Page 98 of The Head Game

“In the alley?”

“No! Of course not. We went to a hotel. Look, it was a stupid decision. I shouldn’t have done it but my head wasn’t in a good place because of Daniel’s wedding and I … Nico was offering and it just … happened.”

“Dude, nothing has ever just happened to you in your life.”

“Well, apparently sometimes things do.”

They had been happening with annoying regularity now that Nico was in his life.

“So you hooked up with him and then what?” Julius prompted.

“And then I fucking watched him have a seizure on the goddamn ice and I thought it was my fucking fault.”

Julius drew in a sharp breath. “Shit. That’s scary.”

“It was.” August rubbed a hand over the steering wheel. “And I panicked and showed up at the hospital and I couldn’t get in to see him if I wasn’t family and … it was a horrible avalanche of bad decisions after.”

He went on to explain the entire situation. When he was done, Julius was silent.

A rarity for him and August was about to tease him about that when he finally spoke.

“So you had sex with Nico Arents, pretended to be his fiancé, and now your entire career is fucked?”

“More or less.” August sighed.

“Wow. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I didn’t want to have it in me.”

“Well, apparently you did.” Julius cackled. “You had something in you anyway.”

August sputtered. “I didn’t … not that there’s anything wrong with it but it was Nico who …”

Julius cackled. “Okay, waaaaay too much info, bro.”

“That’s usually my line to you, eh,” he managed over his laughter, relieved because Jules always knew how to lighten the mood.

August’s future was a terrifying prospect but the jokes helped push away the bleak feelings threatening to creep in.

“Ha. True. Anyway, what happens now? You’re throwing in the towel on your officiating career to be Nico Arents’ sugar baby?”

“What? Dear God, no. Of course not!” August shook his head at that mental image. “The team’s VP of PR of Communications or whatever, Kate, came up with a plan for us. I don’t know if it’s a good plan, but it’s a plan.”

August outlined what she’d suggested and once again, Julius was silent a moment. “And you trust her?” he asked, his tone filled with skepticism.

August hesitated. “Mostly. I mean, she definitely seems sincere. She admitted Nico and the team come first to her, which is to be expected. But that’s the thing, this is better for the team, for Nico, and for me.”

“Is it though? Pretending to be engaged to him is better than … cutting your losses and fessing up that you fucked up?”

August grimaced. “I don’t know. She and Skylar seem convinced that spinning this into a love story will get us more sympathy. But I have to talk to Nico about it, which means fessing up to the truth.”

“Well, no one knows more about PR than Skylar Hanley. She totally grew up in the public eye.” Julius drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, hey, wait. Does this mean you can introduce me to her? Oh, never mind, I take back my earlier suggestion. You should definitely stay fake engaged to Nico if it means I get to meet his gorgeous ex.”

“You’re a horrible brother, you know that?”

“Duh. And seriously, what are the odds of you introducing me to her?”

August hummed. “Well, we did get pretty close while Nico was in the hospital. But I’m not sure you deserve her,” he teased.

---