Page 35 of Bro Code

“Tremblay?” Nic picked up his beer. “She’s been helpful. She’s big on boundaries. So it’s helpful to have it framed that way.”

That tracked. Nic struggled with boundaries. It was, honestly, the best and worst thing about him: he was a generous spirit. He liked letting people in.

Louis picked up his beer. “And Liam?”

The tiniest flicker of unhappiness crossed Nic’s face. Louis paused with the glass to his lips. “Something wrong?”

Nic shook his head “No! No. Well…not really.”

“Is he freaking out with all the media?”

“Kind of, but it’s fine. He says he knew what he signed up for when he decided to date me. I don’t think he really did, but he’s dealing with it okay. I got him into therapy too.” Nic chuckled.

“And the media hasn’t found out? No one’s outed him, no one knows you're together.”

“No. That’s all fine. It’s been a pain in the ass, but it’s fine.”

“So…?”

Sighing like he wished they hadn’t got onto this topic, Nic turned his beer glass around on its coaster. If he was waiting for Louis to drop it and move on, he was going to be waiting a long time: Louis was the kind of friend who flew all the way to the Olympics in Italy to make sure Nic was okay. He didn’t let things go. He was proud of that.

“It’s stupid,” said Nic, eventually.

“Okay.” Louis waited.

“We just…we just haven’t said ‘I love you’ yet. And it’s like…” His face went red and he frowned at his beer as he sipped it. “Never mind.”

Louis’ chest pulled tight as he smiled across the table. “Aw.”

“Fuck off,” Nic mumbled, setting down the glass.

“Why don’t you just say it? If you want to?”

“Right, well that’s the thing.” Nic sat back, shoving his hair out of his face. “I would, except…a couple of things. Number one: last time I said that to someone they didn’t say it back and it completely fucking destroyed me, and I can’t go through all that again with the media up my ass like they are right now. And number two–”

“Excuse me?”

A tiny voice beside the table made them both look down. A kid with crazy blonde hair and eyes the size of dinner rolls was standing there with a Canadiens hat clutched between his hands, staring up at Nic. When Nic looked at him, he went bright pink.

Nic looked momentarily panicked, because this kid had definitely just heard him say the words media up my ass, but then he recovered, grinned, and said, “Hi! How are you?”

The kid just stared at him with his mouth ajar and eyes enormous.

Nic glanced at Louis, then back at the kid. “What’s your name?”

“Um, are you Nic Arsenault?”

“I am. Who are you?”

“Um, Trevor.”

“Hi, Trevor, how’s it going?”

“Um, good.” The kid stuck out both hands with the hat in them. “My dad said I should ask you to sign this.”

Nic’s eyes went briefly round the restaurant, then he smiled and held out his hand. “Did your dad send you over with a pen?”

Trevor’s eyes went doubly round, and he shook his head, looking gutted.