Page 173 of Cheap Shot

Nicky winced. Sebastian tilted his head and studied his friend’s face. “WhereisLee, by the way? And why did you guys decide to move anyway?”

“Uhh, about that.” Nicky rubbed the back of his neck. “We broke up. That’s—that’s why I moved to the new building. I needed a fresh start.”

“What the fuck?” Sebastian said. “But you’ve been togetherforever.”

“Yeah, well …” Nicky gave a helpless shrug.

“What happened? You seemed so happy.”

“Turns out, it’s not much fun being with a guy who has persistent post-concussion symptoms,” Nicky said bitterly.

“Lee dumped you because you weren’tfun?” Sebastian asked, stunned. He had always seemed like such a good guy. So supportive of Nicky.

Nicky sighed. “That was part of it, but not all of it. We just … he was getting antsy about being more public. Couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t ready to come out.”

“Uhh, your parents?” Sebastian said, because he knew exactly what the Calhouns were like. Sebastian had only gone to the prep school because his mom had worked as an art teacher there. Nicky’s family was old money, third-generation alumni.

And conservative as fuck. The Calhouns hadn’t liked Sebastian much.

“Youget it.” Nicky threw him a grateful look.

“Yeah, but why didn’t he?” Sebastian said.

“I don’t fucking know.” Nicky suddenly looked tired. “It started turning into fights about why I was even trying to go back to playing. Why I wouldn’t just quit hockey.”

Sebastian nodded.

“And then we were fighting about the doctors I was seeing and the healers …”

Sebastian winced. Nicky had gotten into some alternative healing stuff in his desperate attempt to find a cure. Sebastian had been worried about that too.

“By the end we were just fighting all the time and I felt like shit. Eventually, I just fucking gave up on even trying to fix the relationship. We were too different. I guess—I guess that’s why I worry about you and Crawford, you know? You guys are fucking polar opposites.

“I get that,” Sebastian said. And he finally did. Nicky’s worry about him made a ton of sense now. Fresh off a breakup, he was probably pretty wary of relationships.

“Look, I’m not gonna pretend like I get what you see in Crawford,” Nicky said with a sigh. “I think he’s kind of a pig and well, he’s why I ended up losingyearsof my fucking career.”

There was a trace of bitterness in Nicky’s tone that made Sebastian wince, glancing down at his hands. “I know.”

“But if you love him …”

Sebastian’s head snapped up. “Love?” he said hoarsely.

Nicky looked steadily back at him. “Well, isn’t that what it is?”

“I … it’s complicated,” Sebastian said hesitantly. “We’re still figuring things out, you know?”

“So you came here just to tell me about some guy you’re banging?”

“No,” Sebastian admitted. “Of course not. I care about him. Just … love?”

Despite the thoughts he’d had about Luke at the hospital, he hadn’t thought he was thereyet. He’d thought of it in the future, not the here and now. Notalready.

Nicky snickered. “God. You always were bad with feelings.”

“Fuck.” Sebastian swallowed hard.

Could it be? Was he really in love with … Luke Crawford?