Page 141 of The Head Game

“Everything’s good,” Nico said with a happy sigh. “Hey, do you trust me to order for you?”

August shrugged. “Sure.”

Five minutes later, they were seated at a small table with their food in front of them. Nico snapped a picture of it, then reached for his food with a happy noise.

“The doner kebab looks great,” August said, studying his meal. There was a big square piece of bread stuffed with seasoned lamb, lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and feta along with what looked like fries. There were two different sauces drizzled over it, one white, one red.

Nico beamed, a little of the white sauce already smeared at the corner of his mouth. August would never admit aloud what it looked like to him.

“What are the sauces?”

“Garlic mayo and hot sauce. You’re gonna love it,” Nico said happily. “I got us both the classic sandwich version. It’s pretty similar to the shoarma we have in Amsterdam. They have these places that stay open super late and I used to grab one after a night out and …”

He sighed, sounding nostalgic and August could picture it.

Nico out with his friends, all flushed and sweaty from a night of dancing, eyes bright, smile wide, everyone who passed by turning back to give him a second look, their gaze lingering …

August swallowed hard as it hit him why he’d been so irritated by Nico when they interacted at first.

He’d been envious.

Nico was magnetic.

August was generally regarded as a nice guy. People liked him once they got to know him. But it took time. They had to warm up to him.

He had to prove himself.

Nico drew them in.

His looks certainly didn’t hurt, but it was more than that. He possessed a certain unquantifiable charisma August would never have.

Talent August would never have.

If August had gone the route Nico had and become a player, he’d have had to put in twice the work to get half as much attention. He’d have been a solid teammate and put up the points but he’d never have drawn attention the way Nico did.

Hard work could get you to a place where you could put that charisma to good use, but a person was either born with it or not.

But August wasn’t envious anymore. Not just because Nico was in a place no one would envy because of the brain tumor.

But because he knew Nico now.

Because he’d seen that under the smile and the charm was someone vulnerable and sweet. Someone far more complex than August had initially thought.

“Hey, you can order something else if you want.” Nico settled a warm hand on August’s, who shook off his thoughts and glanced up at him.

“Sorry. No, this looks amazing. I just got lost in my head for a moment.”

“Anything you want to talk about?” The sincere concern in Nico’s eyes made August flip his hand over and squeeze Nico’s.

“No. But thanks.”

August picked his sandwich up and took a careful bite.

When his eyes widened, Nico’s hopeful grin did too. “So good, right?”

“Mmhmm,” August said around a mouthful. It reminded him of gyros, which he loved.

He’d been to Greece with his parents once and he’d fallen in love with the food. And a very hot Greek tour guide but that was a different story.

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