Page 104 of About to Fall

“I want to hear you say it.”

Those blue eyes found mine—dark, desperate, every trace of the golden prince gone. “I need you inside me. Now. Please.”

I gave him exactly what he asked for. And it wasn't like the other times we had sex. This was slower. Steadier. The kind of intimacy that only happened after you'd broken something with someone and put it back together—every touch carrying the weight of two days apart and the promise not to do that again. His hands found mine somewhere along the way and we laced our fingers together and he didn't let go. Not through any of it.

He kept his eyes open. That was the part that undid me. Nicky held my gaze like he was showing me all of him.

And I saw him.

He was so beautiful I forgot how to breathe.

When he came apart underneath me—gasping my name, his body bowing off the sheets, his fingers laced so tightly with mine it felt like we'd been fused—I thought, this is worth every complicated thing that comes with it.

43. Nico

I was shutting my locker when Adrian's face appeared slyly beside it. We were alone—the last of the other skaters had cleared out more than an hour ago—which was why he felt comfortable enough to lean against the neighbouring locker with that look on his face.

“My place or yours?”

“Oh shit, I totally forgot to tell you. My parents have a benefit tonight and I have to babysit Margaux.”

“And you weren't going to invite me?”

“You can come if you promise not to corrupt her.”

“I would never…make such a promise. But I will try really hard. Scout's honor.”

“I'm due at my parents at seven, I'll come pick you up in thirty?”

“See you.”

◆◆◆

My parents' surprise when I showed up with Adrian was worth documenting. My mother's eyebrows climbed nearly to her hairline and my father paused mid-tie adjustment to stare.

“Adrian,” my mother said, recovering first with the gracious smile she’d perfected over years of accompanying my father to boring benefits, networking on behalf of his logistics firm. “What a lovely surprise.”

“Geneviève. Dominic.” Adrian embraced my mother gently and shook both my father’s hand, perfectly polite. “Good to see you again.”

“We didn't realize Nico was bringing…backup,” my father said, still caught on his back foot.

“Margaux would be mad at me if I didn’t bring her new BFF.”

My mother's smile widened into something more genuine. “How wonderful. Margaux will be thrilled—she's been talking about you non-stop since Christmas.”

“The pink hair is a hit with the under ten demographic,” Adrian agreed solemnly.

Margaux appeared at the top of the stairs in her favourite unicorn pajamas, took one look at Adrian, and shrieked.

“You're here! Nico, you didn't tell me Adrian was coming!”

“Surprise,” I said, as she thundered down the stairs and latched onto Adrian's leg.

They started chatting a mile a minute about topics ranging from Captain to a new girl in Margaux’s class.

My parents exchanged a look and my mother touched my arm as they headed for the door.

“We'll be back around midnight. Have fun, mon chou.”