Then Lars’ jaw flexed. A second later he turned to Holly again, cocking his head as if she might save him, but she just looked away from the tall blond who’d broken her in more ways than one. And that landed heavily behind Nate’s shuddering ribcage, because it told him that she wasn’t done fighting. She didn’t want Lars there, and she was lettinghimhelp to get rid of the asshole.
Lars’s smile faltered. “Touchy.”
“Four,” Nate said.
The smirk evaporated. Lars stepped back, hands raised in false surrender. “Alright. No need to get dramatic.” His eyes cut to Holly one last time, sharp and bitter. “I’ll leave you with yourboyfriend.”
Nate moved on instinct and was almost in Lars’ face when Holly caught him at the chest, one palm flat against his sternum.
“Don’t,” she said, voice low.
That stopped him faster than a penalty whistle.
Lars slipped out like the coward he was, silence falling in his wake. For a few seconds, they just stood there. Nate’s pulse thundered in his ears, with Holly’s hand still against his chest longer than it should have been, before she dropped like it had never been there at all.
Nate looked down at her, taking in the tension in her neck and the way her shoulders curled slightly inward, like she wanted to fold in on herself. The signs of sheer exhaustion, manifesting in real time right before his eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Fuck this,” he muttered, taking her hand gently. “I’m taking you home.”
Holly didn’t flinch or argue. She just nodded, quiet and heavy, and let him lead her out like she was finally too tired to carry it all on her own.
Strictly Scandal Online:
“Nate had that bodyguard energy at rehearsal today.Someone said he told Lars to back off and we just KNOW it was hot.”
PUCK HOUND ROUNDUP:
Entangled Enforcer - Nate Eriksson Makes Moves Off the Ice
It’s not every day you see the Hammerheads’ number-one enforcer trade body checks for ballroom lifts, but Nate Eriksson is somehow pulling it off. Despite being suspended after a brutal hit that’s all but ended the career of Alexei Voskoboynikov, Eriksson’s public image has done a full 180 thanks to his shockingly tender chemistry withTake the Floor’sHolly Martinez.
Fans are eating up their performance-turned-possible-romance, but footage leaked from rehearsal this week shows Eriksson not-so-politely removing a man from the studio in a move that wouldn’t be out of place on the ice. The man? Martinez’s ex. Looks like Nate’s playing defense in more ways than one, with…READ MORE →
Mami
I just saw something on the facebook about you and nate something about a fight and that blond hijo de puta are you okay mi vida you don’t have to tell me everything, but just text me back so I know you’re okay also, if nate did punch that idiota, bring him for dinner Thursday night I will make abuela’stamales
Holly
AY, MAMI No one got punched, I swear!! I’m fine. Promise.
But WHY are you threatening me with abuela’s tamales
WE DO NOT FEED THE SCANDINAVIAN.
Remember to take your meds. I’ll come visit on the weekend.
Te quiero, no seas una loca.
25
HE DIDN’T LEAVE, AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM
Holly
“... Fuck.”
Holly didn’t let herself think about why she let him take her home. She just moved. That was the trick, really. If she kept moving, she didn’t have to feel. If she didn’t feel, she didn’t crack. If she didn’t crack, she wouldn’t become someone else’s story again. Her legs carried into her building, and she let herself rest against Nate when he slipped a supportive arm around her in the elevator.
