Page 54 of Brace and Chase

Nothing to see here, nothing to see.

“Do you have a spare key to the house or should we go get one made?” he asks, focusing way too hard on the panel behind the wheel. I keep gripping the handle like my life depends on it.

“I have a spare key,” I tell him in a measured tone. “I’ll give it to you later.”

“Awesome.” I see his smile through his profile and something inside me trembles at the sight.

After that, Nikolay lists every little thing he notices about my car on the fifteen minute drive, so I take all that precious time to calm the fuck down. It’s nice that I don’t feel like I have to fill in any awkward silences. In fact, when we’re about to walk through the players’ entrance and he rounds on me with a determined expression, I realize that with thenormalSanta in attendance there never will be an awkward silence.

“Remember what we talked about,” he starts, like a warning. “We’re going to go in theretogetherand show the guys that we support them. Show a united front, you know?”

“Uh-huh,” I say with a nod, working on getting rid of the stupid nerves that just bloomed at the thought of watching the game from the sidelines.

“Awesome, let’s go.”

I make a concerted effort to walk next to him because we do need to show a united front. We have to show the team that we’re on their side and we’ve gotten our heads out of our asses.

Twenty minutes later, though, we come face to face with the fact that one little gesture, like not bickering, is not going to get us back into anyone’s good graces.

Our teammates, especially the younger ones, don’t act any differently toward Nikolay, but they’re a lot more welcoming to me—even more than they had been previously—after he claps me on the back before he goes to talk to Bear.

But when the guys are dressed up and ready to go, Laney comes in, and if looks could kill...

“What are you two doing here?” he asks us, and looks down at our suits with a snarl.

Yeah, I’m not happy about not being in gear either, but why can’t we be down here?

“To go out with the team?” Nikolay asks in his smartass tone.

“Not happening, Santa. You two go up to the players box and watch from up there.”

He dismisses us by looking away without another word and I feel Nikolay’s shoulders droop the same way mine do.

We walk out without making a sound, and I don’t dare look anyone in the eyes.

I have never been in this fucking situation before.

“Is it super dramatic to say it feels like we’re exiled?” I ask without thinking once we’re in the elevator.

“No,” Nikolay says definitely. “It feels like that, but...” He sighs loudly the moment the doors open. “We’re going to fight our way back.” He smiles as he speaks and I’m not quite sure if it’s because he believes what he just said or because there are people milling around the hallway that leads to all the suites in the arena.

He walks briskly, and I match his pace, not really feeling like having a conversation with any fan right now that could lead to either one of us having to explain why we’re not playing.

As far as I know, no official statements have been made from the Pirates’ front office, but I strongly believe in keeping my mouth shut when it comes to these types of situations.

I get a Coke from the fridge inside the suite and Nikolay goes for a water. Since no one told us what to do or how to act, I go and sit on the outer seats where we’ll have one of the best views of the night.

Nikolay doesn’t join me right away, and when he does, I see he has a notebook and a pen.

He must see my curious gaze because he explains without prompting.

“To take notes to bring to the guys during the intermissions.”

“If Laney will let us into the locker room,” I grumble and take a sip.

“Turn your frown upside down, Charlie.”

My answering smile has no chance of not appearing. He’s funny, using that overly optimistic phrase sarcastically.

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