Page 25 of It’s A Little Bit Bunny (Fangs on Ice #4)

Twenty-four

Nikolai

I was sure Jules had been about to hug me.

Fuck yes!

I turned back the way I had last time to wave at him.

“See you on Saturday!” I raised my hand at him.

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it!” he called back, beaming brighter than the sun.

Trying my hardest not to skip, I jogged back to my car, the same bright smile on my face as on Jules’.

What a time to be alive!

It was hard to feel shitty about myself when a forest god looked at me like that.

As if he was a drug I’d gotten hooked on, I craved Jules’ company. Training and playing were the only two things that kept my thoughts away from him, so I threw myself into both.

By Tuesday morning I brimmed with energy, and I picked up my phone at six thirty to make a phone call.

“Nikolai? Is something wrong?” Bo sounded alert. I knew he always got up early.

“Hey, big guy. No, everything’s fine. Wanna go for a run with me?”

We’d done that a few times a month before my life got all fucked up. I missed it.

He chuckled. “Court garden in fifteen minutes?”

“I’ll be there.”

He hung up without another word. We didn’t need many words to understand each other, on or off the ice. I loved Bo. He’d always been like my brother from another mother.

You shouldn’t have cut him out like that. Damn, you suck.

“Morgen, Kleiner.” My Forest Troll teammate jogged up to where I waited by the gate, carrying a water bottle and wearing shorts and a functional shirt that exposed miles of green skin and bulging muscle. Damn, I wish I had his physique.

“Morgen.” I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s half a fucking foot, Persson.”

Bo’s grin widened until both his sharp fangs were on display. He straightened his spine to make himself even taller.

Asshole.

“Well, half a foot is half a foot. Shall we?”

“Yup.”

We found our speed after a minute or two, seamlessly adapting to the other the way we did on the ice. It was rare to click with someone like that.

You shouldn’t have taken it for granted.

“I missed this,” Bo said after about five more minutes. Looking over, I caught his eye.

“Me, too. It’s been a lot.”

“I did not say it to make you feel like shit, Nik.” Bo gave me an understanding smile.

“Yeah, I know, man. I haven’t talked about it with the team yet. Feels a bit like coming out.” I huffed as we jogged over a bridge.

“Not that you need to do that.”

“Nope, but I want to. I found out I have ADHD.”

“Oh, you do? That’s great.”

“You think so?” I huffed again.

“Yes, I do. Ollie and his brother have it, too. And my niece.”

“Are you serious?”

We stopped for a drink and Bo nodded, then wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt.

Fuck me, that man’s abs made everyone jealous.

“You’ve been working on that core strength, huh?”

He laughed. “Ollie started working out, too. I spend a lot of my free time in the gym these days. And he likes it.” A faint blush tinged his cheeks.

“Bet he does.” I nudged him with my elbow. “Need to look good for the wedding, too.”

They’d get married at the end of our training camp in Scotland so they could go on a little honeymoon afterwards.

“Right. We’re going to Scotland to get our wedding outfits sorted in two weeks.”

We jogged on.

“Are you nervous?”

“Oh, no. Maybe a bit when I think about having to make sure I don’t forget any lines I’m supposed to say, and I’m shit scared of losing the rings, but not of getting married. This is the man I want to spend my life with. I have no doubts.” He smiled ahead, and I felt genuinely happy for him. And somehow I thought of Jules, who had taken up residence in my heart over the past couple of weeks.

Would he be interested in coming to the wedding with me?

“You two belong together. Anyone can see that.”

“Right?” Bo beamed at me.

We talked a bit more about the wedding, my diagnosis, and how I was coping. I went home with a much lighter heart.

The week flew by, though. Quality time with one of my closest friends and knowing I’d be back with Jules on Saturday to spend the night again helped me pull through.

There was one thing I couldn’t deny or ignore. My feelings for Jules were getting out of control.

The more I tried to convince myself that we were “just friends”, the more my brain obsessed over him.

This is getting ridiculous, Nik! You have to tell him.

But what if he didn’t feel the same and wouldn’t want to see me any more? Jules was my favourite coping mechanism.

Jules and fidget toys.

I’d ordered a ton of those online and was a little addicted, especially to a rainbow-coloured foam chicken.

He needs to know. You know that he likes you.

“Nikolai!” he called out as he walked up the path to the arch taking long strides.

My heart rate sped up at the sight of him.

God, you beautiful thing.

Then Jules stopped in his tracks. He stared at me as if I was a snack on two legs and was about to dig in.

Without any mental capacity to go shopping, I’d grabbed a few things from our merch shop.

A crop top and shorts.

Well, it is hot.

Judging by the bit of drool that glistened on his lips, Jules thought so, too.

I admitted that it was a skimpy outfit for a gardening session, but it made me feel good in my body for the first time in months. The crop top showed off my bulging arms and emphasised my slim waist. Kicking all the processed food from my diet and destroying myself at the gym had come with an added bonus: I’d bulked up like crazy. I’d sized up on the shorts, but they were only just long enough to still be considered somewhat decent.