Page 129 of The Head Game

“And yet, you keep me around.”

“Well, you’re pretty decent in bed and you keep my parents from driving me up the damn wall. Hey, speaking of, where did everyone go? The condo was weirdly quiet when I woke up. Did you scare them into hiding?”

August opened the passenger-side door, holding it open for Nico.

Nico raised an eyebrow at August in question at the gesture. August was either feeling very chivalrous or was playing the fiancé thing up. But he shut the door without acknowledging Nico’s unspoken question.

After he slid into the driver’s seat, all August said was, “Your parents are out having dinner. I convinced them they needed a night out and since we were going to be out as well, they went along with it. I’m not sure if it was the four of them together or in twos though. I can barely keep track of who is doing what together.”

“Yeah, it’s weird seeing my mom and Omm getting along so well. Not that they’ve ever disliked each other but I think my mom was jealous of how close I was to Noor.”

“Why do you call Noor Omm anyway? Is that Dutch?” August asked as he drove straight out of the parking spot. Because of course he was the kind of guy who backed into them.

Nico shook his head. August Manning really was a ridiculous human being.

“It’s Arabic for mom. She was born in Morocco but moved to the Netherlands when she was young. She works as a translator now, you know.”

“Oh right, I think that came up when you were in the hospital. I don’t know. That time is kind of a strange fog now. You speak a little Arabic, right?”

“Ehh. I learned a little bit growing up,” Nico said. “It was fun. It was like Noor and I had a secret language.”

August smiled. “So you call her Omm.”

“Yes. Isa is always Mom, Noor is Omm, and Anika is just Anika. And I love them all and they’re all my moms but …”

“In different ways?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to explain.”

August shrugged and pulled out onto the street, making a careful left and using his turn signal. “It’s good to have a lot of people who care about you, whatever you call them.”

“Yes,” Nico agreed. He sighed, leaning his head against the seat rest. “But they still drive me nuts sometimes.”

“I know. My family drives me nuts sometimes too.”

Nico lifted his head. “Why don’t you talk about them?”

“Well, you haven’t asked.” August’s tone was teasing.

Nico smiled. “I guess I should. Tell me about them.”

“That was an order, not asking, but my parents are both university professors.”

Nico laughed. “God, that fits.”

Weird, uptight, sweater-vest-and-cardigan-wearing Auggie definitely came from that sort of family.

August chuckled. “I guess.”

“What do they teach?” Nico glanced over, staring at August’s profile as he kept his eyes on the road, his hands firmly on ten and two.

“My dad’s focus is Greek literature and my mom’s is Roman history.”

“The name Augustus makes a lot of sense now. And shut up. Yes, I recognize the name of a Roman emperor, thank you.”

August laughed. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I could hear you thinking it,” Nico teased.

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