Page 52 of The Head Game

“Did you sneak in here pretending to be Nico’s fiancé?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes were narrowed too but amusement lurked around the corners of her mouth like she was trying to hide a smile.

“Uhh …”

“Sit.” Skylar pointed at the nearby chair, her eyes dancing. “I know Nico isn’t engaged to you so explain to me how you got yourself tangled up in this situation.”

August scrubbed a hand over his face and did as instructed. “You know who I am?”

She scoffed and took a seat next to him, unzipping her puffy winter coat a little. “Pfft. Of course. August Manning. You’re the ref Nico hooked up with. Nice peacoat, by the way.”

August groaned. “Thanks. And yeah. That’s me.” At this point there was no denying it.

“Explain to me exactly how you ended up here claiming to be Nico’s betrothed.”

August went through what he’d seen at the game and that he was worried about Nico.

“I shouldn’t have lied,” he admitted. “I—I only wanted to know how he was doing. I needed to see for myself that he was okay. It was really awful seeing him unconscious.”

Skylar gave him a sympathetic smile, all of the teasing in her voice gone. “I bet. The videos were bad enough.”

“But I should go now, right?” he said. “I mean, before I make a stupid lie any worse.”

She hesitated. “Well, why don’t you at least stick around for the update on how Nico is doing? No harm there.”

“Do you think that’s okay? Will they give me any information?”

“Oh sure. If I vouch for you, they will.”

“You’re not family either.”

“No, but I am on his emergency contact list. Everyone knows my face and that Nico and I used to date so no one questions it. Besides, I always get my way.”

August didn’t doubt it.

Skylar smiled. “If anyone asks why you aren’t on the list, we’ll have to say he hadn’t gotten around to updating it. Nico, always so irresponsible.”

August raised an eyebrow.

“Look, I love Nico but legitimately, that kind of shit is not his forte. I had to badger him to get me on the list in the first place.”

Skylar shrugged out of her coat and August’s gaze dropped to her stomach. Holy shit. Was she pregnant?

He couldn’t ask.

But she must have caught his look of confusion. “Yes, I’m pregnant. I haven’t been enjoying too many cronuts and iced lattes lately. Pretty sure I won’t be able to keep this a secret for much longer but please don’t spread it around.”

“Of course,” August assured her. “I won’t say anything.”

Like he was going to go to the gossip blogs? Yeah right.

“Thanks.” Skylar sighed and rubbed a hand over the swell of her stomach. “God, I’m so worried about Nics.”

“Me too.”

But August suddenly wondered. Who exactly was the father of Skylar Hanley’s baby? “Is Nico … uh, no, never mind.”

Skylar gave him an amused glance. “The baby’s father? No, he’s definitely not. He wasn’t cheating on me with you or something, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Sorry,” August gave her a sheepish look. “I really shouldn’t have—”

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