You Should've Come With A Warning

Ch. 2

“Mario doesn’t mind you having company at his house?” I couldn’t believe how nice his house was.

“Nah. They’re out of town anyway, so as long as I don’t leave a mess he trusts me.”

“Must be nice, you’ve got yourself a nice home away from home as well as a built in family.”

“He’s got a lot more than that.” I could tell by Jordan’s tone that he was making a slight dig at Sidney, but I had no idea what he meant. Sidney shot him a look so I could tell it sorta pissed him off.

“You’re having a party tonight I assume?” I figured by the way he described Mario not being home that he was having more than a casual get together.

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it a party…per se…just a bunch of the guys from the team. And now you.”

“You don’t have any puck bunnies over?” I asked flirtatiously.

“Not tonight. We have you.” Sidney teased.

“Uh huh, well I don’t mean to burst your bubble but I’m not going to bed with any of you tonight,” I shot back with a grin.

Once everyone got settled inside I could see how well they interacted together. They were fun to be around and a hell of a lot nicer than I imagined they would be. Sidney grabbed a beer and plopped down on the couch. After he was content with some sort of Chuck Norris movie that was on tv, and everyone else got comfortable, the boys started asking questions.

“So,” Sidney started, “how did you and Jared get so close?”

We both laughed. I saw Jordan smile as he sipped on his soda.

“I wouldn’t exactly word it that way Sid,” Jared corrected him. “I just met her tonight-”

“I’ve seen her around the arena,” Jordan interrupted. I just looked up into his eyes and felt my mouth kind of drop down. He told me that earlier in the night, but the way he looked at me almost took my breath away. I didn’t really want to like him…aside from the little crush I had on him which was bad enough.

“Yeah, I’ve been coming on my company’s tickets and I moved here not that long ago so I don’t know anyone. I’ve been going to games alone just to get out and do something I like doing and Jared introduced himself tonight.”

“Where’d you move from?”

“Jersey. I’m in my last year at school and interning at the same time. I moved because the place I’m interning at is going to offer me a job when I officially graduate,” I told them as I nervously tucked my blonde hair behind my ear.

Sid nodded as he absorbed my words. The boy was good looking. I never would have admitted that but after spending time with him it was hard to deny his appeal.

“I’m impressed that you come to the games alone,” Sid stated

“Why because I’m a girl?”

“Honestly? Yeah. Not many girls are that dedicated to come to every game by themselves, unless they're puck sluts…which you clearly aren’t, and considering you’re extremely beautiful I wouldn’t have pegged you as a chick who loves sports.” When he said that it seemed to startle Jordan, who quickly whipped his head around to look at his friend with a seemingly shocked expression.

“Well Mr. Crosby, that’s why they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

“How you like it here so far,” Jordan asked randomly, still piercing me with his eyes.

“Uh, I miss home, but I’m happy I guess. It’s just been a kind of lonely place since I don’t’ know anyone,” I was being really honest with a bunch of guys I barely knew…very not typical of me. I guess I was craving human interaction so badly that I was revealing more than I ordinarily would.

“Well not anymore, you know us now. Sorry but you’re stuck with us,” Jordan said.

“Only if she can cook,” Sid chimed in.

I playfully gasped and threw a pillow at his face. “I am not the den mother here!”

“I know, I know. I kid.”

“Yeah, you better be,” I smirked. “Well they do call you Sid the kid…” I shot back at him before he could say anything else. This was by far the most fun I’d had since I moved to Pittsburgh and I actually genuinely enjoyed being around them.

“Oh, that’s for entirely different reasons, not because he’s Mr. Comedian,” Jordan answered which caused Sid to glare at him.

“Shut up.”

“Exactly,” Jordan looked at me.

“Oh you’ll get used to them, I promise,” Jared said as he reassuringly put his arm around my shoulder.

“I think I’m doing alright so far.”

After a few more hours of sarcasm, laughter and Chuck Norris I thanked Sidney, said my goodbyes and made my way to the door. I was content on letting myself out so needless to say I was surprised when Jordan followed me.

“Oh you don’t have to walk me out. It’s late.”

“Exactly. You never know what’s out there…God forbid I let you walk out alone and someone abducts you,” he shot me a killer smile.

“That would suck for me.”

“Me too.”

He walked behind me and when I got to my car he opened up my door for me to get in. He was much more of a gentleman than I gave him credit for.

“I’m glad my brother made you come meet us. I had a great time.”

“Me too, I hope we can do this again.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, we will.”

We made sure to exchange numbers before I got in the car and drove off. I knew I would have to meet new friends when I moved, but I never imagined those new friends would be the star players for the Pens.

Throughout the next two months I hung out with the guys more and more. They invited me to pretty much anything they were doing and we got pretty close in a short period of time. They were so much fun to be around and I always felt safe when I was with them.

One night we were all at Jordan’s place and he was showing me around, letting me see his hockey memorabilia from when he was younger. It was cute seeing pictures of him and his brothers growing up and the different trophies and awards he got on his journey to the NHL.

He went into his closet and when he came out he whipped something at me, “Oh, here. This is for you. As lovely as you look in your neutral colors, we’re tired of seeing them,” he laughed as I untangled the black and yellow fabric he threw at me. It didn’t take me very long to realize that it was his own jersey he was giving me.

“Game worn?”

“Only the best for you.”

I ran over and hugged him. “Thank you! I love it. Do you know how many girls would kill for this? And I get it as a gift from the source.” I pulled away and slipped on Jordan’s jersey that was way too big for me.

“Well you definitely look better in it than I do,” Jordan said as he looked me up and down.

“Well you must really mean that, because I’m not even naked,” I smiled at him.

“Come on let’s go join the party,” Jord said as he took my hand and led me down the stairs. “They’re going to be looking for us.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want them jumping to any conclusions...”

“No…” Jordan said softly in a tone that almost sounded disappointed as we made our way back to the group.