Page 176 of The Head Game

“Yeah, anyway. Turns out I didn’t have to give that up, did I?” August’s eyes stung. “I probably could have had the playing career and the husband and family. If only I’d known at sixteen.”

Nico slid closer. “Yeah, but we had no fucking way of knowing hockey would go in this direction when we were teenagers. You made a choice based on what you knew then.”

“I did but …”

It hurt.

August hadn’t realized how much it hurt to know he’d given up one dream in favor of another and wound up losing both.

If this went the way he thought it would, he wouldn’t have any of it.

Just a fake fiancé and no career. Go him.

“Auggie.” Nico’s tone was surprisingly gentle. “I didn’t mean to make you feel worse.”

“No, I know,” August admitted with a heavy sigh. “I know you didn’t. I’m feeling sorry for myself right now.”

“C’mere.” Nico wrapped his arms around him and August sagged against his body. “Will it make you feel better if I tell you a funny story about how I accidentally set up Skylar and Julius and they are probably at his place having wild monkey sex right now? Or possibly eating black bean nachos. I’m not entirely sure. But they looked very happy when they left.”

August drew back far enough to look Nico in the eye. “You did what now?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“I can’t believe you weren’t going to put a tree up,” Nico said, shaking his head as he stared at the brightly lit faux evergreen. “It’s Christmas.”

“Well, I have been a little busy. I hadn’t made any plans for Christmas yet,” August pointed out, the words coming out a bit snarkier than intended as he stacked the small mountain of empty boxes to return to the basement. “I figured Jules and I would do something but he’s otherwise occupied at the moment.”

August had woken up this morning to a picture of Julius and Skylar in bed together, looking cozy and happy.

Good for them. But August was feeling sorry for himself and he hadn’t been able to talk himself out of it.

It was going to be a strange holiday.

His parents were out of the country. Julius was doing whatever with Skylar. A second snowstorm—bigger than the first—had walloped the area, and he and Nico were trapped in his house until the roads were passable.

Nico had sounded a little bummed when he called his parents to let them know he wouldn’t make it back to Toronto for Christmas Day.

But he’d immediately bounced back and pestered August until he dragged out the Christmas decorations he stored in his basement.

He hadn’t expected Nico to use all of the decorations, however. They were a mix of ones he’d purchased himself and ones his parents had given him, and he usually chose a few of each and considered that plenty.

But now the artificial tree was absolutely ablaze with lights and covered in colorful bulbs. There was garland wrapped around the stairs and on the TV stand and various other bits scattered throughout the other rooms.

The house now looked like the holidays had thrown up all over it and August was in a Scrooge-like funk. Grinch-like? One of the two.

Because he was going to get one perfect Christmas with Nico, then he was going to lose it all.

August thought about it as he carted empty boxes down the stairs.

The ruling from the league would come down any day now and there would be no reason for him and Nico to keep pretending to be in love.

All day, August had watched Nico decorate his house and snap pictures to post online and all he’d wanted was for it to be real.

All he’d wanted was for this to be his life.

He had no idea how he’d gone from finding Nico Arents the most irritating human being on the planet to being in love with him but he had.

It had hit him when they were in bed together at Nico’s place following their date in Kensington Market. It hadn’t been any one single moment that had tipped him over the edge, more of a dawning realization creeping over him until he could no longer deny his feelings.

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