Hammer & Nails (9 page)

~ Nolan ~

The game gets underway and Harley and her family get very involved. They are yelling and screaming and cursing. All of them, with their thick Boston accents. I catch my dad’s horrified expression from where he’s standing with his buddies by the bar. I’ve got a decent buzz going on, which is helping me sit back and enjoy the show. The Jamesons really make a guy want to get into the game. I’ve never enjoyed hockey…until today. The game seems more interesting than normal. I’m actually following what’s going on, on the ice, and getting a thrill when my team does something good. It’s interesting how just a change in the crowd you are sitting with can do that.   

“Hey, Nolan,” Harley says, interrupting my thoughts.

I turn to look at her and she lets out a huge burp. But not just any burp. She says, “I need another beer,” while burping. I don’t know whether to be mortified or seriously impressed. I gawk at her while her brothers and dad have a good laugh. She smiles cheekily at me when she’s done.

“That was…disgusting.” I grimace.

She barks out a laugh and turns back to the game.

I watch her profile and the way her green eyes dance with delight while watching the game. She is so gorgeous, so full of life. I wish I could sweep her away into the bathroom and bury myself deep inside of her. She’d probably kill me if I tried anything while the game is on. What’s crazy is that she just burped while talking and I still want to bang her. If any other woman had done that, I probably would have escaped out a bathroom window. But Harley can pull that off and look cute doing it.

During the first fifteen-minute intermission, Harley runs off to the bathroom, leaving me with her dad and brothers.

Shane, the oldest brother, stands and stretches before leaning his hands on the back of his seat. “So, Nolan, do you always dress like a tightwad?”

I look down at my polo shirt and khakis while John, Nate, and Jason snicker. Harley has already broken me in with all of her ribbing that I laugh, too. “Yep, this is my usual.” I chuckle.

“You know, Harley talked a lot of shit about you when you two first met. She thought you were a total douchebag.” Nate grins, turning in his seat to look at me.

I snort. “Yeah, well, I didn’t like her much, either. She annoyed the shit out of me.”

“And now?” Jason asks expectantly.

“Now…now I like her…a lot,” I admit quietly, picking at a nonexistent piece of lint on my knee.

“She likes you, too, if it isn’t obvious enough by the goo goo eyes she makes at you.” Shane chuckles.

I smirk and huff out a small laugh.

“We wouldn’t be good big brothers, though, if we didn’t threaten you, ya know,” Nate says.

“Yeah, so if you hurt her, we
will
hunt you down, cut your balls off, and make you eat ‘em,” Jason says with a threatening smile.

“Yeah, it will be a wicked bad beating, bro,” Nate adds with a nod.

Shane grunts in agreement and nods.

I nod. “I understand,” I reply with a fond smile.

I really like Harley’s family. They all love each other so much and have each other’s back. And it seems as though they just want the best for each other and for everyone to be happy. I can’t help but admire that. I’m also jealous of that because my dad has already made it clear that what I want doesn’t matter.

~
Eight
~

~ Harley ~

The Bruisers win the game and everything is right in the world. I sigh happily. I don’t think this night can get any better. Nolan has been so sweet and respectful. And I mean respectful as in not trying to suck face with me in front of my dad and brothers. Oh, believe me, it’s happened to me before. That guy was not a fan of my brothers afterwards. And I’m really glad that he gets along with my family because that’s important to me if we ever take this…whatever it is…to the next level. I’m debating on taking the initiative and saying something to Nolan first, or giving it some more time to see if he will say something. I feel like such an ass saying, “Hey, wanna go steady?” Ugh, so stupid! But we need to be in agreement on what we want. I need to know where his head is at and I can only wait so long.

“So, who wants to go meet some players?” Nolan asks, clapping his hands together.

We all turn to stare at him.

“Are you serious?” I breathe.

He smiles. “Yeah, I’m serious.”

I grip him by the front of his polo shirt and shake him. “Don’t fuck with me, Nolan!”

He laughs. “I swear. We can go meet the players.”

“Roman Borovsky?” I squeal.

Roman is the team’s captain and I’ve had a crush on the guy since he started on the team seven years ago. I never in a million years thought that I would ever meet him in person!

“Yes. You can probably have him sign your jersey, too,” Nolan says.

“Ohmygodohmygod.”

“Dude, do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” Nate groans.

Nolan laughs. “No, what?”

“Borovsky is her number one guy. We’re never going to hear the end of this.” Jason sighs.

“Yeah, we already have to hear about every aspect of the guy’s life from her stalking him on Facebook and Twitter. Now this will just make it worse,” Shane adds.

“Fuck you,” I hiss at them.

My dad chuckles and shakes his head.

