Nadia’s POV

I opened my eyes to the annoying buzzer sound of my cell phone. I stretched a hand to get it and turn it off. Silence. Yay. As I sat in my bed, rubbing my eyes, I heard knocks on my door.

“What?” I asked at the end of a yawn.
“Get up, sexy lady!” said the funny voice of my roommate.
“You know complimenting me won’t get me out of bed, Tommy…” I sighed, falling back into my warm sheets.

My door slammed open to him, shirtless. I instantly sat straight. I’ve known him for a year but I never got over how hot he looked. Damn, why is he gay?! He looked at his abs before looking back at me with a smirk.

“All them ladies fall for these” he chuckled, pointing his chest.
“Dude, do you even realize how many girls’ hearts you break? It’s almost cruel!”

He laughed.

“Boys’ hearts too, don’t forget!”
“What a Casanova you are!”

He smirked and joined me in the bed, stumbling upon 2-3 boxes left near the door.

“I have nothing to do today. Would you need help unpacking your stuff?”

I knew by his look and how close to me he sat that he didn’t want to unpack boxes at all. It may sound wrong to anyone, but we’re … uhhh… How can I describe it? Part-time friends with benefits? Kind of…

“Are you in the mood?” he asked, pulling down my tank top braces.
“You know this is wrong at all levels, Tommy…” I sighed, trying to avoid his desire look.
“What is wrong in having desire for a beauty like you?” he whispered, cupping my cheek and pulling my face to look him in the eyes.
“We shouldn’t be doing this” I quickly said, getting up.

I went straight to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, I pondered again the pros and cons of having sex with him. How will I ever find love like this? But damn… how can I resist his charm and muscles? I have to resist… Or not? Grr… I stood up and slowly took off my clothes to take a shower. It’ll wipe away those thoughts and get me ready for the day.


I went to my room and chose random clothes. By the window, I could see that it was going to be an amazing warm day of October. I put jeans shorts and my Portal 2 t-shirt. Yes, I am a gamer girl. A real one.

“Breakfast’s ready!” Tommy yelled from the kitchen with his lovely Italian accent.

I smiled and joined him, smelling the delicious odor of bacon. We ate silently, feeling the awkward tension between us. I still can’t understand why he wants me. Not because he’s gay, but because of what I look like. Physically, I’m just average. I’m a stubborn badass tomboy. This is enough to make the boys run away from me like I was some crazy bitch. Anyway, I love him. He’s the only one to understand me and he doesn’t mind being seen publicly with me; the opposite of everyone I met in high school. He’s just awesome!

“What do you wanna do today?” he asked.
“I don’t know… Probably air assassinations and messing up with redcoats”

He rolled his eyes. I know he doesn’t really like video games but what he hates is to see me playing when it is sunny outside.

“We should hang out or something. It’s warm and sunny outside”
“I don’t know… I don’t feel like going out”
“You have to! I’m taking you on a day out!” he said, standing up to put his plate in the dishwasher.
“Why?” I whined.
“Because I said so” he said with a wink.
“Damn you talk like my parents!” I loudly sighed before escaping to my room.

I told him to never talk about my parents. I was kept there like in a cage. I just started feeling well and opening, I’m not going back. I changed my phone number, email address and license plate number just so they can’t find me. I only told them in a letter that I left for the USA. I’m over it but it still hurts when I come across some reminders. I sat on my bed with a controller, decided to kill any redcoat that was coming in my way. Waiting for my Xbox to turn on, I saw him near from my doorframe.

“What do you want?” I sighed heavily.
“I’m sorry for what I said but please, come out with me. We could just go on the beach”
“You want me to go out in public only wearing a bikini?” I hissed, waiting for the game to load.
“Here’s your chance to show your brand new tattoo! And I don’t mind if you just lay there reading a book, just come with me”

I paused my game and looked up at him. He seemed to really want me to come out. I sighed and turned everything off. I could already see the smile forming on his face.

“Okay but we better make it quick”
“Then the quicker you get ready, the quicker we leave!”
“Challenge accepted”

I stood up and took off my shirt. By the corner of my eye, I saw him leaning on my doorframe instead of leaving to give me privacy. I managed to change quickly into my purple bikini, revealing my gorgeous flower tattoo on my right side. Tying the top of my bikini, I looked at it with a smile. It fucking hurt but now that it’s done, it’s gorgeous. Pulling my shorts up, I heard Tommy whistle.

“Dat ass” he chuckled.

I turned around to face him.

“You mean: dat tattoo” I corrected him, pointing the huge print lasting from under my bikini strap to the beginning of my hip.

He tilted his head and looked at it.

“You make me wanna have one”

I laughed. He better not, he’d be harder to resist. We went to the bathroom. I put the things we needed like sunscreen and towels in a bag while he was rearranging his hair for the thirty-second time this morning.

