Chapter 17 - Reece
After two weeks, Reece thought that he might be dying.
Slowly. And painfully. It was miserable.
Despite all the friends that Reece had and no matter how busy he kept himself, he was still so lonesome.
Knowing Nick was out of his reach, and would be for another two weeks—that he had only made it halfway—was just too much for him to process.
“Good morning, Reece,” Kent greeted him as he trudged into the kitchen, following the delicious aroma of apples and cinnamon.
“Morning.” He sat at the bar, opening his phone to a ton of messages from Alex. He was disappointed to learn that Nick was having a bad day, and right as he was reading the last messages, a short video clip came through of Nick with his head on Alex’s lap, and Alex was scratching his scalp.
Alex: He’s having trouble sleeping.
Reece frowned, chest aching because he wanted Nick resting well and because he wanted to be the one there with Nick, comforting him and putting him to sleep.
Before he could stop himself, Reece was calling, his heart skipping a beat whenever Alex answered and immediately angled the camera to focus on Nick. His beautiful face was set in a scowl, even with his eyes closed and him clearly trying to relax.
“Good morning,” Reece breathed, wanting to be there so badly. He smiled when Nick’s eyes shot open instantly and the phone was intercepted.
“Ree,” Nick said, deep voice sweeping chills over Reece’s body.
“What’s wrong, Nicky? You’re having a bad day?”
“Can’t fuckin’ sleep around here…”
“But Nicky… You never have trouble sleeping.” He always napped so easily, too.
“He just misses you is all,” Alex said, stealing the phone back. Reece smiled as the camera was jostled about, the phone being snatched back and forth between Alex and Nick until it was taken by Declan.
“Hey, Reece,” Declan said with a crooked grin. “You look like you’ve been sleepin’ good.”
“Mm.” Reece propped his chin on his hand and smiled tiredly. “I’d sleep longer if I didn’t have work.”
“When are you off?” Alex asked before he took the phone back from Declan.
“Why?”
“Well, if you have some time off this weekend, maybe you could fly out and play with us.”
Reece didn’t know what to say to that. Did he want to? Absolutely yes. But could he? It was also sudden.
But Alex saw the concern in his face and said, “If you’re interested, I’ll take care of everything for you,” and that was all Reece needed to hear to make up his mind.
Even if only for the weekend, he’d fly to L.A., get to see Nick and the others, and maybe even play some ball with them too.
“Then I’m definitely free.”