Nolan rolls his eyes. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Nolan holds his hand out to me and I immediately take it. He leads us down into the belly of the Gardens, giving us a little tour on the way to the locker rooms, but I don’t hear a word he says. The only thing I can think of is what I’m going to say to Roman so I don’t look like a dumbass.

We stop outside a pair of double doors. Above the door there is a sign saying Boston Bruisers Locker Room. Oh my god! I think I’m gonna be sick.
No! There will be no throwing up, Harley!
Oh my God, I have to take a selfie with the locker room doors in the background. I quickly pull out my phone and snap a pic.

“Hang here a sec,” Nolan says and disappears through the doors.

I turn to my brothers and dad. “Holy shit! Do I look okay?” I ask, frantically smoothing down my hair.

“You look fine, sweetheart,” my dad assures me.

“You need to relax, Har,” Nate says. 

“Relax?” I squawk. “I’ll show you relaxed.”

I take a swing at Nate but he ducks out of the way, laughing.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” my dad grunts, grabbing me by the back of my jersey and pulling me away from Nate.

The doors open and I freeze. Nolan steps out followed by a half-naked Roman Borovsky. The guy is huge, like 6’5”, 240 pounds of muscle. His dark hair is wet and tousled; pieces of it are hanging down into his dark brown eyes. His jaw’s square and scruffy. He has a spattering of small scars on his ruggedly handsome face from being hit with pucks and skates and sticks and being slammed into the boards over the years. His bare upper body is what one would expect of an athlete - cut and toned, but not too bulky because he still needs to be able to move quickly. He has a towel slung over his shoulder, making me realize that he probably just got out of the shower.
Drool.

“Roman, these are some friends of mine…” Nolan says, introducing Roman to my dad and brothers first. “…And this is Harley.”

Roman’s eyes land on me and he smiles the lopsided grin that he always wears in pictures. I’m struck speechless as he holds out his hand. I slip my smaller hand into his bear paw and stare up at him.

“Hi,” he says.

I swallow hard and open my mouth to try and form words but only a high-pitched squeaking noise comes out. Oh god, I’m fucking this up.

“She’s a huge fan of yours, Roman.” Nolan smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets.

Roman never takes his eyes off me. “Is that so?” he asks with a slight Russian accent.

I nod fervently as I try to collect myself.

He chuckles. “Well, it’s always nice to meet such a huge fan,” he says.

He finally tears his dark gaze away from me and glances around at Nolan, my dad, and my brothers. I pull in a deep breath to try to calm myself.
Come on, Harley! Stop acting like an ass!

“You guys look like a fun crowd. A few of us are going out; do you want to join us?” Roman asks, his eyes landing back on me.

I hear a round of excited yesses from my brothers and my dad. Nolan gives a nonchalant shrug and says that he’s game.

“And what about you, Harley? Do you want to go out with me?” Roman asks with that damn crooked grin.

I blink up at him. That was a weird way to word it. It sounds like he’s asking me out on a date, which is just ridiculous. It must be because he’s Russian, he probably just words things differently.

I nod. “Yeah, sure,” I reply, finally able to find my voice.

“Great. Let me finish getting dressed and grab the other guys, then we can go,” he says, sending me a wink before turning and disappearing through the double doors.

I glance at Nolan to find him frowning after Roman. I don’t get the chance to dwell on the why too much before my brothers and my dad start talking animatedly about how we’re getting this once in a lifetime chance to hang out with some of our favorite hockey players. I, of course, can’t help but join in.

~ Nolan ~

I am really not liking Roman right now. We’ve been at the bar for an hour already and he’s been monopolizing every second of Harley’s time. We are at a table in the back of the bar. Roman somehow stuck Harley between him and Marc Hancock, one of the teams’ defensemen. And Roman has been all over her. Flirting and teasing and slinging his arm around her shoulders. I’m sitting adjacent to him at the end of the table, biting my fucking tongue. Harley seems to be enjoying herself, so who am I to stop her? We’re not officially together. If she wants to fuck a famous hockey player then that’s her decision.

I sit back in my chair, drink my beer, and brood. This is not what I expected to happen when I decided to introduce her to some players. I thought that it would get me some brownie points with Harley, not have her stolen from me. She’s barely looked my way since we got here, which fucking hurts more than I would like to admit.

Roman laughs heartily at something Harley says then plants a kiss on her cheek. Harley flushes bright red and I’ve had about enough. I shove out of my seat, snatch up my beer and head for the bar. I feel multiple eyes on me as I walk away, but I don’t really care at the moment.

I find an open space at the bar and clunk my bottle down. I lean against the bar, my back to the table where my woman is being schmoozed by a guy I can’t compete with. I finish off my beer and order a couple of shots.

A hand claps me on the back after I down my second shot. I glance to my right just as Nate leans against the bar next to me.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“What does it look like? I’m drinking,” I grumble.

“No, I mean, what are you doing letting Roman hang all over Harley like that?” Nate says.

