by Alley Ciz
Nick yawned as he made his way into the kitchen. Jake passed him the coffee pot, and noticed a note attached to the tub of pancake mix. “Hey Ry, there’s a note here for you.”
He saw Ryan relax as he took a sip of his coffee. “What’s it say?”
“Ry, I started breakfast but you know the deal with pancakes, I make um you bake um. I’ll be in the pool if you need me so relax. Come get me when it’s ready. Love you.”
The guys all started to laugh. “Looks like she knows you pretty well, pal.” Billy was the one laughing the loudest.
“Yeah, okay, you guys are a real riot. Now that we’ve all had a good laugh how about you guys make yourselves useful and help me make breakfast. I don’t know about you guys but I’m starving.”
The guys busted each others’ balls while they worked on getting breakfast made. Once they were done, Jake went outside to let Jordan know it was ready.
Opening the sliding glass doors he thought that it was amazing that she still woke up for her morning swim, even when she wasn’t at her house.
He tried to get her attention as he made his way to the pool but she couldn’t hear him over the music, so he bent down by the edge to try and get it. It wasn’t until after she splashed him from her flip turn that she realized he was there.
She made a face as she took off her goggles. “Aww man, I’m sorry Jake I didn’t know you were there.”
He smiled to ease her worry. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I have extra clothes in the house. Ryan told me to tell you the pancakes are done.” He pulled the wet garment over his head.
After he laid out his wet shirt, he watched Jordan get out of the pool and tie her hair up. With her back facing him he watched as she started to pull down the straps of her purple Speedo. Oh my god what is she doing? There’s a house full of guys in there and she’s taking off her bathing suit right next to the pool. “Umm Jordan…” His voice trailed off as she turned around and he realized she wasn’t naked underneath, she actually had on a black string bikini. Not much better. It took everything in his power to not take her in his arms and kiss her right there.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah?”
“Here, do you need a towel?” Handing her a towel he tried to play off his insecurity.
“Thanks.” She smiled as she wrapped the towel around her. “Come on let’s go eat, those pancakes are calling my name.”
They made it into the kitchen and saw Skye fighting off Tucker’s touchy feely hand as she tried place fresh fruit on the breakfast bar. Jake shook his head at his best friend.
“Tucker stop that!” Skye said as she slapped Tucker’s hand away from her ass.
Jordan made her way over to hug her friend. “Skye I didn’t think you’d make it for breakfast.”
“Please if I know you, and I do, I knew after staying at the hockey house Ryan would be making your pancakes and did you honestly think I’d miss that? And you call yourself my best friend.” Sarcasm dripped off Skye’s words as she hugged Jordan back.
Everyone settled into their seats around the table.
“So what are you guys up to today that made Skye meet you here?” Jase asked as he stuffed more bacon in his mouth.
Jordan placed half a dozen pancakes onto her plate, the guys weren’t kidding when they said she could eat. “Aunt Ei needs help getting Rookies ready for that big party tonight. She also told me to tell you that she wouldn’t be offended if you guys don’t come tonight since you can’t have the VIP.”
“Damn no VIP tonight that sucks.” Jase whined in mock annoyance and snapped his fingers together for good measure making the guys laugh.
“Yeah well she said she can’t let her nephews party for free all the time. Sometimes she has to let paying customers have the VIP area.” Jordan stuck out her tongue and waved a piece of bacon at her brother.
“It’s no big deal, we can take one week off,” Jase stated.
Jake had already decided he was going to spend the night off at home. He figured he’d get Tucker to help him watch Carlee.
“You know what I missed most about the hockey house?” Skye asked the table at large.
“What’s that?” Ryan asked.
“How it’s a clothing optional establishment.” She said pointing to Jake’s bare chest.
He looked down and realized he never grabbed a new shirt. “To be fair I put a shirt on when I woke up. But Little Miss Mermaid over here…” He pointed his fork full of pancake at Jordan.
She responded to his comment with a breathtaking smile.
“Hey it’s not my fault you were in the splash zone.”
“Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever you say Ariel.” He could tell she liked the reference to the Disney princess.
“What were you even doing swimming laps? Usually today is a yoga day.” Skye asked as she took a piece of bacon off Tucker’s plate.
“I got woken up earlier by my phone going off and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I had my backup gear in the car so I decided to put it to good use.” Jordan answered her friend.
“Who was calling you so early?” Skye asked her.
“No idea. It was an unknown number and I don’t answer for people I don’t know.” Jordan said looking down.
Jake felt the atmosphere around the table change. He noticed a silent exchange between Jase and Ryan and wondered what it was about.
“Do you get calls from unknown numbers a lot?” Ryan finally asked.
Jordan shrugged in response.
“Skye, give me fifteen to wash the chlorine off me and I’ll be ready to go.” Jordan got up to place her empty plate in the sink.
Jake got the feeling she was leaving to avoid more questions.
Chapter Eight
It was after four by the time Jordan and Skye returned to Rookies after running around town for Aunt Eileen. Her aunt allowed for booked parties to make special drink requests and it became their job to shop for the necessary requirements.
