Nora Mallone had never been one to cause trouble. When she moved to downtown Toronto at age eighteen, she had plans to attend university and make a life for herself alongside her best friend. But all of it went down the drain when she lost her paren...
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n.e.mallone: happy halloween bitches
♥ Liked by austonmatthews and 2,869 others.
Comments:
lexbraker: i am literally only looking at your titties right now, can't talk ↳n.e.mallone: all for you
trick.gainers: what exactly is this costume? who fucking knows. ↳n.e.mallone: can you just let me be hot in peace? ↳↳trick.gainers: no?
marner_93: ah yes, half-dressed business man covered in blood is my favorite character in that one movie ↳n.e.mallone: you got an off-button? ↳↳bunting27: if he does, i haven't found it yet ↳↳↳lexbraker22: ayo where have you checked 🤨📸
austonmatthews: damn must've been chilly walking outside. especially considering the ice inside your cold heart. ↳n.e.mallone: maybe a guy who only has one point in the past three games should focus more on hockey and less on being an annoying brat don't you think? 🥰 ↳↳random: lmao i can't tell if this is flirting or if they actually don't like each other? ↳↳↳random: it's honestly starting to seem like they don't like each other lol ↳↳↳↳random: idk seems kind of flirty to me
random: does this girl like work for the leafs or sumn??? ↳random: based on her insta posts i think she works in nightlife or something ↳↳random: like a stripper? ↳↳↳random: maybe 🤷🏻♀️
random: slut
random: where did all of the self-respecting women go?
random: DO YOU KNOW THE GIRL AUSTON HOOKED UP WITH???
random: do girls think that guys actually find this attractive?
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𝓝𝓸𝓻𝓪
When Nora arrived for her shift at the Castle on Sunday, she was still mildly hungover from Halloween the night prior. A little disoriented, she threw open the front door, only to find Trick wasn't there. Nora checked the time: 4:30. Trick almost always beat her to work; that is, of course, if they didn't arrive together.
"Trick?" Nora called into the bar, shutting the door behind her. "Trick, you here?"
As if on cue, Nora's phone chimed in her hand. Sure enough, it was him.
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Messages
Conversation with Trick Gainsley
Trick yo just started violently throwing up at last minute. texted henley and she's gonna cover for me.
Nora shit are you okay?? is it like hangover sickness or something else??
Trick honestly i have no idea. if it doesn't get better by tomorrow i'll go to the doctor.
Nora yes, you definitely should. text me how you're doing when you can, okay?
Trick yes maam.
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Nora sighed and headed for the bar, where she started to unload glasses from the dishwasher beneath the counter. Trick wasn't the kind of person to skip on work unless things were serious, which left Nora feeling nervous for her friend as she awaited updates.
Before she got one, however, the front door opened again, and Henley appeared. "Hey," Nora greeted her, closing the dishwasher. "Thanks for filling in at the last minute. I know Trick is—"
"Stop talking," Henley interrupted. It caught Nora off-guard; she froze, still half-bent over at the dishwasher. Henley approached the counter and placed both of her palms down on the granite, jaw visibly tight.
Hesitantly, Nora stood up straight and asked, "Everything okay?"
"I can't fucking believe you," Henley muttered. Her stare was cold and unflinching—sharp enough that Nora feared it would cut right through her.
Nora felt a little like she had somehow fallen into the Twilight Zone. She and Henley were friends, pretty good friends, at that—at least as far as co-workers went. The girl definitely took no shit, so it's not like Nora had never seen her pissed, but usually that was when Henley was dealing with douchebag patrons or complaining about Monty. This, though? This was something else entirely.
"I'm sorry," Nora started, but Henley didn't give her a chance to finish.
"You know how fucking low you are?" demanded Henley.
Nora was losing patience: clearly there was some sort of misunderstanding. "Henny, what are you taking about?" she pleaded with a shake of the head.
"You and Auston fucking Matthews," Henley shouted back at her.
That didn't make things any clearer to Nora, who just replied, "What?"
"He and I are together," Henley countered, "and you fucking flirt with him non-stop on Instagram? Are you sleeping with him, too?"
Now at least Nora has half a clue what Henley was talking about, but it still sounded ridiculous to her. Without even meaning to, she let out a laugh. "I'm not flirting with Matthews," she remarked. "And I'm definitely not sleeping with him."
"Bull-shit," Henley yelled. Her voice was so loud that Nora took a few steps back from the bar to avoid blowing out her eardrums. "Block him right fucking now."
Desperate to get out of this—whatever this was—Nora pulled her phone from her back pocket. She set the phone down on the bar so that Henley could watch as she opened Instagram and blocked Auston's account. "There," Nora concluded. "Better?"
Henley, still obviously seething, flicked Nora's phone back in her direction with disregard. Nora, fortunately, managed to catch it before it tumbled off the edge. As Henley came around the bar, her eyes never left Nora. Once she was several feet away, she murmured, "If you ever make a move on him again, I swear I will ruin your life."
With that, Henley leaned down to get the cleaning supplies from the cabinet, and then sauntered off to prepare the rest of the bar. Nora's heart was close to pounding out of her chest. Whatever Henley meant by ruining her life, Nora was certain she did not want to find out.
