NICO'S POV

Twenty eight. Twenty eight fucking years old. I felt like a grandpa, especially now that my girlfriend was just 22.

I woke up feeling normal, as if it was just another day in my life. Then it hit me.

Twenty eight fucking years old.

My mom emailed me when I was asleep. I thought it was weird but then I remembered. It's the same fucking email from every year.

Joyeux anniversaire, Nicolas.

Bisous, maman.

I guessed she had it programmed and it was sent automatically. It made my eyes water, but I decided to get up from the bed and not let my mind wander.

Luca had to leave earlier than me today, but there was a note on the fridge:

Don't forget I'm picking you up for lunch! The night is all yours for you and little skater ;)

P.S. happy birthday French boy!! Love you bro xx

See? That made me smile. I texted him saying thanks and made some coffee. I had been talking with Cara on the phone up until three in the morning, so she had already wished me a happy birthday. I was worried for her and the fact that she did have to be up at 4.30 am, but she didn't care. She said she wasn't tired. Bullshit, that girl can close her eyes and fall sleep instantly.

Little skater, as Luca called her, said she was spending the whole day training but she would meet me down my apartment around dinner time. I didn't know what she had planned, I had never liked my birthday much, but today I was kind of excited.

After parking at the office, I got out of the car and sipped on my second coffee of the day. I didn't have to be up at 4.30 but I started working at 8. It was still very early for me.

"Hey!" Elijah, a coworker in charge of marketing, greeted me when I entered the elevator. "Isn't it your birthday?"

I nodded, taking a sip.

"Happy birthday, man." He patted my back and I smiled. When I was around people I didn't know much, was when I realized how quiet I was. I changed a lot around Cara, I liked talking to her. With other people though, I felt lazy. "Are you doing anything special today?"

"I'm having lunch with a friend-" before I could finish, he wiggled his brows.

"A friend, huh?" He nudged my hips.

I thought about correcting him, but I just pressed my lips into a tight smile. "We'll see."

When it was lunch time, he followed me downstairs with a few other coworkers, he said he wanted to see my girl, see where I set my bar. I was trying so hard not to laugh when Luca appeared all of a sudden, running towards me and hugging me tight, kissing my cheek as if he was my grandmother.

Elijah was looking at us when I turned around and waved at him, his mouth slightly opened. I loved crashing down people's expectations of me.

"Where do you wanna go?" Luca asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"I don't care." I shrugged. "You choose."

"Yay." He began to jump as he walked. He really didn't care looking like a five year old. "I'm the mood for a good burger. Tu en veux?"

"Bien sûr."

The burger place was amazing. It was a dark room with neon lights, a deep red bar and booths on the side. "You've never brought me here." I mumbled in awe, looking at all the photographs and autographs hanging on the wall.

"I feel like we haven't had much dates since you are here." He smirked.

"It's true. Girls, mec. They took over our lives." I chuckled.

"My life was already like that before I left, man. Although I would've never thought of you like this, to be honest." We stopped our conversation for a moment since the waiter came and took our orders.

"I know." I sighed, replying to him. "I never saw myself like this either."

"But you're happy, I can see it." He smiled, taking a sip of his beer.

"Yeah." I nodded, mimicking his move but drinking my soda. "I don't know what it is that she has... but I'm all hers."

"She gets you, bro. She challenges you but she also gives you affection. You don't have to look for that in anybody else."

"I think of how many people I fucked in my life and I swear to god, I cringe."

"We've all been there." He chuckled.

Scoffing, I threw him a packet of ketchup. "No, you haven't."

"Nope." He laughed.

We ate our burgers in comfortable silence. Sometimes he said something here and there, but the meat was so good, we devoured them.

"Dessert?" He asked. I nodded. "You're eating more, too, uh?"

"Cara eats a lot, so I have to keep up." I chuckled.

"Tell me about it. Riley is half my size and she eats like a lion." Luca said , leaning back on his chair and rubbing his stomach.

"She cooks amazing, too." I smiled.

"Yeah." He sighed in content. "I can't wait to marry her."

I opened my eyes a little wider. We had never talked about that.

"Don't look at me like that, you know I love her."

"Yeah." I shrugged. "I just didn't know you wanted to marry her."

"I was actually... thinking about doing it this year." He looked at me cautiously.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I know we haven't been dating for that long but I feel like I've known her for years." He bit his lips. "I wanna wait after the wedding, though. I want to ask her to move in together."

I gasped, feigning disappointment. "You're leaving me?"

"Come on." Luca scoffed, his dark brown eyes squinting. "Like you haven't thought about asking Cara."

I gulped. "To marry me?"

He rolled his eyes. "To live together."

"It's too son, mec." I tsked my tongue.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to leave her mess of a house."

"It might be a mess, but... it's homey. I don't know. It's fun living there. Dinners are full of people, talking and kids playing and... I don't know. I could get used to that." One of the corners of my lips pulling up into a smile.

"God, you've changed so much." He laughed. "I can actually picture you with a family now. I'm talking three or four kids."

"Don't be ridiculous." I scoffed.

"You wouldn't like it?"

I stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at my fingers playing with a leftover French fry.

"She doesn't want to have kids."

"Oh. Have you asked her why?"

I frowned. I didn't. Maybe I could bring up the topic tonight.

I had realized that I did want children. It was clearer to me everyday. But she didn't.

Why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mom called. Turned out, the email was not automatic. I could hear a little worry in her voice when she asked how I was doing, and I honestly didn't know how to feel about that. She asked if I would come visit soon. She completely forgot about me for these past few months and now she wanted to make amends? Where was she when my father literally disowned me?

But still.

She was my mom. That shit didn't disappear.

I really needed Cara today, where was she?

I had been calling her for the past thirty minutes, but no response. I didn't know if this was part of the surprise, but I was getting tired. It was past dinner time and she still wasn't here.

I was dressed up, since she told me to. I was sitting on the couch, sipping on water while the TV was on. I wasn't even focused on it. Luca and Riley were in the kitchen, making something for dinner.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Riley asked. "I'm sure she'll come but I can make snacks."

"It's okay, she had something planned."

"Okay." Riley said softly.

It didn't occur to me that something bad could've happened. For some reason, I believed she was okay. She just arrived late. As always. She was getting ready in the arena, she was grabbing her car and she was coming to pick me up.

But when my phone started ringing, and it wasn't her, but Ben, I knew I had been lying to myself. A knot began to form in my throat.

Luca glanced at me with a little smile, as if saying, 'there she is'. But I knew something was wrong.

"Hey." I whispered, my voice trembling.

"Nico, uhm-" he cleared his throat. There was noise in the background, as he was in a room with people. "Cara's at the hospital."

My heart dropped.

"She fell."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🙊

Told ya.

Were you expecting it?? What do you think will happen next?

This book is already longer than my two others and it'll probably have 10 chapters more. So prepare yourselves for the ending, it's coming soon!

Thank you guys for reading! Don't forget to vote and let me know what you think in the comments ❤️