“Throw me the keys?” I call out to him. “Oh, and my phone? Side pocket. I’m thinking pizza, family sized, no chilis, four cheese–”
“Uh, Nicko?”
Xander tosses me the keys. I catch them easily, then tilt my head when he’s waving my ringing cell at me.
“Pff,” I huff again, because I’m not in the mood to deal with the outside world right now. Not ever, really, but especially not for the rest of tonight. All I want is to eat pizza and curl up in bed with...my boyfriend.
“Just let it go to voicemail,” I demand, impatiently stepping from one foot to the other. “If you really want to be with me, you need to learn that food is more important than–”
But Xander interrupts me with a shake of his head, thrusting my ringing phone at me.
“No,” he says. “I think you need to make an exception for this one.”
Xander, May 13th
Afamiliar jingle rings in my ears. I can’t help but grin and look at my boyfriend sitting next to me. The headphones that felt so large three years ago fit much better now. Additionally, they have wised up and tried to sit us as far apart as possible. I have to stretch my leg all the way out to nudge Nicko’s foot with my own.
He raises his brows at me, then taps back.
“I hope you all survived your finals and are now looking forward to your well-deserved summer break!” The host looks between us, seemingly waiting to be interrupted. He’s new, and I wonder if we’re his first live guests. When neither Nicko nor I say anything, he continues, voice shaking under the fake cheer.
“We’re happy to send you into your vacations with one lastSlice of Campus Life! Three years ago, they were here, had just started their college journey, fresh faced and innocent, and now they are about to leave us to go on and become big NHL stars. Welcome back, Alexander Hart and Na–”
“Nicko!” Nicko and I both interrupt him, then grin at each other. I lean back in my chair.
“It’s Nicko van der Hoff.”
“Of course!” The host shuffles a couple of papers around, his ears turning red.
“Oh, everyone’s allowed to confuse one twin for the other at least once, right?” I throw in, earning myself a glare from Nicko and a short kick against my leg. I only snicker, planning to make it up to him later.
“How have you been since the last time you were here? Do you feel prepared to tackle the big league?”
“Do you want to take this one?” Nicko turns to me, tilting his head.
“Sure. I feel as prepared as can be,” I say cheerfully, thinking back to a month ago: How my hand shook when I signed that contract. How Nicko and I just laid on his bed for the whole night after he got off the phone with the Rebels’ management. Although the conversation between them helped settle his anxiety, there was a lot more to be done. Thus, the past weeks have been stressful, with Nicko going to New York thrice for additional health checks, worrying before and after every appointment. He played a stellar season, but the team wanted to be extra sure.
All the time there were rumors floating around about other teams trying to sign him. Utah and Vegas both approached his father. And for a while I worried that hearing Nicko’s voice on the phone would become the reality of our relationship.
But the Rebels were always his first choice. When I watched him put his name on that dotted line, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
“Obviously I’d have loved to bring the Frozen Four trophy into this, but…” I raise one shoulder.
“Pff, you couldn’t even get past me!” Nicko throws in and I snort.
“A guy can dream, right?”
“Oh yes, there was an altercation that almost made you and the Bats forfeit your last game before the Frozen Four. Do you want to tell us more?” The host jumps into our banter.
Not really, but I manage to keep my smile from slipping, instead just shifting in my chair, scooting closer to the table—and to Nicko. “I don’t know what more there is to say about it; someone said something that doesn’t belong in a fair game. The referee might not have ruled it as a punishable offense, but my team thought differently. And thankfully–” I look at Nicko, trying to put as much reassurance as I can into my brief smile, “–the Badgers shared our opinion. I’m glad we could finish that game.”
For a moment it’s quiet, but it doesn’t feel awkward, and I’m glad to wait until there’s another question.
“Yes, uhm...you were an important part in that decision, weren’t you, Nicholas?”
“I guess so,” Nicko hums, his brows drawing low over his eyes. He rests his elbow on the table as he mulls over the words in his head.
I look at him as I wait for his answer, trailing my eyes down along his straight nose. I want to reach out and play with the blond curl that’s sticking out from under the headphones. All I can do is inch my chair another bit closer.
