Iced

The bar that the boys had chosen to meet at to celebrate their win was rowdy. It wasn’t my scene, but I knew that if I had the choice to stay and reconnect with old friends or to go home I would obviously stay.

Mikey, on the other hand, had found the whole interaction to be slightly awkward. He claimed that he liked my friends, just that he didn’t want to interrupt our reunion. We parted ways when we left the Garden, him saying that he also wasn’t used to the time change like I was, and was extremely tired. Mike refused to take the T alone though, and caught a cab when we walked a few blocks away.

I walked the remaining few blocks to the bar, which was just outside the Garden on Canal Street. The place was rugged, with aged wooden floors and fifteen pool tables. It was a typical men’s hangout and there were plenty of TVs to watch any Boston sports games on. When I stepped into the building, all eyes were trained on the TVs that were showing highlights of the Bruins game. Some men were still cheering - but that was just typical of Boston fans.

A corner booth was open so I quickly made my way over to it, going mostly unnoticed by the other patrons. I slid all the way into the middle spot and waited, my fingers trailing over the edge of the beer list as I stared at the door. I couldn’t have waited for more than ten minutes, but when it finally opened I was relieved to see Johnny and Nick shaking some snow off their heads. They stomped their feet on the mat and scanned the bar.

Johnny’s eyes locked on mine and he grinned, nudging Nick and pointing to me. The door opened behind them and a few more players trickled in led by Harry. He followed Nick and Johnny over, stripping himself of his jacket and hanging it on the little hook by the booth.

“Let me hang that up for you,” he said quietly, pointing to my jacket that was draped across the seat.

I handed it to him wordlessly before he slid in next to me. His leg leaned casually against mine as he reached across the table to grab the menu. I watched as his green eyes flickered over the menu in such concentration, not realizing that it was so obvious what I was doing.

“Can I help you?” he quirked an eyebrow up but didn’t even look up from the menu.

My cheeks flushed and I looked over at Johnny awkwardly. He and Nick had sat on my right side, Nick at the end. Johnny cleared his throat and shot Harry a look.

“So,” Johnny touched my arm gently, “You have to tell us all about your promotion Lo. I can’t believe you finally made the move back here. I thought you’d be in California for ever.”

I shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “It really was amazing there. I thought I would settle down for good out there, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.”

Nick nodded. “It really was. Plus now you’ll get to come to all of our games!”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. Harry placed his menu down in front of him and said, “Not the away ones.”

“Yeah. It’s great though. I have my own studio spot that I share with one other DJ and a little office connected to it. I love it. Everyone’s been so nice and welcoming at the studio. Before I left LA, my boss told me that if I stayed consistent and such with my work ESPN would come knocking at my door. That would be so amazing.”

Johnny draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered in my ear.

I smiled up at him, wrapping an arm around his waist to return the hug.

“I think Sloane needs a round of shots to celebrate her move back home! What do you say boys?” Nick yelled excitedly.

Johnny and Nick left Harry and I in the booth to carry the shots back from the bar. We were silent for a moment as I checked my phone, but when I looked back up Harry had his eyes fixed on me.

“Can you believe it’s been six years since I’ve seen you? Look where we’ve ended up...” he trailed off. Harry let out a little sigh that sounded distressed, almost pleading.

“I’m sorry,” he added suddenly. I couldn’t hide my surprise - my mouth dropped open a bit. I was more confused than anything though. Harry had no reason to be apologizing to me.

“What for Harry? You’ve never done anything against me.”

“I was an ass in high school. I still am and I know it. I guess it’s just my way of apologizing for anything I do in the future and whatever I did all those years ago that was rude,” he murmured.

I stayed quiet as he spoke. His green eyes were turned down to the table but he lifted them up to look me in the eyes as he finished speaking.

“I can’t be fixed Sloane. I’m a mess. I wish I wasn’t. I feel like we could have been really good friends.”

I was just about to reply when Johnny and Nick slid back into the booth. Johnny placed three shots in front of me and I grimaced. I pushed two off towards Harry, not interested in going home drunk.

Of course Johnny protested, but I stayed firm and ignored his pleas.

While the boys drank we caught up more. Nick told me all about his new girlfriend, while Johnny filled me in on the locker room gossip. It wasn’t the same as the St. James’ gossip - that had merely been the normal teenage boy talk - but it still reminded me of the past.

Harry had been sitting quietly since the boys returned with drinks, but he was listening raptly. He had deflected all the offers of more drinks and stayed sober with me. I couldn’t help but feel like he was doing that just for me.

When the clock struck one in the morning I decided it was far past time for me to be heading home. I slapped my palms down on the table and cleared my throat. Johnny just raised an eyebrow at me.

“I think it’s time for me to head home now boys. We’ll have to do this again sometime, but I’m picking the place,” I warned, waving my finger at Nick. He grinned and winked at me.

“Do you need a ride home Sloane?” Harry questioned cautiously.

I shook my head as he slid out of the booth to let me stand. “No, I’ll just take a cab back. I’ll be fine.”

Harry handed me my jacket and I shrugged it on. His hands instantly found the seams and pulled it together, buttoning it up before I could even react. His green eyes were focused directly on each button as he made his way up to my collar. When he finished, his hands lingered on the neck of the jacket, eyes staring into mine.

“I’ll drive you. I don’t mind. It’ll be safer this way.”

I didn’t bother arguing with him - his tone implied that I didn’t have a choice. I waved my goodbyes to Johnny and Nick, who were watching with confused looks on their faces.

Harry extended his arm to me and I didn’t hesitate to take it the second we stepped into the bitter wind that had picked up during the night. He tugged me closer to his body and on instinct I leaned further into him.

He fumbled with his keys for a moment as he pulled them out of his pocket. With a push of a button, an SUV a few cars ahead of us on the street lit up with a slight unlocking noise. Harry opened the door for me once we reached it before sliding into the other side.

“Any preference for music?” he asked the second his car started.

“Anything is fine with me Harry. It’s your car, surprise me,” I teased.

He sent a gently grin my way and grabbed his iPod, flicking through what seemed like thousands of songs before settling on one.

“I think you’ll like this. A friend of mine sent me it last week. It’s just been released,” Harry murmured.

We settled into a comfortable silence as the song started. The only words exchanged were the directions to my place. Harry hummed along with the song, occasionally letting a few words slip out from under his breath.

Once we turned onto Huntington from Exeter Street, I turned to him.

“Thank you for bringing me home Harry. That was really,” I paused, my eyes scanning his face, “Sweet of you, to say the least. It was probably out of your way too.”

“Sloane I think I would do anything to make you forgive me for being such an asshole at St. James’.”

I blushed at his honest confession and he pulled the car to the curb. We sat together for another moment. He looked like he wanted to say something but he didn’t. Instead he just looked over at me with his big doe eyes.

I pushed on the door handle, preparing to get out, but his hand latched onto my wrist. Harry tugged me in gently, pressing his lips to my cheek.

“Good night Sloane,” he murmured, lips lingering on my cheek.