“Hey hottie” I called him to get his attention. “Ready to go?”
“Yup” he said, taking his car keys out of his pocket. “My ride”
“Why? My truck can perfectly handle the road”
“I still can’t figure out how you traveled to Chicago without it exploding. It scares me”
“Ok then. Your ride”

It wasn’t such a big deal; I love to be seen in his convertible Nissan 370z. His parents gave it to him as a gift for his acceptance in University. Yes, they’re freaking rich. We pass by my old Forester, eaten away by rust. I give it a little caress on the hood, like I was trying to comfort it because once again I don’t drive it. We got in his car and drove to the nearest beach. On our way, we put some good clubbing music that we sang at the top of our lungs. At a red light, Tommy stopped and changed the song. As soon as the lights turned green, it took a few seconds before Tommy finally shifted to continue our way. I changed the song, getting tired of his dubstep addiction. Shortly after that, we arrived at the beach. I could already feel my tattoo burn. That skin is way more sensitive, I forgot it again. While Tommy managed to park his car, I put a huge amount of sunscreen on my inked skin.

“Should we go?” Tommy asked, watching me softly rub my ribs.
“Yes, I follow you” I answered, closing the sunscreen bottle and getting off the car.

I noticed a few plastic barbies looking at me with hate. Like I give a fuck, you don’t impress me either him. I put my sunglasses on and followed Tommy to pick a spot. He chose to drop his stuff near the volleyball terrain where a few boys were playing.

“Good choice” I chuckled, placing my towel on the sand.
“Don’t doubt my skills, I have a radar for hot males” he said, stretching his arms to show off his muscles.

I chuckled, trying to find my book in my bag.

“Damn!” I exclaimed, not finding a single trace of that book. I must have forgotten it.
“Damn yeah…” he adds with a grunt, checking out some guy’s ass.

I looked up at him and couldn’t help laughing.

“I forgot my book” I flatly said.
“Hum, not exactly…”

I watched him take off his sunglasses to reveal a mischief glance.

“No, you didn’t… You took it out didn’t you?!”
“You are not going to stay the quiet bookworm all the time! You’re a lovely crazy hot tattooed girl going to play with me and those pretty specimens”
“You want the sporty me to come out?”
“Would be a shame if we kicked their hot asses” he whispered with a wink.

I laughed. He looked at them with the same look he gave me this morning. He’s right, those guys are really handsome. Is he acting like my wingman? Or I am his kind of wingman? Fuck it, let’s just play with them.

“You come?” he asked, softly slapping my ass.
“Yep” I replied with a smile.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and we came closer to the boys. They were playing 3 on 3. Hopefully, they would need some more players. I couldn’t stop smiling, being held by my best friend, making other girls jealous.

“Hey guys” Tommy shouted, near from the playing field.

He waited for them to turn around before speaking.

“Would you have some room for us to play with you?” he asked.

I could see the boys hesitate. I bit my lower lip, feeling uncomfortable. The same song over and over again : your friend is hot so yes, you’re ugly so no. His smile started fading, realizing they would probably not let us play with them. It felt so childish. Tommy turned around to look at me. I saw the confidence in his eyes. He trusted me and wasn’t afraid to do things with me so he’d show them how he does if it went wrong.

“Sorry, bro” the biggest douchebag said, insisting on the bro. “We’re full”
“Fine then” Tommy flatly said.

He turned around and smiled at me.

“Don’t worry” he whispered, putting a hand on my waist. “They’re stupid”

I sighed and stepped forward faster. Why did I think it was going to be better with Tommy? People still rejected me though he was there. That was too much. When I heard his voice getting closer, I walked even faster. I just wanted to get the fuck out of this place. No, this country. Damn it, I’ll just leave the planet! As I bent over to my bag, a strong hand grabbed my wrist.

“Babe calm down” Tommy calmly said. “We still can have fun today! This single moment can’t ruin our whole day!”
“Then it better not be here” I said, choking in tears. “I can’t stand against those models everywhere”

Before I got the chance to move, Tommy got closer to me. I could not turn around to him. His sad green eyes made me feel guilty. He put his hands on my waist and I could feel like a wall had formed around us.

Tommy’s P.O.V.

I could not see her sad. Her tears were tearing me apart. I just wanted to show the world what kind of awesome girl she can be but all I saw was people rejecting her time after time. I knew nothing I would say would help her right now so I had to do something. I cupped her face and kissed her. That was the first time we kissed in public since we met. Hum, oops, I forgot at the prom. It doesn’t count : we were drunk and people begged us to do it. At this moment, I just felt like I had to do it. As our kiss progressed, I could feel in her lips that she was progressively calming down. Her arms were wrapped around my upper body, pulling me close. In the blink of an eye, she pulled away to stick her forehead to mine. It took me a few seconds before I opened my eyes to see her gorgeous face again. I could only wonder ; why was I the only one to like her the way she was? Not even her parents would let her be the Nadia she is. She’s my best friend and I’ll never let her down.

