Passing Through

Part Fifty

Chapter Fifty

Bo had never felt so frustrated, so redundant in his life. His injury, his accident, his life falling apart....they had nothing on this. Waiting uselessly outside a closed door, hoping that things weren't falling apart inside, and that he wasn't losing Natasha in some way. But as the minutes past, he became more worried about her, and more fearful that this encounter was going to change everything.

"S'up, Holding?"

He glanced across the corridor at Nathan, his arch nemesis as such, but there was no gloat, no sarcasm in his expression.

He inclined his head slightly, and offered a response, "shit fest."

Grinning he leaned against the wall next to him, "women, tying men in knots since the creation of time."

"Ain't that the truth." He looked at his hands, studying his nails blindly, before eventually looking up at the other man. "Who is he?"

Nathan rolled his eyes, "the man you just dragged through a hotel lobby?" When Bo nodded, he added, "Gabriel Torrent, older stepbrother of Danny McAllister, captain of the North America team."

Bo ran a hand through his hair, "Danny Mac? The Golden Boy?" He'd heard so much about the NHL's current best player.

He nodded, "the very same, though where Danny is funny, charismatic and superbly fucking talented, Gabriel is angry, bitter and twisted, another one of those bitter college failures, you know?"

He nodded, "a non-achiever jock."

Nathan pointed his index finger at him, like a gun, then fired it, "nail...on...head."

Bo rolled his eyes, they'd all met many wannabes, college jocks who'd failed to make it to the big leagues, some hung on to their group at all costs, others tried to embarrass them at any opportunity to make them look better...all were bitter, angry and resentful. A dangerous combination.

"Your girl seemed upset."

He nodded, "seems that jock..." he gestured to the closed door with his thumb, "has always been a grade A prick."

Nathan rolled his eyes again, "never liked him. She OK, in there with him?"

Bo nodded, "she'll have his balls for breakfast...that kinda girl." He sounded more confident than he was, but he wasn't going to admit that.

"It suits you, love."

He glared at Nathan for a long moment, the man who had stolen the last woman he had any form of relationship with, could say that?

Instead, it was his turn to roll his eyes, "you don't know anything about me any more."

Shrugging, he lifted a bottle of beer to his mouth, taking a drink before speaking, "that maybe so, but you're different."

"And you attribute it all to her? To Natasha? You have no idea what I've been through..."

Nathan cut him off, "you were a cantankerous bastard from the minute you injured your leg, that only got worse after Daniele. This 'you', you're different. It's good."

He made to open his mouth, give some sharp retort and Nathan added, in a rather defeatist manner, "I know, it was all my fault.

Bo laughed, "it was, you made me so fucking angry! Not because I lost her, but because I knew I'd lose you. Fuck man, you were like a brother to me. I hate what you did, not with her, not fucking really, but to us. Shit."