NOLAN PATRICK - NEXT STOP, CANADA

Part 2

You wake up in the morning almost forgetting where you were. Jessica was sound asleep next to you in the big California king bed so you slowly snuck out of it and made your way to the bay window across the room. Sliding the curtain just enough so you could peak through and not wake Jessica up you took a deep breath and smiled. You looked out at the lake, which you had no idea what the name of was, and enjoyed the view before you quietly padded downstairs to find the kitchen. You look around and see you are the only one awake and decide to start getting some breakfast going after remembering yesterday Tom told you that you should make yourself feel as at home as possible. It is a guessing game now as you open every possible cabinet to try and find what you need. You start with the important things and put the kettle on for tea then move on to getting the coffee going. As you open the fridge you decide on what to make for breakfast... French toast, eggs, and bacon it is!

While you start laying everything out on the counter and pull the pans you need the sound of the sliding glass door opening catches your attention. Your head snaps in its direction and you see him walk in. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Nolan says with a smirk that you return. You give him a little laugh, "No it's okay. You didn't at all. I didn't realize anyone else was up." You turn back to the stove as you start laying some bacon out on the pan to cook up. He moves so quietly that you didn't even notice he was beside you checking out what you were doing. This time you jump, "jesus, you need a bell" you say as you place your hand over your heart. Nolan has to cover his mouth to muffle the huge belly laugh fighting its way out of him. You let out a little giggle that shocks you. You don't giggle. What was that? Nolan nudges you, "can I help you?" You look up at him, "please do, you can start making the eggs and I'll keep with this bacon and start the French toast." The two of you cook in surprisingly comfortable silence, with a few shared glances and smiles here and there.

As the smell of bacon starts to spread through the house you hear people moving around in their rooms. "I guess our alone time is over" Nolan says breaking the silence. You give him a polite chuckle but it's not like you have been having conversations. Your parents are the first down and they say their hellos while getting some warm drinks. Your dad grabs a cup of coffee while your mom makes herself some tea. Winking at you before she follows your dad out to the deck. Tom and Nolan's dad come in next cracking up over who knows what. Hockey bros for life. "What is this?" Tom asks us with a side eye smile to Steve that they think you don't notice. Steve looks at his son, "Nol, since when do you help in the kitchen?" Steve picks on his son and you turn to the French toast on the stove to hide your smile. You didn't even think about that at all. That Nolan was only helping to be around you. Honestly why would you since you just met yesterday but it made you smile. You two had been making breakfast side by side this morning. I mean like literally side by side since everything is on the stove together. You brush this aside, he's younger than you. This probably is nothing.

"coffee. Right. Now." You hear Jessica before you see her and call out, "It's in the kitchen already!" She stops in her tracks when she sees you and Nolan and just raises her eyebrows with a smile as she walks to the coffee pot. Jessica leans up against the counter across from you two and smiles as she sips her coffee. "So.... How are you two doing?" She keeps smiling at you, especially when Nolan turns away. You give her a look to stop and she just laughs with a friendly eyeroll directed to you. "We're doing great, just making breakfast. How about you set the table on the deck?" you say to Jessica as she nods toward Nolan while giving you a thumbs up. You give her the look again and she winks, "yeah of course I'll help, Y/N" Nolan is completely oblivious to what is happening behind him as you throw a piece of bacon at her before she grabs the dishware. Why are she and your mom so weird about this? You brush the thoughts away and remove the last pieces of bacon from the pan as you turn the burner off. A few minutes you and Nolan finish making everything and carry everything out to the deck where the rest of them are waiting. Nolan heads inside again to get the pitcher of juice you found in the fridge. Tom looks at you, "so you're getting along with Nolan? He's usually more shy Steve tells us." You roll your eyes, not them too. "Honestly we didn't talk much he just offered to help." You try to tell them so they kick those thoughts out of their minds.

