“I’ll take one too.”
Nico grabbed two bottles from the fridge and followed Stassi out the doors leading to the pool deck. He popped the caps off with the ledge of a table and passed one to her. “Cheers.”
She clinked her bottle against his. “What is it about Cooper that you love?”
Nico passed her a sideways glance. “Who says I love him?”
“Our eyes have a bad habit of screaming out loud the things we’re too afraid to utter from our lips.” She stared straight into his eyes. “You look at him differently since he won the Bowl.”
Watching Cooper win the championship game changed Nico, though he didn’t realize this until months later. Small things, such as sticking to the physical training regimen and not reaching for his phone whenever Cooper would text him if he was in the middle of something football-related. He was happy for Cooper, but also envious.
“Sometimes,” she continued, “we are slow to take responsibility for the things we think about in our minds. We try to delay the inevitable, thinking tomorrow will be a new day and things will turn around. Sometimes, though, things never turn around.”
Stassi retreated to the railing overlooking the ocean. The waves were anything but calm, crashing upon the shore and tearing sand back into the dark abyss. Nico met her there, hanging the bottle of beer over the ledge.
“What do you know about the cage?” she asked, staring out at the sea.
Nico responded with a shrug. “He talks about it sometimes.”
“You should know he’ll never live outside of it. No matter what he’s told you.” She took a sip of beer. “He can promise the world, but those promises will end up broken. It’s no fault of his own. But he promised Luke the world just like I know he’s promised you that one day, far in the future, he’ll break out of that cage.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Stassi turned to him with a sigh. “Because Cooper has a way of hurting people. He’s not a bad guy. He’s the best guy I know. But I worry you’re going to spend years too long hiding and never get to see the sun. Not with him.” She pointed to the circular table behind them with a chessboard laid out with the pieces in the starting positions. “You play chess?”
Nico shrugged. “I’ve been trying to learn it for the last few months.”
“I’ll let you go first.” Stassi took a seat and pointed to the empty chair across from her. “Have a seat.”
Nico did as he was told. He surveyed his options and moved a black pawn forward. “Why do you stay with Coop?”
“Because I love him,” Stassi said flatly, moving a pawn forward. Noticeably, it was the pawn adjacent to the one Nico had moved.
Nico moved a pawn. “But he’s gay. Like full-ass gay-gay.”
“There’s more than one way to love someone,” Stassi said, moving another pawn as if she was copying every move Nico made.
Nico moved the knight forward and to the side. “Enlighten me, please.”
Stassi copied his move once more, putting her knight in danger of being taken by one of Nico’s pawns. “Cooper Callahan is my best friend.”
“People aren’t engaged to their best friends.”
Stassi leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers on the table. “What do you know about Cooper and my relationship?”
He considered that he shouldn’t say anything, not knowing what he was and wasn’t supposed to be privy to. He knocked out Stassi’s knight with a pawn and tossed the fallen soldier onto the side of the table. “I know you don’t fuck.”
“Why do you think that is?”
Nico gestured with one hand. The answer should have been obvious. “Because he’s gay.”
“That’s part of it.” Stassi pushed the rook forward, taking out Nico’s knight. “Most people would deny it, but this world is full of people who hunger for the next fuck. They eat healthy and work out at the gym entirely too much because they want to fuck. They make as much money as possible so people who are out of their league will fuck them. They pay for hookers and escorts when their charisma and appearance aren’t up to the standards engrained into us by the media and entertainment complex. Lust is a currency I’m not shackled by. What the rest of the world feels when they fuck, I feel when I’m flirting. As soon as the clothes come off, I’m ready to run.”
Nico shook his head. Stassi was one of the smartest people he’d ever met, and yet the words coming out of her mouth were so foreign to him. He shifted a pawn forwardto sit diagonally from Stassi’s rook. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I could go the rest of my life without sex and be content. How many men are out there that could say the same?” She pulled her rook back, out of harm’s way. “With Cooper, I don’t have to worry about doing that thing I really don’t want to do most of the time. He’s safe.”
Nico couldn’t fathom the idea of a life without sex. “You’re telling me you don’t like to fuck?”
