Page 4 of The Head Game

Which was something Nico was always in favor of getting in the middle of.

It couldn’t be said he had a type but he liked people who knew how to have fun in bed and Dustin and Charlie would be fun.

But they were way too wrapped up in each other to be bothered with the likes of Nico and he didn’t take it personally.

There were plenty of other fish in the sea and people to fuck and Nico was determined to reel in as many of them as he could.

He was young, hot, rich, and got to play pro hockey for a living. Why wouldn’t he squeeze every last drop out of life while he had the chance?

After Nico had finished warming up—which mostly consisted of flirting with fans and annoying his teammates—he left the ice.

He was usually one of the first off.

Some guys had a mile-long list of routines and superstitions they went through but Nico had never needed a long warm-up. He could easily turn on or off his ability to play whenever he needed.

Besides, he was team DJ and needed to get the beats going in the locker room.

Nico loved putting together the playlists, carefully crafting music collections that suited the tastes of the current roster and their needs.

The portable speaker was ready to connect to his phone so he hit play on tonight’s high-energy pre-game selection to get the guys fired up, then settled in his stall.

He thumbed through his notifications, checking to see if he had any messages from his ex-girlfriend Skylar Hanley.

He did.

Look how swollen my ankles are!

The picture that followed showed what looked to Nico like Skylar’s perfectly normal ankles, slender, almost bony.

Sorry, babe, Nico sent back. Elevate and be sure to rest!

There was a weird kind of irony to him being the person who got text messages about pregnancy-related symptoms.

It definitely wasn’t his kid or his responsibility, and he was only doing it because he loved Sky.

Not in any kind of settling-down way. Every time they’d tried to date it had ended messily and with tears on both their parts—okay fine, usually Nico’s—because they somehow managed to rub up against each other in all of the worst ways.

But when his best friend had sobbed onto his shoulder about having to handle a pregnancy alone, he hadn’t been about to tell her to fuck off.

He’d pulled her into a tight hug and promised her he’d be there for her and the baby.

“Hey, is that Sky?” Matty asked, leaning over into his stall to stare at his screen.

“Yeah. Do her ankles look swollen to you?”

“No?”

“That’s what I thought!”

“How’s she doing?”

Nico shrugged. “Grumpy about pregnancy symptoms but otherwise good.”

“I still can’t believe you aren’t going to make an honest woman of her.”

Nico laughed. “It’s not my kid and we’re not dating! Besides, I’m pretty sure if I did propose, she’d punch me in the face.”

“You do have a punchable face,” Matty agreed.

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