Page 82 of The Head Game

No need to have photo proof. He had a reputation to maintain.

In front of the hospital, there was a roomy SUV and his father hurried to open the door for him.

A middle-aged woman wearing a pleasant smile and scrubs sat inside. Presumably, the private nurse his mom had hired. Nico had assured her it was totally unnecessary, but she’d insisted on it and he’d finally given up on arguing, too tired to care.

At least she’d stopped pushing the idea of him having a round-the-clock live-in nurse.

Nico got out of his wheelchair with a groan, shocked by how sore he was. He hadn’t done anything in days. Why did he hurt so much?

Several people held out their arms for him to take but he brushed them off.

“I can walk,” he said testily. “Stop it.”

Yeah, this was going to get really old, really fast.

He held out a hand instead. “Come sit next to me, Auggie. I plan to nap on you.”

August gave him a faint smile. “I think you’ll have to make do with a pillow. You’re going to travel with your parents and the nurse. I have to drive home separately.”

Nico frowned. “But …”

“I’ll be in Toronto by this evening, I promise,” he said. “But my car is here in Buffalo.”

“Can’t I ride with you?”

“No. You’ll be much more comfortable in the SUV, I promise. Besides, I need to stop by my place for some clothes and stuff.”

“Okay.” Great, Nico was going to be trapped in a vehicle with his parents and a nurse. Ugh. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long at the border. With a bunch of different citizenships, it was going to get interesting. “Wait,” he said, frowning. “What about my passport?”

Kate stepped forward and held it out. “Here. I found it in your suitcase.”

“Hope you enjoyed what else was in there.” Nico winked as he took the passport from her. He didn’t take his whole collection with him or anything but he usually packed lube, condoms, and a vibrating butt plug.

She gave him a dour look. “I’m a mother. I’m very good at selective seeing. All I noticed were clothes and toiletries.”

Nico grinned. “Good to know.”

* * *

August braced himself when Nico stepped close, settling a hand on August’s waist. “So I’ll see you at my place soon, Auggie?”

“Yeah, I need enough time to pack and to feed my fish.”

“Huh,” Nico said thoughtfully. “I had no idea you had a fish.”

Isa raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.

August had to scramble to come up with a plausible answer. “Well, you never came to my place in Hamilton to meet Marty.”

Nico smirked. “You named your fish Marty?”

“It’s after Martin Foster,” he said defensively. “He’s—”

Kate let out a surprised bark of a laugh, cutting off his words. “You named your fish after my father?”

August blinked as her words processed. Oh shit, hopefully she wouldn’t take it as an insult. “Kate Foster. Wow. I should have put it together but I had no idea you were related to him.”

She gave him a little grin. “Have been my whole life.”

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