“I want to leave” she whispered.
“Whatever you want”

I helped her pack her stuff and mine then we almost jogged to the car. On the way home, we didn’t play any music or say anything. I only took her hand and held it all the time we were in the car. I looked at her sometimes, just to check how she was. The tension between us seemed to change, like it passed from shared sadness to… affection, maybe? I didn’t want to make any suppositions in case I’d be wrong. As I parked the car in my spot in the underground parking of our building, I heard her change of position on her seat. I turned off the car and took off my keys then looked at her. I knew this look. It was a mix of guilt, sadness, hope and envy.

“Let’s do it” she whispered.
“Do what?” I asked, just to make sure she was thinking of the same thing I did.
“I want you” she replied, softly putting her hand on my thigh, pretty close from my crotch.

That was obvious. We were about to have sex. We quickly got off the car and went up to my condo.

Nadia’s P.O.V.

I slammed the door shut behind us and literally threw myself at him. I hugged him tight and kissed him passionately. He put me on… the table I guess? I opened an eye. Yes, I was on the table. He kissed my neck while slowly lowering a hand to my crotch. I let myself go to anything he wanted to do to me. I just wanted to feel good and alive, like he always made me feel.

…

I woke up in my bed, naked, hearing voices and laughs from the rest of the apartment. I checked the time on my cell phone. 2:46 PM. Damn, did I just sleep my day away? I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. I put the same clothes I wore the morning before sleepily making my way to the door. I noticed a paper taped to it. It was a note from Tommy, saying that he invited a few friends over and I was welcome if I wanted to join them. Compared to the douchebags we met earlier, I wasn’t afraid of meeting those men. Almost every of Tommy’s friends are also gay and very nice. I smile, trying to make my hair a little less messy before stepping out of my room. I almost gasped. Tommy waved at me.

“Is this the congress of the hottest men in Chicago or am I dead?” I blurted out, unable to find something decently intelligent to say.

They all laughed.

“We just need some of the Chicago Blackhawks and we’d be complete” Tommy chuckled. “We’re gonna fix that tonight”

I followed him to the kitchen table, mouthing a what?!. There was a guy crazily typing on a laptop, watched by a few others.

“I don’t understand this whole scene. About twelve hot men in our apartment and one… hacking the country’s security?”
“I’m hacking the hottest and most expansive nightclub in Chicago to know if they’re going tonight…”
“Who and … Ok, what the fuck?!”

Tommy laughed and brought me a beer.

“We decided to go out tonight and take you with us. We just want to know if our hockey superstars will be part of our night so that’s what Don is trying to find out”

I took a huge sip, watching them chat and give advice to the poor guy overheating the laptop and probably his fingers on the way. A few minutes later, he yelled something that sounded like Eureka! Everyone gathered around the table.

“I could get tonight’s guest list” he exclaimed, trying to read it as fast as he can. “VIP section, reservation for 10:30 PM for 25 people. Reference: Corey Crawford, Patrick Sharp…”

I got closer to the computer to read with him.

“Patrick Kane!” I exclaimed. “And Jonathan Toews, oh my God!!”

I didn’t finish reading the whole list. It was obvious that our favorite players were going out tonight and we could maybe get a chance to meet them. I was jumping with my hands in the air like a teen who just heard her crush say her name. Tommy and some other guys laughed.

“Good job, Don” Tommy stated, patting Don’s shoulder. “Get me the number of the person in charge of this list so I can add us”
“Wait, what?!” I asked. “You think you can let us in this place?”
“Never doubt my skills neither my charisma” he replied, smiling.

I laughed and started talking with a few boys while Tommy was negotiating on the phone. Many minutes later, he came back from his room, smiling and thanking the person he was on the phone with. As soon as he hung up, I went to him.

“So?”
“Suit up, everyone! We’re going out and will sure meet them hot hockey dudes!”
“How did you do that?” I asked, totally unbelieving.
“I’m Tommy Cortese, why wouldn’t it work?”

We all laughed.

“I made sure it would be subtle so we just have the right to enter the place at the same time as their reservation in the private space ends. You’re going to see them in real life, baby!” he told me, huge smile on the face.
“I love you!” I said before leaping in his arms.

Everyone cheered until 2 men joined Tommy and me.

“Let’s get you ready for the night of your life, milady” the first one said.
“Uhh, okay”

Dumb. I’m dumb. Tommy led them to my room, taking me by the hand so we could find something I could wear tonight. I hope they can make miracles because I’ll need one!

Notes

Here it goes! Not very representative of the rest of the story, but you will see :) Please comment and subscribe!