Chapter 19 #2
Callahan’s eyes were wide, and his skin was turning a scary shade of red, but he only nodded and stood, showing August a weak smile. “Right. That’s great.”
August had barely heard him speak over the sound of his pounding heart, and he couldn’t bring himself to breathe again until Callahan walked toward the front of the bus, shouldering past Niko, and never looked back.
Niko fell into the vacant seat and leaned forward, holding his face in his hands. “You are the biggest, dumbest fucking moron.”
“For what?!” August barked back. “I was clearing things up before he strangled me.”
Slowly, Niko raised his head and turned to look at him, cheeks red and brows creased. “You know that revelation in the hallway last night? Do you remember saying Quinn’s name during any part of that conversation?”
August couldn’t remember if he existed half the time or if he was stuck inside a simulation from Hell, so how the fuck was he supposed to know?
“Did I not?”
Niko’s answer was to drop his head back into his hands and start laughing.
“Shoot me now.” August smacked his head on the window hard enough to make his migraine spring back to life. “He’s going to kill me.”
“Worse,” said Niko. “He’s going to start a campaign to get your ass traded to a shitty team—probably Florida. I bet he would quit hockey and buy our team just to make it happen.”
There was no way—
“Don’t say that.” August glanced at Niko, keeping his gaze away from the front of the bus where Callahan was sitting. “He’ll be fine. He didn’t look that upset.”
Niko took out his phone, and August had a feeling that the group chat was about to blow up. “You keep telling yourself that, Gusty.”
August knocked his head against the window again.
And just because the universe hated him, Quinn, of all people, got on the bus and took the seat beside Callahan. August was so stunned that he felt like he couldn’t feel his body from the neck down.
“Neeks?”
Niko didn’t bother looking up from his phone. “Yeah?”
August swallowed to give himself a second before he asked, “Has Quinn travelled with us before?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Niko slowly lower his phone and turn his head toward him.
“Did you…not notice? He’s not here all the time, but he’s been on the jet and bus with us for a lot of the trips.
He even carpools some of the guys when they go drinking with Callahan.
He’s good friends with Shawzy’s wife—I think her name is Bea. She and Shawzy have a cute little boy.”
Niko may as well have been speaking in riddles because August didn’t know any of this.
“How do you remember it all?” August whispered, sticking close to Niko’s ear so no one could hear him over the rumbling engine. Their teammates were starting to gather, and he didn’t want anyone else to know how much of an idiot he was.
“I mean…” Niko trailed off, giving August a pitying look. “I hang out with the team more than you do, and some of the spouses are super cool and have all the gossip, and I like to listen to it.”
And Niko called him a diva when he was the one drinking with the wives and collecting gossip.
“Don’t judge me, Mr. Antisocial.” Niko returned to the group chat, grinning at whatever text response he saw. “And if not knowing anything bothers you, maybe when you’re feeling better, you can start going for drinks with us after games.”
August said nothing and put his headphones back on. The bus was getting too rowdy with conversations, his head was beginning to throb, and now he had to avoid making eye contact with Quinn until the Callahan shitstorm settled.
He didn’t want to know how that awkward conversation was going. Even if it was cowardly of him, he was going to stay out of it for as long as possible.
August started his audiobook, getting lost in fantasy because it was an easy escape from reality. The trip home was so long that he finished the book before the plane touched down, and he took a nap for the thirty minutes before it was time to disembark.
Quinn had stayed on the opposite end of the plane with Callahan, which was great because it meant it was easy to avoid them, but he also didn’t want to avoid Quinn.
Listening to him laugh and converse with his teammates had made August want to join in several times to see if he could make Quinn smile, but he liked being alive, too.
“Uber home?” Niko asked once they were finally heading for the airport exit.
August didn’t care if they used the team shuttle or an Uber; he just wanted to get home and…take a bath? The need to submerge himself underwater was sudden, but it sounded like the perfect way to relax. He had no idea if he could fit in his tub, but he was willing to try.
“August.”
August stopped so abruptly that his shoes squeaked on the polished floor. His pulse spiked, and he was surprised that his heart didn’t explode from the increased blood pressure as he spun and found Quinn standing behind him.
Callahan was hovering about ten feet back, awkwardly shuffling in place and staring at the floor as Quinn approached August with a terrifyingly determined expression.
Niko was so startled that he didn’t bother making a snarky comment—he just scampered away, putting the same ten feet of distance between them on the opposite side of Callahan.
Fucking traitor.
Quinn looked beautiful even when he was ready for violence. August couldn’t help but get caught in the gold around his pupil now that he had discovered it. He didn’t know what bad karma he had earned when genetics decided to give Quinn such hypnotizing eyes, but it was swiftly becoming a problem.
“Hold on one second,” August began. “I wouldn’t have told him unless I thought he knew, and I know it’s awkward, but you said you were going to tell him, so—”
“You’re not hiding it?”
August blinked, not understanding the question. “No, I totally, accidentally told Callahan that we had sex.”
Quinn’s expression was still tight when he smiled, but something August had said helped soften it by a small margin.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Quinn. He readjusted the winter coat he was hugging to his chest, relaxing his posture until the mood felt more casual.
“I don’t care that you told Eren, but I’m surprised you admitted it.
You seemed hesitant when I mentioned I wasn’t going to keep what’s between us a secret, that’s all. ”
There were parts of his past relationship with Quinn that were still foggy in August’s mind, but he had a feeling that this worry was coming from a place of experience.
He had no excuse. August no longer had to hide who he was from his parents, but it didn’t make up for how he had treated Quinn when they were younger.
“I’ll shout it from the rooftop if you want,” said August. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m…not who I was before. I’m not a coward like I was back then, so if you want me to admit that I’m bi, I could set up a press conference or something?”
There were tons of people around them, so August was sure that if he yelled loud enough, the news would break before he pulled into the driveway of his house.
“Nonononono.” Quinn waved his hands, rejecting the dramatic offer.
“That’s—nope. Don’t do that. I stopped you to make sure you weren’t freaking out, and I also wanted to tell you that Eren knows and he’s not mad at you.
I think you shocked him, but he doesn’t care about us sleeping together, so don’t worry about him being a jackass. ”
August wasn’t convinced that there would be no posturing, but at least he didn’t have to explain himself to his captain now.
“I’m serious,” said Quinn, gesturing to Callahan, who was having a silent argument with the floor. “He’s a golden retriever. There’s not a thought behind those blue eyes of his.”
Clearly, Quinn had never seen an angry Callahan punching someone on the ice.
“So, yeah, so—” Quinn backed away, and it was taking every molecule in August’s body not to reach out and pull him into a hug. “I’ll, like, text you. Later. Oh fuck, I’m so awkward.”
Quinn turned and bolted toward Callahan, dragging him away while ignoring protests about how they were walking in the wrong direction.
Now that August wasn’t in fear for his life, and he had received confirmation that Quinn was going to text him, he had a little pep in his step as he approached a grinning Niko.
“Oh, you’ve got it so bad,” Niko said, chuckling.
“Got what?” August demanded, staring at him, but Niko just waved instead of answering.
He was getting tired of feeling lost during every conversation. He wasn’t aware that regaining his memories and dealing with his trauma would fuck up his brain enough to keep him from processing a simple thought.
“Home. Food. Video games. In that order,” said Niko, knocking into August’s side. “But you may want to call Jett first because the group chat is blowing up.”
The fucking group chat.
August pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering why he bothered to keep Niko around when all he did was mess with him. Still, he swung an arm over his shoulders and led him out of the airport, sharing a soft laugh when Niko told him to fuck off.