39. Nathan
NATHAN
Nathan knew in his bones that Octavia loved him and there was no way she was going to meet Scottie and announce that this thing between them was over.
And yet as he drove them to his place, he couldn’t seem to stop his imagination from coming up with wild scenarios of how awful, for him, this introduction was going to go.
“Hey,” Octavia murmured, reaching across the centre console to take the hand he was tapping out an erratic pattern with.
“It’s going to be fine. Scottie is going to love me in a non-romantic way.
Besides, I could never date a gamer, I’m a little annoyed he withheld that.
” She laughed but the words “I could never” played on repeat in Nathan’s mind.
“Yeah, but you also said you’d never date a hockey player.”
“Nathan, you’re going to have to trust me. At the end of the day, Scottie and I are going to be at worst, acquaintances and at best, friends.”
“I love you,” he said.
“So you’ve said…thirtyish times since you woke me up with breakfast in bed,” she teased.
“Stop looking at me like that.” Nathan huffed, catching the look of pity she was throwing his way.
“Like what?” she asked innocently.
“That pity bullshit. Am I not allowed to be terrified of something?”
Octavia laughed, squeezing his hand. “I’m not pitying you. I just like knowing you’re mortal with fears like the rest of us.”
Nathan spared her a glance as he stopped at a red light.
“Octavia, I’ve been terrified on an almost daily basis since I saw you at my game.
Terrified of how fast I fell. Terrified that you wouldn’t fall too.
Scared you’ll wake up one day and remember you don’t do the hockey player thing.
Now I’ve got this incessantly cruel monkey on my back chattering away that you’ll like my little brother more.
All while desperately trying to be this guy who doesn’t… ”
“Doesn’t what?” she prodded.
“Sound as fucking insecure as I’m feeling in this moment.”
“You’re seriously scared that you’ll wake up and I won’t love you anymore?”
He groaned and tipped his head back as the light turned green. “As much as I hate admitting it, yes.”
Octavia let out an adorable little hum. “Well, I guess that makes two of us. I mean loving you is pretty fucking fantastic, but there’s a massive element of fear there because I cannot actually see into your brain to know if your love for me is as all-consuming as mine feels for you.
” She squeezed his hand, bringing it to rest on her lap.
“It’s nice to know we’re in this pit of terror together. ”
“Think we’ll ever climb out?” He chuckled.
“No idea. But I’m looking forward to finding out with you.”
Octavia took hold of Nathan’s hand and squeezed harder than usual as he unlocked the door to his place and pushed it open slowly, half expecting Scottie to be waiting on the other side. But the condo was quiet, not even the sound of one of his brother’s games.
“Maybe he was scared too,” Nathan mumbled.
“I heard that,” Scottie said, walking into the foyer from the kitchen. “I was just putting together a little something.”
Nathan leaned left to look around his brother and caught sight of the end of a wooden board with a white block on it.
“You made a charcuterie board?”
“Mmmm,” Octavia sang from behind him. “I like you already.” She dropped Nathan’s hand and stepped around him. “Nice to finally meet you, Bl—Scottie. Sorry things didn’t work out.”
Nathan watched as Octavia embraced his brother and tried to ignore the monkey on his back squawking about how his brother’s hands were too low. They weren’t, they were in a normal place, but that didn’t stop Nathan from keeping his eyes on them in case they dropped an inch.
“Probably for the best. This guy’s never played better.” Scottie pointed at Nathan as he stepped away from Octavia and Nathan took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her.
His brother’s eyes locked on to where his hand curled around her hip, smirking when Nathan’s fingers tightened.
“Well, I guess we’ve been good for each other’s careers,” Octavia said, smiling up at Nathan, forcing him to stop glaring at his brother and look down at her.
“I just like having someone else to impress,” Nathan teased, pulling her in tighter.
The three of them stood around silently for a couple of minutes before Scottie clapped his hands together and took a step back. “I’ll let you kids get back to whatever you planned on doing.”
“Wait,” Nathan called out before Scottie had a chance to get far.
“I was thinking the three of us could have dinner if it’s not too weird.
Also judging by the size of that block of cheese, we’ll need at least three people.
” He looked between his brother and Octavia, taking in their expressions, searching perhaps for any sign that they were uncomfortable with the idea.
“Depends.” Scottie shrugged.
“On?”
“What’s for dinner?”
“Whatever we want.” Nathan held his phone up. “Octavia will want—”
“Sushi,” Scottie said matter-of-factly.
“How—shit, that took me so long to get out of you.” Nathan sulked. “What else does he know?”
Octavia looked between the brothers, worrying her lip.
“Favourite colou—”
“Blue,” Scottie drawled.
“What the hell? I had to work so hard for all those facts.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, did you not enjoy those fact finding missions you were so enthusiastic to go on?” Octavia challenged, leaving Nathan speechless because he did indeed enjoy those missions. “I thought so.” She smiled up at him.
