Page 80 of The Head Game

He grimaced, nodding.

“Isa and Pieter both want you to come stay with Nico. If you do, you can help run interference for him.”

“What about you? You know them all better than I do,” he protested.

“I do but I have my own shit to deal with. It’s only a matter of time before my pregnancy blows up. When it does, I’m going to be dealing with my own family bullshit. I would love to help Nico but I can’t do it right now. Not with the baby coming.” She sighed and smoothed her hand over her stomach. “Besides, Nico and I would murder each other in about three days. There was this one time we went on vacation in St. Tropez and we argued so much we both almost got arrested. If Nico hadn’t spoken a little French, we’d have both been in jail. Trust me, no one wants us living together. Besides, how bad would that look?”

August had to concede her point.

If he and Nico were supposed to be engaged, Nico living with his pregnant ex-girlfriend would raise some eyebrows.

“Fine. That’s fair. I don’t know anything about taking care of someone recovering from brain surgery though,” he said, although he knew it was a weak argument.

“I imagine very few families do,” Kate pointed out. “Surely the doctor can give you information.”

“Besides,” Skylar said, giving him an earnest look. “You heard Isa and Pieter. They’re going to make sure he gets the best medical care he can. All you’d have to do is drive Nico around to appointments and be sure he doesn’t accidentally hurt himself while he does his rehab.”

“Or try to push himself too hard,” Kate added. “Because we all know that’s going to happen.”

August sighed. He wished he could say their arguments weren’t compelling. He just had one big sticking point.

“I agree with you on that. But I don’t feel good about lying to Nico’s face about who I am to him. He’s vulnerable right now. I don’t like the idea of telling him he’s forgetting something that never existed. That feels like I’m manipulating him or gaslighting him or something and I don’t like it.”

“I understand that,” Kate said. “But I’m not sure two days out from brain surgery is the right time to drop the truth on him. He’s been through a lot.”

“He has.” August hesitated. “And I certainly don’t want to do anything that will make this situation worse for him. I just feel like … if this was something Nico and I cooked up together and agreed on, fine. I’d be okay with that. I feel shitty about making him an accomplice when he can’t decide if he wants to be or not!”

August swallowed. That had come out a little more heated than he’d intended.

Kate’s eyes widened. “I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I’m not asking you to lie to Nico about it,” she explained. “If he asks, of course you should tell him the truth.”

“Okay …” August said slowly. That put his mind at ease.

“And it’s your decision about when you tell him if he doesn’t ask,” Kate continued.

“But?” August asked, because there was clearly one there.

“But consider not volunteering that information until Nico is ready. You can be the judge of when the right moment is.”

August nodded. “Yeah, okay. That makes sense to me.”

“All I’m suggesting is that we buy ourselves a little time with the public by continuing this charade until we can all sit down and decide how to handle the situation.”

“I guess that makes sense.” August hesitated, still mulling it over. “I … I don’t love it but I guess I could live with it.”

Kate nodded like that was settled. “When is your next game?”

August straightened, aghast to realize the thought hadn’t crossed his mind once. What day was it anyway? He glanced at his watch. “Uhh, the day after tomorrow.”

“Do you expect to officiate it?”

“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it. I’ve been so wrapped up in this situation and I’m kind of losing track of the days. They sort of bleed into one another.”

“Well, it’s time you think about it,” Kate said. “I do not see any way they’ll allow you to work that game but I have a suggestion for how you can lay some groundwork for your future now. Call and request a leave of absence during Nico’s hospital stay.”

“That’ll definitely trigger an investigation.”

“It’s already going to happen, August. There’s no getting around that.”

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