“What do you want?” Nick asked.
While I was ready to admit Peter’s incessant pestering was starting to grate on my nerves, I wasn’t quite as ready to be rude. He was just doing his job, so it was time to do mine and be the face of Nick’s garage.
“What Nick means is, how can we help you?”
“We?” Peter repeated, his gaze directed at me. “Nora, please don’t tell me you’re working here now.”
“You got a problem with that?” Nick asked, standing behind me like a centurion.
“Nora doesn’t need to work a job at a garage,” he sniped at Nick and looked back at me, like he was on a lifeboat and I was choosing to go down with a ship. “I’m offering you all the money you could want. Hollywood is calling. Hell, we can even talk a percentage of royalties. How can you turn that down?”
I stiffened with righteous indignation. I happened to love my new job. And Nick had built something from nothing – that was nothing to look down your nose at.
“Look, Peter, I heard your pitch. And trust me, being as broke as I was, wasn’t fun. Did I consider your offer? Sure, but not seriously. The sooner what happened to me is in the past, the sooner I get to move on with my life. Now, I hope I’m being as clear as I can be. I’m not interested in sharing my story with anyone. You need to find another creative direction.”
It was like he wore a mask – a congenial, persuasive mask, but it kept slipping, revealing something ugly. Desperate.
“You’re making a mistake,” he sneered. “You’re working a nothing job in a nowhere town. Just because you’re embarrassed. You were followed by millions, Nora. Millions! Who walks away from that?”
“This is my nothing job, in my nowhere town,” Nick said, stepping around me to get in Peter’s face. “Get the fuck out of here before you embarrass yourself. Because I know shits like you. You’re all mouth and no substance. When I was in juvie, your type was the first to fall to the ground crying like a baby anytime anyone called you on your shit. Go. Now.”
Peter got the message and backed out of the office.
“It’s your life, Nora,” he said over his shoulder.
“Yes, it is Peter. Yes, it is.”
“Holy crap,we’re right on the ice!”
Behind me, Nick grunted as we slid down the tight row of blue plastic seats.
After the scene with Peter this morning, he’d gone back to work and had been mostly quiet all day. Not even lobster rolls from the Lobster Pot had changed his mood.
“Are you going to be grumpy all night?” I asked him as he handed me the box of popcorn and the beer he’d ordered for me, before taking his seat. Nick’s large frame pressed all up into my space and it was comforting and thrilling all at the same time. “This is supposed to be our first date,” I whispered into his ear.
The arena was cold and we were dressed in thick sweat shirts. I wore a very cute navy blue hat, coral lipstick and adorable boots. In front of the mirror at my house, I’d thought about making a video. How to dress for a date to a hockey arena. I went so far as to get out my phone, but stopped myself before I opened the app. If I was going to get back on social media, I needed a plan. And I needed to toughen up my skin again so when the trolls showed up – and trolls always showed up – I’d be able to brush it off.
“You don’t have to whisper. There are twenty-thousand Bruiser fans shouting their asses off. No one is going to hear us.”
It was early in the season, but the place was packed and loud. The teams were streaming out onto the ice and we were close enough we could see their faces.
Liam must have known where we were, because he skated past the thick glass with a huge smile on his face.
“Is that her?” he mouthed to Nick and pointed with his stick at me.
I waved and pointed to my chest to show off the team logo. I’d made Nick buy me a Bruiser’s hoodie on the way inside so I could wear team gear. Nick had drawn the line at a Locke jersey.
Liam mouthed something else to Nick which I had a harder time following, then he gave us two thumbs up and skated off.
“Did he say you’re fucked?” I asked Nick.
“Something like that,” he muttered.
I munched on my popcorn and prepared myself for the show. Absolutely huge men skating so fast and then slamming into each other so hard the glass shook. Apparently, there was a puck somewhere on the ice, but I never saw it.
“This is fun,” I said, smiling up at Nick.
Nick slid his hand over my thigh and squeezed. And it was all so natural. So…meant to be. I watched his face to see if he was freaking out. He didn’t seem to be. His eyes tracked the players, he winced when someone took a big hit. He seemed happy. Really happy.
