“Yeah, you mentioned you really liked it. It’s just from the drugstore, it's not, like, fancy or anything.”
Eden shuffles from foot to foot awkwardly when Amanda thanks him, and Andrew knows how much this cost Eden, not monetarily but emotionally. He’s been texting Amanda more recently, both of them loving to complain about Charlie, but also to share makeup tips. Knowing that Eden is organically finding his own footing in their friendship group, not just because he’s Charlie’s partner but because everyone genuinely adores him, makes Andrew happy. It also makes him wonder if any of his brothers or their partners will accept Nicki the same way. Are he and Nicki even headed there? Andrew’s always been a very all-or-nothing man, and his desire to be all in now that he understands his feelings, and Nicki’s, might be too much.
For all they talked that first night, and over texts, they haven’t broached anything about where their relationship stands. While Nicki said he likes Andrew, it’s hard to know what that really means for a man like Nicki who doesn’t do commitment. Maybe he does want to date Andrew but not seriously. Some people do low commitment dating, but that idea makes Andrew feel mildly nauseated. Or maybe it’s the lack of food and the nap fucking him up.
The closer it gets to Nicki coming back, the more excited Andrew is to see him, but also anxious as shit. It could be that anticipation that’s doing him in. Or the nap. Regardless of the cause, Andrew feels like shit. Something that must show on hisface because Eden and Amanda have both stopped talking and are looking at him like he has two heads.
“What?” Andrew asks, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stave off a sudden wave of dizziness. He must be even more stressed out than he realized.
“Are you sure you’re okay, sweetie?”
“I’m fine, I just need to get the food out and then we can enjoy brunch.”
“We can help,” Eden offers.
Andrew shakes his head, feeling bad enough that he slept while Amanda was here and that brunch is late. At this point, it’s more like lunch than brunch, which bothers him more than it should. This is exactly why Andrew should never nap. All it’s done is make him feel off kilter and somehow make his head hurt worse.
“You guys just relax in the living room. It’s mostly done anyway. Mimosa for Amanda, Red Bull for Eden and coffee for me. Anyone need anything else?”
“I’m good,” Amanda says while Eden shrugs.
Certain they’ll be fine, Andrew leaves them in the living room and heads to the kitchen where he starts to take containers out. There’s a tray of freshly baked pastries on the counter, a fruit and cheese platter in the fridge and a quiche he needs to reheat. When he pulls out the quiche and notices the note on the top—no onions—he can’t help but smile.
While that reheats, he grabs a large serving tray Nicki told him to use before he left. He’s ninety-nine percent sure Nicki bought it solely for Andrew’s brunch, but when he asked Nicki all he got was a grunt in return. While arranging the tray with the various foods and small plates, he realizes his headache has gotten worse and pauses to make himself an extra strong latte he drinks after finishing setting up. By the time the quiche is perfectly heated through, he’s made one trip to the living roomto drop off half the food and returns with the second tray of drinks and quiche to find Amanda and Eden have found some trashy reality show to put on the television.
He and Amanda have been doing bitch and brunch for almost a year now, their regular monthly get together something Andrew’s come to treasure. When she suggested they start inviting Eden last month, he’d been nervous, not about Eden being there but about how he might adapt. Watching Eden chug his Red Bull while yelling at the television and smiling at Amanda, he knows those fears were unfounded.
Pulling out his phone, he swipes open his camera preparing to take a photo.
“Are you gonna send that to Charlie?” Eden asks, looking at Andrew over his shoulder.
“I was,” Andrew confirms.
“I knew it,” Eden says, making a show of flipping off the camera.
Andrew laughs, sending the photo to his brother before dropping down onto the couch. It’s not until his ass hits the corner that he realizes how tired he still is. Having a task always distracts him, and he’d gotten so focused on getting everything together, he’d thought he was feeling better, but the waves of discomfort and exhaustion return tenfold. Hoping neither Amanda or Eden notice, he busies himself by fixing a plate of food he’s not actually interested in eating.
Luckily for Andrew, he’s able to be more of a passive observer since Amanda and Eden are both familiar with this weird reality show and spend the entire time providing live commentary and judgements on everything that happens. As a rule, Andrew dislikes reality television because it’s the opposite of reality and that confuses him, but with Amanda and Eden narrating the entire thing, it’s not horrible. He relaxes while watching with a kind of morbid fascination.
Before he knows it, a good chunk of the food is gone, Amanda is tipsy from three mimosas and Eden is over-caffeinated and going on a tangent, yelling at the television about, well—Andrew’s not even sure actually, he zoned out because his head hurts, but there was something about gender norms and advertising.
“I don’t care how bad the product placement is, it worked. I’m going to buy that swimsuit.”
“I think if you wore that swimsuit in public, you’d get arrested for public indecency,” Eden snorts.
“I’m not gonna wear it in public, I’m going to wear it for Denise. Speaking of Denise, I want a kiss. Have you seen her? God, my girlfriend is hot.”
Andrew bites back a smile, wondering when Amanda went from tipsy to slightly drunk before he notices the bottle of champagne on the coffee table. He must’ve really zoned out because he never even noticed her go get it.
Speaking of things Andrew didn’t notice—he didn’t hear the front door open, yet Nicki is standing in the massive entryway staring at them. He’s handsome as ever, still in his travel suit with not a hair out of place. His tie has been removed, most of the buttons of his button-up shirt undone to reveal the tattoos that travel across his chest and up his throat. The same ones that Andrew spent hours memorizing before Nicki left. Andrew’s fingers itch to retrace them all.
After days without Nicki, seeing him in person solidifies what Andrew has spent days trying to come to terms with—he has feelings for Nicki.
Not a crush or something fleeting, but real feelings. He likes Nicki in a way he’s never liked anyone, and if Nicki doesn’t feel the same, it just might destroy him.
17NICHOLAS
For days,unease has been Nicholas’s constant companion. He chalked it up to long days on the road, to tireless hours on the ice, but the truth is it was days without Andrew in his sight.