“Not really my place to intervene.” I shrug.

“Bullshit,” Nate snaps.

I shake my head. “We’re not really together, Nate. And if she doesn’t want him hanging all over her then she will tell him. But it’s obvious that she’s soaking in all of the attention he’s giving her.”

“That’s because she’s being a stupid star struck girl. We both know what he really wants.”

I grit my teeth. Yeah, I fucking know exactly what he wants. And knowing Roman, he usually gets what he wants.

“That’s Harley’s decision,” I murmur, praying like hell that she doesn’t leave with him.

“Dude, what the fuck? You were just talking about how much you like her and you’re just going to let her go?” Nate asks angrily.

I turn to face him. “It doesn’t matter how I feel, Nate. If she doesn’t feel the same way about me then what is there to fight for?”

“Man, I know she feels the same. She’s just a little blinded right now because she’s had a crush on him for years.”

“And now he’s giving her the time of day, so where do you think that’s going to lead?”

Nate frowns and glances toward the table. “Just because you guys haven’t talked about being a couple, doesn’t mean that you can’t put your foot down and put a stop to this nonsense.”

I shake my head and motion to the bartender for another shot. “I’m not going to make a fool of myself because she obviously doesn’t care as much about me as I had thought.”

Nate makes an aggravated noise before stomping away and leaving me to drown my sorrows in the bottom of a bottle.

~ Harley ~

I excuse myself from the table, saying that I have to use the bathroom, but in all honesty, I’m feeling completely smothered and overwhelmed. I find the bathroom at the back of the bar and down a little hallway. I shut myself inside and sigh heavily. I go over to the sink and look in the mirror. What the hell am I doing? I’ve been so caught up in Roman’s flirting that I’ve completely blown off Nolan, who was thoughtful enough to introduce me to my favorite player. His storming away from the table with that hurt expression on his face was like a bucket of ice water over my head. 

Roman is nice and all, and it’s kinda crazy that he seems to like me, but I’m not stupid. I know that he just wants to get another groupie in bed. I know all about his prowess off the ice. When my brothers said that I stalk the guy, well, I do. Or should I say - did. Ever since Nolan came along and stole my heart, I really haven’t kept up with Roman like I used to. I think I should leave. Yeah, I’m gonna grab Nolan and tell him to take me home.

I straighten my shoulders, fix my hair a little bit, and head for the door. When I step out into the hallway, I see Roman leaning against the opposite wall. When he sees me, he pushes off the wall and comes toward me.

“Hi.” He smiles.

“Hey,” I reply.

He stops in front of me. He’s so freaking tall that I have to crane my neck back to look up at him. His fingers brush my cheek as he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

“I was thinking that maybe you and I could get out of here,” he murmurs softly.

Before I can reply, his lips cover mine. Holy shit! Roman Borovsky is kissing me! If this had happened about three months ago, I would have been over the moon. But now, all I can think is that he’s not Nolan. His lips are not as soft as Nolan’s. And the height difference is just ridiculous! His tongue slides along the seam of my lips, asking for entrance. I quickly break the kiss and back up a couple of steps.

Roman looks at me in confusion.

“I’m sorry, Roman. I can’t.”

“Why not?” he asks.

“You’re not the one that I want.” I sigh, shaking my head.

Roman frowns. “You have a boyfriend?”

“Technically, no. But I’ve been seeing someone, and I really think that I’m falling for him. I’ve been a real bitch to him tonight.”

Roman’s eyebrows shoot up. “Who are you talking about? Nolan?”

I nod.

Roman barks out a laugh. “What are you doing with Nolan? That guy is a pompous dick. Daddy’s little bitch.”

My angry boils up so quickly that I don’t even have time to think about what I’m doing. My fist shoots out and connects with Roman’s crotch. Air whooshes out from his lungs as he doubles over and grabs himself.

“Don’t you ever talk about Nolan like that in front of me again. Got it fuckface?” I bark.

He groans and nods.

“Good,” I sneer.

I turn on my heel and stomp back to the table. All heads turn to look at me when I stop next to the table. I look at Roman’s teammates. “I punched Roman in the balls; you might want to get him some ice.”

Their stunned glances at each other soon turn into roars of laughter. I turn to my dad and brothers who are also laughing.

“I’m gonna go before he comes back to the table. See you guys later,” I say and give them each a kiss on the cheek.

“You taking Nolan with you?” my dad asks, giving me an expectant look.

I smile. “Yes.”

He nods. “Good girl. Get outta here.”

I give his shoulder a squeeze before making my way over to the bar where Nolan is leaning heavily against it. I’m actually kind of surprised that he stuck around. He throws back a shot and hisses as he sets the glass back on the bar. I come up next to him, placing my hand on his lower back. His drunken gaze meets mine.