Page 94 of The Head Game

“You’re going to work with the therapist,” August said firmly. “And you’ll practice a lot. It’ll be slow and tedious and really fucking frustrating. But you’ll get there. Day by day.”

“I’m bad at that,” Nico said. The raw vulnerability in his voice made August want to reach out and cup Nico’s face, run a reassuring thumb across his cheek.

“Maybe,” August said, stepping closer, though he kept his arm by his side. “But how bad do you want to be back?”

“So fucking bad,” Nico rasped.

“Then you’ll do it,” August assured him. “Even when it gets hard. And hey, you’re not doing it alone.”

Nico let out a shuddering breath and reached out to take August’s free hand. “Thanks, Auggie. I needed to hear that. I don’t know what I’d do without you right now.”

August had meant that Nico had his family and Skylar, but the earnest sincerity in Nico’s eyes and voice was too much.

He’d feel like a jerk telling Nico he hadn’t meant to include himself.

So he nodded and squeezed Nico’s hand. “I’m glad it helps.”

* * *

It was still dark when Nico awoke.

August was asleep beside him, the TV on and some preview for a movie Nico had never heard of playing on a loop.

After Nico had eaten, they’d picked out a movie to watch.

Nico was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep in the first ten minutes but August had clearly also crashed before it was over.

Now, Nico fumbled in the covers for the remote and turned the TV off.

The room went dark and silent except for August’s slow, steady breaths.

The curtains were open and Nico could see the lights of the city, pinpricks of brightness in the dark night.

He wanted to get up and close the drapes but August slept on his side, arm thrown across Nico’s waist, pinning him down.

It wasn’t new for Nico to fall asleep with someone.

When he and Sky had been dating, they’d spent months bouncing back and forth between each other’s beds. Sometimes they still crashed in the same bed, except they had a lot more clothes on than they used to.

But Nico had shared a bed with other hookups too.

He’d never understood the people who didn’t kiss or wouldn’t spend the night with someone after sex.

Maybe it kept them from developing feelings but Nico had never been like that.

He’d never been afraid of falling in love; it just hadn’t happened often.

He’d loved Skylar. Still loved her in a fierce sort of way, even though they had no future. Even though they were a disaster together.

And he’d seen flickers of potential with other people, chased those flickers for a while, thriving on the fun and excitement until they faded.

But he was engaged now.

What had he seen in August that had made him want to tie his life to someone else’s when he’d absolutely never wanted that with anyone else before?

Based on what Nico did remember of the way things started between them, he would’ve thought it would be a heated clash that quickly burned out.

But August was here, warm and solid.

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