Living with the Player

Chapter 24

I stay there for what feels like an eternity, just standing in shock. It's not until my body is on the brink of falling asleep that I trudge to my room. Once I actually lay in bed, though, I can't sleep. Thankfully, Nico is already asleep so he can't notice how I stay up for hours. I probably replay what just happened in my head about a million times.

What am I getting so worked up about? It was just a hug. I've hugged other guys before so why is this one any different? It doesn't mean he likes me.

My mind remembers the way he looked at me. Does he...?

I let out an angered huff. How dare he just go to sleep while I'm here glaring at the ceiling like it's a math problem I don't know how to solve? I swear he makes everything seem so easy.

I turn on my side and look over to make sure he's still sleeping. He starts murmuring in his sleep and I can't help it. I smile a little.

---

I wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs, causing me to smile in my sleep. Opening one eye, I check my phone. It's basically time to wake up so I get out of bed and start to follow the smell to the kitchen.

"Morning, sunshine." Nico smiles wickedly as he flips some pancakes and places them onto a purple plate.

"What's all this?" I ask as I seat myself at the table. He slides some bacon and eggs onto my plate and pauses for a moment.

"An apology," he says, resuming his movements, and I cock my head to the side. "For crashing your date."

Oh, right. That happened.

"And, uh... I realized that I probably made you uncomfortable last night. With what I said." He looks down. "I mean, like you said, we're friends and it was wrong of me to interfere with your date. I know you like him so... "

My fork is stopped midway to my mouth.

He continues. "I don't want things to get awkward between us. I respect you and the guys you... go out with so... I'm sorry."

I don't know what to say. I don't know what I was expecting.

I blink. "It's fine. I'm sure what you said last night was just... you were tired or something."

He runs a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "Right. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-"

"Oh! Don't worry about it. It's... fine."

Nico nods silently. He opens his mouth to say something but then decides against it. "I'm gonna go get ready," he says.

I feel like I should say something but when I open my mouth, all that comes out is, "Okay. Thanks for breakfast." My voice is oddly formal.

"You're welcome," he kind of mumbles before making his way to my room.

I go to take another bite of my pancakes and stop when I notice something. The chocolate chips in the pancakes are in the shape of a smiley face. A tiny smile cracks on my lips but it fades quickly. I put my fork down.

Suddenly, I've lost my appetite.