Page 145 of The Head Game

Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. Hadn’t really considered it. Long-term planning isn’t my thing, Auggie.”

“Shocking,” August said drily. “I’d never have expected that.”

“I think probably not though. I love visiting Amsterdam but Toronto feels like home. I guess it would depend on if I got traded before then or something.”

“Yeah, there’s always that,” August said, understanding completely.

Nico slid away. “So, you were saying something about cake?”

“Yeah. Let’s get you a celebration cupcake for all your hard work lately.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Nico opened his condo door and came face-to-face with four extremely upset people.

“Where on earth were you?” Isa demanded the moment he and August stepped inside.

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Uhh, out with August. Why?”

“You had us worried sick,” Pieter said, frowning. “When you didn’t come home right after PT and hours passed and you didn’t answer your phone, we thought something had happened to you.”

“Oh. We just went into Old Toronto. We grabbed lunch and Auggie took me to my favorite record shop. I don’t think I get good service in there.”

And he hadn’t checked his phone after. He’d been too busy looking at his new records and talking to August about them. He could see now he had a ton of missed calls and texts.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to worry you,” he added, feeling a touch guilty.

“Worry us!” Isa put her hands on her hips. “We were about to start calling the hospitals. Thank goodness Anika had the sense to check your social media! She saw the post about your lunch.”

“Calling hospitals? Overreaction, much? We’ve only been gone for—” Nico winced when he glanced at his phone again and saw the time. “Well, okay, that was longer than I realized but still. Like I said, we went out for doner kebab and August took me to the record store. Oh, here’s some cupcakes, by the way. Enjoy.”

He thrust the box at his mother. He and August had split one at the bakery and brought the rest home for his family.

Pieter frowned. “Cupcakes? And doner kebab for lunch? Nico, that’s not—”

“Yeah, I know,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes. “It might cause inflammation. But Auggie wanted to celebrate that I had a good day at rehab and so did I.”

“If you keep that up, you’ll set all your progress back,” Pieter chided.

Nico groaned. “It will not. God, why are you turning this into such a big deal? August and I know how to handle this. We would have come right home if I’d been feeling off at all. But I didn’t. I feel great right now, in fact.”

“Going out without telling us was incredibly irresponsible,” Isa said with a frown.

“I’ve been living alone by myself since I was twenty,” he protested. “Hell, I went off to boarding school at fourteen and I was taking international flights on my own way before that.”

“Yes, but there were adults looking after you.”

Nico stared. “And what in the hell do you think I am now? For God sakes, I’m twenty-six!”

“No, Nico, we know that. It’s just—”

“And August was with me all day if you need a real adult to look after me,” he said snidely.

“Nico!” Pieter chastised.

“What, Dad?” he asked. “I am sorry I worried you guys. I didn’t mean to. But what the fuck? This is ridiculous. I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t doing anything reckless. I felt good today and I wanted to celebrate. August and I had a nice time in Old Toronto. I’m allowed to have an afternoon out with my—my fiancé.”

Weird, he’d almost called August his boyfriend.

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