. “Well, the press release is out and we’re both being investigated so I guess we’re stuck together a while longer.”

“Guess so.”

Nico smiled and tweaked August’s jacket. “It was nice of Kate to return your peacoat. Did you know I’ve fantasized about you fucking me wearing nothing else?”

“You would.” August fastened a brassy button. “Kate said she was going to destroy it but …”

“I guess she realized it was going to come in handy,” Nico said with a smile.

“I suppose. Although I can’t imagine we’ll have anyone photographing us on the way to Fowler’s house.”

“No, probably not,” Nico agreed. He pulled on a silver puffer jacket. “But it’s worth being thorough in case we run into fans somewhere. It’ll drive the point home that you were the guy in those pictures on JockGossip. And seriously, you don’t know how many times I’ve been at a gas station or whatever and had someone come up wanting autographs.”

They were silent as they left the condo and got in the elevator.

“How do you stand it?” August asked as they reached the underground parking level. He hit the automatic start on Nico’s spare car fob.

Well, it was his now.

Nico wasn’t driving anywhere until he got the all-clear from the doc. And with some of his vision still missing, that could take a while.

“Stand what?”

“That level of scrutiny. I mean, in the past few years I’ve had some fans scream at me about shitty calls but …”

Nico shrugged. “Well, it wouldn’t be so bad outside of Toronto. And it’s not like we’re movie stars or something. Even in Toronto, not everyone watches hockey. Honestly, if I didn’t have such a social media presence, it wouldn’t happen as much to me either.”

August had seemed shocked when Nico had been approached as they grabbed lunch out after his rehab appointment the other day.

“Do you do the social media thing for your endorsement deals or …”

“I mean, that’s some of it,” Nico admitted as they headed toward his Porsche. “I have some pretty sweet deals. But it blew up when Sky and I were dating.”

“Sure, makes sense.”

“I mean, she’s a million times more well known than I am. But I find it fun. You can connect with a lot of people.”

August stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Not the way I’d want to go about it but …”

Laughing, Nico hooked his hand through August’s bent arm. “Yeah, but we know you’re boring and stodgy, Auggie.”

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