For the next hour Nathan watched as Octavia and Scottie revealed how they probably weren’t as compatible as he’d feared. When Scottie brought up video games, Octavia’s expression was forced, which his brother didn’t miss.
“I had a feeling you weren’t a fan and I thought that maybe for the right woman, I could give up being a fan.”
“The right person isn’t going to want you to give up something you’re passionate about, Scottie. They’re going to want to know more, maybe do it with you.”
“So I need to find a gamer girl who likes cycling and other stuff…” he trailed off, his cheeks darkening and Nathan looked at Octavia, wordlessly begging her not to follow-up on what other stuff meant.
“You must really like cycling if you were out on your bike in January,” she offered instead, glancing quickly at Nathan.
Scottie shrugged. “As long as there’s no snow or ice on the ground I’m fine with being out on it. I have winter tires for a reason.” He winced, groaning as his head fell back. “I had winter tires on my bike.”
“Still, who rides a bike to a date?” Nathan chuckled.
“I figured having a vehicle that fits one person would let my date know I wasn’t expecting anything beyond our first meeting.”
“You were meeting at a hotel,” Nathan deadpanned, stopping himself from going into detail how he had used that hotel that very night.
“That’s sweet,” Octavia said. “And actually not surprising based on how long it took for you to agree to meet me in person.” She leaned into Nathan, her hand resting on his thigh, a comforting warmth spreading through his body.
The banter between them was easy and, more importantly, friendly. And the longer they talked the more ridiculous Nathan felt about how worried he had been. He was just happy that despite everything, two of his favourite people seemed comfortable with one another.
After Octavia announced she was going to get ready for bed, Scottie helped Nathan clean up and put away the leftover takeout.
“I’m glad you found each other,” Scottie said while rearranging the fridge. “It makes sense, you and her.”
Nathan nodded because he had known that early on, even if he didn’t really understand how. “She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he admitted, giving the counter one last swipe with a paper towel.
“Yeah, I can tell. I’m happy for you, Nathan. Despite what you may think. I’m not as bitter as you seem to believe that I am. Anyway, I’m going to crash. Early appointment tomorrow and I have a feeling it’s going to be intense.”
“Night,” Nathan said, watching Scottie walk to his room before heading to his own.
He found Octavia in the bathroom patting her face dry and he barely registered getting his toothbrush ready while he watched her slather on moisturizer, leaning into the mirror as she rubbed it into her skin.
He’d never imagined someone doing their skincare would be such a turn on, but here he was, holding himself back from initiating something
There would be no wild, sex-crazed nights as long as Scottie was down the hall.
Nathan was no prude but the last thing he needed was for his brother to hear. It felt cruel under normal circumstances. And there was nothing normal about this.
“You going to use that thing or just hold it between your teeth?” Octavia teased, walking toward him, her hands working moisturizer between her fingers.
Nathan yanked the brush from his mouth and dropped a quick mint tinged kiss to her lips before she could escape.
He’d never considered how distracting a woman’s nighttime routine could be, but Octavia moisturizing herself was nothing short of beguiling.
Now that he was alone he could focus on the rest of his routine with the anticipation of curling around her when he got to bed.
When he slipped between the sheets, Octavia was the one who did the curling, wrapping her arm around his chest and nuzzling into him, releasing a contented hum when her leg slipped over his.
“Can I be honest?” she murmured.
“Always.”
Her fingers tapped across his pec a few times before she spoke. “I like Scottie.”
Nathan’s heart stopped and he held his breath as the taps of her fingers switched to grazes.
“Breathe, love.” She chuckled. “But there are things about him that I didn’t know. Things I wouldn’t have liked.”
“There are things about me you didn’t think you liked,” he countered.
“True…But I was immediately physically attracted to you. Even though my brain was like, ew, a hockey player.”
“I did get the looks,” he joked.
“Scottie is very attractive, don’t get cocky. He’s just…I don’t know…didn’t do it for me physically. That can always come later of course and obviously there was something about him that had me excited about meeting him. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better, but only as—”
“A brother-in-law?” Nathan cut in.
Octavia pushed up on her elbow and glared down at him. “This better not be a proposal.”
He shook his head. “Nah, when I do that, you won’t question if that’s what’s happening. You’ll know.”
“Good. I expect quite a show, Mr. Albertson,” she said, lowering herself back down.
Nathan had everything planned already and there was nothing showy about it.
He’d be doing it at their cottage. Maybe at the end of the summer or during the next All-Star break.
It was all highly dependent on where they were in their relationship.
He’d marry her tomorrow if she expressed interest. But with her career in limbo and her focus on taking on hockey culture, he wanted her to be able to focus on that and not whether it was too soon to be taking the next step.
“I don’t, for the record,” she whispered.
“Hmm?” Nathan hummed into her hair.
“Expect a show.”
He chuckled quietly, his arm tightening around her shoulders and tipping her body more into his. “I know, Autumn girl. But you’ll still know when I do it.”
No verbal response came but she did nuzzle more into him, and he imagined there was a happy little smile playing on her lips.