“Hey babes.” Sammy called coming up the steps to the VIP area.
“Sammy what are you doing here so early?” She asked as she emptied the case of beer Skye placed on the bar.
“Wanted to make sure the booth was all set up. Plus I wanted to be here if you guys needed help.”
“You are a saint. So happy we got Maddey as our roommate in college,” Skye said.
“Wait… what?” Sammy looked to Jordan for translation.
“What Skye means is, without Maddey as our roommate freshman year we would have never met you. And we love you,” Jordan answered. She spoke fluent Skye after fifteen years of friendship.
“So did you have fun at the house last night? I was so bummed I couldn’t be there, but I’m sure we’ll be spending a lot more time there again,” Skye inquired.
Jordan stood up from her crouched position in front of the beer fridge. “Yeah it was so nice. I love hanging out with all of them. I was really worried it would be awkward to be around the guys again but it wasn’t.”
“Why would things be awkward? We hung out with them all the time Ryan’s freshman year.” Skye removed the now empty beer box from the bar.
“Because of the whole Tommy situation.”
Skye rested a hand on the bar and looked her in the eye. “All the guys that know you, love you. I’ve been telling you for the past two years no one blamed you for what happened. You can’t let one psycho keep you from living your life with the people you love.”
She made her way around the bar to sit on the bar stool next to Skye. She put her back against the bar and leaned back on her elbows. “I guess you’re right and if last night was any indication of how this year is going to be, I can’t wait.”
“Do you remember all the pranks we used to play on Nick and Billy? They were suckers for us every time,” Skye said with a smile.
Skye’s comment caused her to spit the water she just drank out. She laughed hysterically as she tried to speak.
Finally she caught her breath. “Oh my God,
you missed it last night.” She took another deep breath. “Nick made me spill my beer by throwing a pillow at me. So I got the better of him with the beer bottle tap. I wish you were there to see the look on his face, it was priceless.”
Skye nudged her in the arm. “Nice move. Man I’m so jealous you got to be around all those hot ass guys. And Jake and Tucker are perfect additions.”
Her groan at the mention of Jake did not go unnoticed.
“Why do you sound like a wounded animal?” Sammy quipped.
“I’ve actually been able to not think about Jake for a few hours. Not so much now,” she answered.
“Why wouldn’t you want to think of him? That man is fine. If he played on my team I would be all over that,” Sammy said.
“Amen.” Skye reached out to pound Sammy’s outstretched hand.
“So not helping,” she turned to rest her forehead on the bar.
“Sorry.” She heard her friends murmur.
“It wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t think he was attracted to me too,” she spoke into the bar.
A memory from the night before crept into her mind. She sat upright suddenly. “Oh my God speaking of Jake, you should have seen him last night when Nick and I were joking around. I could have sworn he was looking at Nick like he was jealous.”
Skye lifted an eyebrow. “Really? That’s interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” Sammy asked as he went behind the bar to get them beer.
“Jake’s jealous of Nick’s relationship with Jordan.”
“There is no relationship between Nick and I.” Jordan said trying to make a point.
“We know that but Jake doesn’t. Come on Jor, to him everything about you is a mystery. He heard about things you and your brothers would do for two years. And when he finally got to meet you, he couldn’t believe it because he was expecting to meet a guy not some hot girl.”
“And honey, by the way that boy looks at you he’s got it bad.” Sammy smiled from ear to ear.
Jordan knew exactly what her friends were thinking.
“Oh guys stop imagining things. You two love to play matchmaker so much that you see what you want to see and in this case it’s seeing interest in me from a guy you know I think is cute.” She paused. “Besides even if he did like me it’s not like it would work out anyway. He’s on the hockey team and you know I’m not allowed to date anyone on the team so can we just give it a rest?”
She couldn’t keep the look of disappointment at the thought from showing on her face. Luckily her aunt was walking toward them, giving her the out she needed from this conversation.
“Hey Aunt Ei.” They called in unison.
“Hey girls. Sammy.” Her aunt gave them all a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m so happy you girls transferred schools. I love having you guys help me plan and promote any special events. It will be so much better being able to have you guys here to run the events instead of just planning from a distance.”
“BTU also gives us college credit for what we do for you unlike NYU,” Skye stated.
Jordan looked around Rookies and smiled. The party was a glowing success. The VIPs started showing up around nine and jumped right into the festivities.
“Jordan how are you sweetheart?” Donna Burton from the Garden of Dreams Foundation asked.
“I’m good Donna. How are things at the foundation going?”
Jordan’s godfather hooked her and Skye up with positions helping plan events for the Garden of Dreams Foundation. A few members from the GDF were in attendance and had been catching up with the girls most of the night.
“They are going great. Are you and Skye still able to work at the foundation now that you moved out of Manhattan?”
“Yeah we are hoping we can still help out. We will obviously have to cut back on our time but should be able to make it work.”
“That’s fantastic! You two are miracle workers with the kids. Oh…” Donna reached out for the gentleman next to her. “Ken, come here, there is someone I want to introduce you to.
