Page 38 of Cross Ice

Evan

Still processing. But okay.

Nico

That’s fair. Can I see you tonight?

I thought about the Instagram comments. The Wikipedia page. The contract number that had made me set the laptop down. I thought about Danny’s voice at three: supportive, steady, and certain.

Evan

Yes. Come over this evening.

Nico

I’ll bring dinner. You pick.

Evan

Mexican from that place you like.

Nico

Done. See you tonight, Evan Beckett.

I set my phone down and looked at my laptop screen, at the brand audit I needed to finish, at the ordinary Friday morning waiting for me on the other side of last night.

I was scared. I hadn’t decided anything yet.

But I’d said yes to tonight. And for now, tonight was enough.

CHAPTER NINE

Evan

I’d cleaned the apartment twice before Nico knocked.

Not because it needed it, but because I needed something to do with my hands, something to organize while I waited, and straightening throw pillows and wiping down counters I’d already wiped was better than sitting on the couch and overthinking every possible version of the next few hours.

I’d seen his Wikipedia page. I’d read his contract number. I’d scrolled through his followers—seven hundred and fifty-three thousand people who wanted something from him, and then I’d spent three hours not sleeping and another eight working on a brand audit I’d had to revise twice because I kept reading the same paragraph without retaining it.

And now he was at my door.

I opened it.

He was standing in the hallway in dark jeans and a gray Henley, a paper bag from Reyes Grill in one hand. And he was just Nico. The same strong jaw, the same full mouth, the same dark eyes that did the thing to my pulse they’d been doing since a gay club on a Friday night in January. The bruise along his jaw had faded to yellow at the edges. He looked tired in the way of someone who’d had a long week and was glad it was over.

He looked like himself.

“Hey,” he said.

My chest unknotted.

“Hey.” I stepped back to let him in. He lifted the paper bag onto the counter and started unpacking it.

I felt something warm move through my chest. “You remembered.”

He glanced up. “Chicken tacos, rice and beans. Extra salsa.” A small smile. “You okay?”