Breakfast was nice. The view of the lake. The comfortable conversations. Nolan sat on the other side of the table from you, not directly thankfully. You didn't want your mom or Jessica to mess with you about that later. Honestly this kid was like 7 years younger than you. Not something you were going to entertain at all, you have only known him for not even 24 hours. You listened as Tom and Steve talked about their hockey days together and as your parents told Steve all about how they know Tom. It was so nice for you to see you parents this happy. You knew how much they both missed Tom. Tom talks about the memories of staying with your family when he was injured back in his AHL days. You catch Nolan smiling at you, no idea why though since you were just listening to them talk. You phone buzzes and you look down to check it out.

Jessica: He's just watching you. Like getting enjoyment from your enjoyment. Homeboy is smitten after one day and barely any conversation.

You try to hide your smile and just text her back with a "stop". As her phone pings you see her stifle a laugh. You both accidently look towards him at the same time, catching him looking at you and it shocks him. You see his eyes grow for a moment as he tries to act like he just zoned out. When he looks away you and Jessica kick eachother under the table. Your mom notices and decides its time to put Nolan on the spot with some questions. "So Nolan, tell us about yourself." His cheeks instantly go this rosey pink that makes you smile, "Uh well, I play hockey" Your mom teases him, "very Canadian of you. Professionally?" he nods to her with a shy smile and those adorable rosey cheeks. Jessica nudges you and points to your phone. You hadn't noticed it buzzed.

Jessica: We're idiots. This kid plays for the Flyers.

You read her text and immediately look it up. Sure enough there he is on the roster. You all were so bad at faces and names. You shake your thoughts away and listen to the conversation again. "Yeah, I play for the Flyers. In Philadelphia." Your mom smiles at him, "oh sorry we didn't even realize. We only live an hour from there. We should come see you play some time." Nolan quickly glances over in your direction before looking at your parents again, "That would be fun to have you all there. I don't get guests to a lot of home games" Jessica jumps in, "buddy we will be at any game you want us to be. Right Y/N" she winks at you. You give her an awkward laugh, "of course, just tell us when" You smile at Nolan and then look out at the water to kind of collect your thoughts while everyone kept getting to know eachother. For some reason you were starting to feel a bit weird about your mom and Jessica being too obvious about any sort of crush they thought was happening. You silently enjoyed the rest of your breakfast and just listened to everyone. Your thoughts took over and you were in your head about this kid. You're 28 years old, you have no business flirting with this almost 21 year old. Not that you really have been, in your eyes. But something is making you feel like you need to stop this before it even starts. Jessica must have noticed your change and tapped on your knee for reassurance. You give her alittle smile. She always can tell. She leans in and whispers for you to get out of your head.

Breakfast ends and your parents plus Tom and Steve take all the food in and clean up since you and Nolan cooked. You stand up and tell them that you are doing to talk down to the water for a bit. You needed just a second to yourself. You loved the breeze that was happening right now. It was making you fall inlove with Canada as you sat on a bench out on the dock. You hear Jessica and Nolan coming down to the water behind you. "Can we join you?" Jessica calls out as they walk down the dock towards you. You turn and smile at them, "Don't act like I have a choice." Jessica cracks up, "true" The three of you sit at the water and talk more about your lives. You found out that Nolan likes to fish and hunt. That he grew up in a close family. He has two sisters that both play hockey too. That this trip to see Tom was a needed father/son trip before the season starts up. Nolan asks questions about you and Jessica too. Talking about your jobs and families. You tell him about your dogs and wanting to move. That you have been debating moving to Texas but had a job offer in Philadelphia that Jessica was trying to convince you to take. His eyes light up about that one but doesn't comment on it. You must have been down there for awhile because Steve yelled out to you all to make sure everything was okay. You laughed and yelled to him, "Everything is great, were just getting to know your son!" He gives you a thumbs up and heads inside. "We should probably head in to see what they want to do today. Maybe we can take the boat out. I love being out on the water." You say with a smile. "I do too. Its calming out there." Nolan agrees and smiles. The three of you start walking up to the house. Excited to get the day really started. You can barely hold in your excitement, finally time to get your Canadian on.