Page 79 of The Head Game

“Assistant coach,” Kate corrected.

“Fine, assistant coach, but my point still stands. How did they win them over? They sold the romance,” Skylar said triumphantly. “It’s always about the optics, baby. The league cares about that as much as anything because it impacts revenue.”

She and Kate shared a look.

“Yeah, but—but Theriault and Tate were actually in love,” August sputtered. “Are actually in love.”

“True.” Kate shot him a glance. “I assume that’s not the case with you and Nico?”

August laughed incredulously. “Uhh, hardly. Like I said, we had sex. Once.”

“Well, the public doesn’t need to know the details and obviously you cared enough about him to show up at the hospital.”

“I was concerned about him!” August protested. “I was worried my call on the first hit had somehow led to this. I thought I’d missed something. And like Skylar said, it all snowballed from there.”

“Fine. So maybe you and Nico aren’t in love or anything close to it, but—”

“Two weeks ago I couldn’t stand the guy!”

“And now?”

August hesitated. “He … I care about his well-being. I like his family and Skylar. But that doesn’t mean it makes any kind of sense to pretend to be in love with him going forward. Who is going to believe it?”

“We’ll make them believe.” Kate looked him in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

August sighed. “I’m sure you’re very good at what you do, but I … this is so not me. I don’t live a life where I’m under the public’s scrutiny like this. I’m not Nico or Skylar. Even if I agreed to it, I’d have no idea how to sell it.”

“I can help you with that.” Kate leaned forward. “Look at it this way, Manning. You’re suspended either way. You can spend that time alone panicking about your future or you can use that time to do something to save it.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” he said drily. He didn’t have any other choice, did he?

But Kate ignored his sarcasm. “Look, you and Nico have … a connection of some type. It may not be romantic but there is clearly some chemistry there.”

Grudgingly, August nodded.

“And you showed up at the hospital because you were worried about him. I can think of far worse starting points.”

“I suppose.”

“I suggest you move into Nico’s place for a little while. Help him with his recovery. It’s not the worst duty in the world, right?”

August wasn’t so sure.

“When the league questions you about it, you can honestly say you care about him.”

“Sure, but they’re going to ask for details. When we started seeing each other. When we got engaged … no. This is crazy. I can’t do this.”

“August, I have a shitload of reporters waiting for confirmation and the head office and people from the league screaming at me for answers. If I thought there was any other way around this, I assure you, I’d suggest it. While I’ll never agree to anything that could harm the organization or Nico, I wouldn’t throw you to the wolves either.”

“I understand and appreciate that. But I’m not making any decisions until Nico and I can discuss the situation,” August insisted. “His career will be impacted too.”

“Not nearly as much as yours,” Kate said, her tone blunt.

“I know.”

“Then think carefully about this, August. Your future is on the line and it’s up to you how you want to deal with it. There are easier paths for me to take here. I can finesse this so Nico walks away from it with no real damage. I’ll help you too if you want it, but it’s no skin off my nose if you choose not to.”

Skylar tugged at his sleeve and he turned to look at her. “And this is a way you could help Nico too. You’ve seen his family. They’re … a lot.”

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