“Ken this here is Jordan Donnelly, she is Rick Schelios’ goddaughter. Jordan this is Ken Oliver, he works for the NHL.”
Jordan reached out to shake Ken’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Ken paused in thought. “Donnelly? Why does that sound familiar?”
“My aunt owns Rookies?” She pointed around the bar.
Ken shook his head.
“My dad Robert works for ESPN,” she supplied.
Another head shake from Ken. A moment later recognition lit his gaze. “Wait, are you related to the Ryan Donnelly who won the Hobey Baker Award this year?”
She couldn’t help but smile, beyond proud of her brother’s achievement. “Yes he’s my older brother.”
“He’s quite an impressive player. He’s certainly gained the attention of a lot of people in the head office.”
“Thanks for saying that. I, for one, love watching him play.”
After speaking with Ken, Jordan continued to mingle. About an hour later she saw her father making his way up the stairs of the VIP area, carrying what looked like a humungous picture frame.
“Hi, Daddy, I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” She walked over to give her father a hug.
“Hi, Princess. I wasn’t planning on coming but your mother insisted, plus I have something from your godfather for your aunt.” He looked around the VIP area. “Where is she anyway?”
“She’s just over there.” Jordan waved her aunt over. “So what’s the present?”
Robert smiled at his daughter. “You’ll see in a minute, patience.”
When Eileen made it over she hugged her brother. “Nice of you to let me know you were coming,” she frowned at him. “It would have saved me a lot a grief if I knew you were going to be here.”
“Sorry Ei, I didn’t think I was coming tonight but you know Ruth, she wanted me to get out and see the boys.” He laughed a very hearty laugh. “To make it up to you, I have a gift from Rick for your bar.”
With that he pulled the frame out in front of him. The wide eyes that stared at it made him smile. When Eileen still hadn’t said anything he spoke up. “Well do you like it? If not, Rick is going to be offended.”
Holy shit! Was her dad serious? How could her aunt not like it?
“Is that what I think it is?” Eileen asked. Shock caused her voice to come out barely above a whisper.
“Yup. Rick is actually disappointed in himself for not thinking of giving it to you sooner,” Robert confirmed.
It took a while for reality to sink in. Jordan watched her aunt reach out a hand to touch the framed, signed rookie jersey of one of hockey’s most famous goalies, Rick Schelios. Once it all clicked into place, Eileen reached out to hug her brother.
Jordan laughed at her aunt’s enthusiastic display. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
UNKNOWN: Looking good
She frowned at the display. To make it easier to be identified, she had worn one of the Rookies’ uniform shirts. The tight V-neck referee shirt hugged her curves without being inappropriate and paired nicely with her tight jeans and black and white Chuck Taylors.
She couldn’t pinpoint who in the crowd would text her though. Her fingers hovered over the screen as she debated whether or not to respond. The need for more information won out.
JORDAN: Who is this?
No reply ever came.
Chapter Nine
Jake handed Tucker a beer and joined him on the couch. He let out a breath as he relaxed against the cushions. Carlee had them running around the entire night.
“Thanks man,” Tucker accepted the beer. “I swear I don’t know where that kid gets her energy from.”
Jake laughed. “Me either. I swear it’s harder to keep up with her than Ryan and his drills.”
“Truth.” Tucker held out his beer to cheers the sentiment.
“Thanks again for helping me keep her entertained tonight
.” Jake took a long pull of his beer, draining half in one swallow.
“Hell you know I love the brat. Besides she’s a better wingman than you are. At least with her I don’t have to worry about the chicks wanting her over me.”
He laughed thinking of the last time he was Tuck’s wingman and a certain blonde bombshell who did just that. Sure nothing had come of the attraction, but he felt it.
“Hey I’m pretty sure neither of us got the girl.” He said on a laugh to make light of his feelings.
“True,” Tucker ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Damn she had to be a sister of not one, but two of our teammates.”
“Yup. And I get the feeling they wouldn’t take too kindly to any of us sniffing around her either.”
“Picked up on that as well did ya?”
He nodded in agreement.
“But what I don’t get is she totally dated someone on the team. We’ve heard them talk about it a few times already,” Tucker mused.
“Yeah but have you noticed anytime it’s mentioned all the seniors stop talking and change the subject?”
“Yup. Totally weird.”
He picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Do you think it’s one of the seniors and that’s why they get all weird about it?”
“Could be. Something doesn’t add up though.”
“I agree.”
“Damn listen to us gossiping like a bunch of women.”
He laughed and drained the rest of his beer. He watched Tucker pull his phone out for the fifth time in just as many minutes.
“Texting Skye?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tucker looked at him surprised. “How’d you know?”
“Dude, you forget I’ve been watching you hit on girls since puberty. I can always tell when you’re trying to spit some game.”
“Truth.” Tucker held out his fist for a pound.
He didn’t leave him hanging. “So what’s wrong. Usually you have this cat ate the canary smile on your face by now. Instead you’re scowling at your phone.”
