17. Nathan
NATHAN
Nothing would beat the sight of Octavia spread open in front of him in person, but Nathan had to admit that watching her fuck herself last night was a close second. The way she followed his instructions was euphoric. He had no idea how people survived before FaceTime was a thing.
“You look like you’re going to beat someone with that club.” Sami laughed when he caught Nathan staring off down the fairway of the eighteenth hole. “Please don’t though, we need our scoring machine.”
Nathan chuckled, pulling himself out of the staredown. “Just thinking,” he said, as he pushed his tee into the soft ground before placing his ball on top of it.
“About the steak dinner you’re about to buy me after I beat you?” Sami said smugly.
Nathan lined up with the ball. Closed his eyes and took a deep breath, looked down at the ball and swung.
He watched it sail straight down the fairway and land almost dead centre.
Sami’s ball, on the other hand, sat to the right of the fairway, either in the bunker or inches from it.
“Thinking about how I’m going to celebrate this win with my girl, after I order the fanciest thing on the fucking menu on your dime.
” He grinned back, sliding his club back into his bag before getting in the cart.
“Your woman.” Sami chuckled, joining him. “When’s the last time you had one of those?”
The need to claim her, to call her his was strong. It wasn't a feeling he had really experienced before. “I don’t remember. There hasn’t been anyone since I signed in Toronto.”
Six years of being back in his hometown.
What would his life be like now if they’d met when he first arrived?
She would have been twenty-four, still in school.
Visions of Octavia studying in the library, hair drawn up all messy on top of her head clouded his mind.
Octavia’s knuckles white as she gripped the bookshelves to stay upright as he ate out her studious little cunt.
They’d live together by now of course. Probably have a proper house on some tree-lined street.
His commute to the rink would be worse, but she’d look so good stretched out on a patio chair in the fall, reading as the leaves fell around her.
Their bookshelves would have a mix of his and her favourite novels.
Pictures from years of trips would line all the walls.
Everywhere, proof that she was fucking his and he was hers.
She’d get along with his family with ease.
Scottie would love her brain and he and Emma would probably be lost with half the stuff those two would talk about.
“Is she the one you hooked up with at the hotel a few weeks back?” Sami asked.
Nathan looked over at him, brows furrowed, wondering how he knew.
“Did you forget you were with six of the guys? They may not be the brightest, but when the single old guy on the team disappears from the hotel bar with a woman, they fucking take notice. Bitched that you hadn’t invited them along.”
The single old guy, Nathan nearly took offence to that description, but in hockey terms he was old and he had indeed been single.
“We met at that bar, yes. Then she was randomly at the game. Looked as surprised as I did. Also, invited them along?” He shook his head, disgusted that had even been a thought in their heads.
“Wait, she didn’t know who you were?”
“She does not give a fuck about hockey.”
Sami huffed in disbelief, pulling the cart to a stop next to where their balls lay. “A woman in Toronto didn’t know you were one of the city’s most eligible bachelors? And one of the fucking kings of the land?”
“Not everyone cares that much.”
“Bullshit. Hockey is all that the city cares about. It’s the only thing people agree on.”
Nathan glared over at him. “What are you implying?”
He raised his hands defensively. “Nothing, I just have a hard time believing she didn’t know who you were. I’m not saying there’s anything behind that, it’s just weird. But, I suppose it’s not impossible.”
“Believe me, she had no idea and I’m the one that pushed for this to become something, not her.
” He stalked off toward his ball, resenting what Sami had been implying.
This wasn’t his first fucking season, he wasn’t some rookie balls deep in a different hot blonde every weekend.
He was a weathered veteran at this point and just like he knew his body was going to feel ancient the day after a game, he knew what it looked like when someone wanted to spend time with him because of what he did rather than who he was.
“Hey, how’s your brother doing?” Sami asked on their way to the green. “You haven’t said much lately, so I assume he’s making progress.”
“Yeah, he’s…physically doing better daily, but I feel like he resents me even more now.”
“Why?”
“I’m out here doing things he can’t do right now.”
“Doesn’t like that you’ve got a girlfriend, eh?”
“He doesn’t know,” Nathan said as he lined up his shot. “I won’t be introducing them for a while.”
Sami laughed. “Assuming she’s still around when you’d want to.”
“She will be,” Nathan stated matter-of-factly before sinking the shot. “I’m not letting her go without a fight and I’ve got stamina.”
Pre-game interviews were one of Nathan’s least favourite things, but they were part of the job and certainly part of life when you were playing as well as he was.
The worst part of them was generally the wait between getting ready and the interviewer being ready.
Today, however, Nathan had someone to occupy the downtime with.
What are you up to?
Autumn
Watching my nephew refuse to eat the sandwich I made him.
You have a nephew? Any more littles in your life?
My sister’s kid. She just has one. He’s pretty cool but exhausting.
I’ve heard that about kids. Do you want them?
Kids?
Yes.
Most days. Today, no. You?
I could see myself as a dad. Certainly could see myself enjoying the process of becoming one.
Well who wouldn’t if all they had to do was come.
Lol true.
You going to watch my game tonight?
I was thinking about it. No work tomorrow so I can at least sleep in.
How’d things go this week with Ronald? You didn’t complain about him so I’m guessing things were better?
Nathan made a point to ask about the coworker he heard about most. The man whose very existence seemed like some test for her patience.
She told him that before starting at the firm she didn’t believe in enemies at work and then Ronald materialized from the pits of hell and suddenly she was spending meetings with him fantasizing about all the ways he could return there.
He’s away at some conference in Calgary. So they went great for me. Has Dmitri smiled yet?
Almost, he looked like he was going to this morning when he saw they had some Icelandic yogurt he loves at breakfast.
Think you’ll win tonight?
“Berty, you coming?”
Nathan looked up from his phone to see two of his teammates standing at the door, waiting for him.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you guys there.”
I think we’ll win every night!
He stuck his phone in his pocket and followed the guys down the hall to a room where one of the big sports broadcasters had set up an interview for the three oldest guys on the team.
They wanted to know how he managed to get better after thirty.
How a guy who’d had so many surgeries on his knees managed to still skate as well as he did.
They asked how he felt about the responsibilities he had as not only an assistant captain, but as one of the veterans.
No doubt he’d be asked, yet again, what it was like having a captain a decade younger than him.
And he’d give the answers he was trained to give.
He’d tell them it was all about adaptability and hard work.
That listening to the doctors and professionals tasked with keeping his body working was the secret.
Leadership was important to him, he’d had great leaders when he’d come into the league and he saw firsthand how that had helped shape him.
He wanted to spread that through the ranks of the team.
And yet again, Cory Mitchell may only be twenty-four, but he led with passion, talent, and the ability to inspire his teammates despite his age.
Nathan would insist, yet again, that he’d follow the kid anywhere.
Half of that was true. He’d joined the league under one of the most toxic leadership groups hockey had ever seen. His first captain was a big believer in belittling rather than building people up. It was the horrible leadership style that inspired him to take a different approach.
The interviewer shocked him at the end when he asked what they were each looking forward to when they got home.
After his teammates both mentioned their wives and kids, Nathan smiled at the camera and said he was looking forward to seeing his girlfriend.
Then he quickly added that he couldn’t wait to sleep in his own bed again.
The minute the camera stopped rolling, he requested they cut out the girlfriend part.
Scottie may see the interview and Nathan preferred he not find out about Octavia from The Sports Channel.