Never Look Back

That weekend was already Jon’s first game with the Capitals against the Edmonton Oilers. Jordyn arrived early with Jon at the Verizon Center so he could walk up to the suite with her and introduce her to the people that would be in the suite with her.

“I don’t feel good about this.” Jordyn held Jon’s hand tightly as they walked into the VC. They were welcomed with warm smiles and friendly faces, but Jordyn kept her mouth shut and squeezed Jon’s hand as they made their way towards the locker room.

“There shouldn’t be anyone in here.” He insisted, peeking his head in first before pushing the door open to show Jordyn his new stall and equipment.

“This looks weird.” Jordyn mumbled, running her fingers over the stitching of her last name on the red Caps jersey

“I know.” Jon nodded as she took a seat, watching him as he carefully taped his stick from heel to toe, the simple task only taking him a few moments before he rest it beside his stall.

“Knock knock!” Jon and Jordyn’s head snapped to the door before a few men in suits could enter with smiles on their faces that were just a bit too happy. Jordyn reached for Jon’s hand again.

“How’s it going.” Jon greeted all of them as Jordyn stood from the stall and found her way to his side. “Jord, this is Mr. McPhee, Mr. Leonsis, and Mr. Patrick.” He introduced. “Gentlemen, this is my daughter, Jordyn.” Jon smiled proudly as she shook all of their hands firmly.

“Well believe me, we’ve heard a lot about you.” Mr. McPhee smiled, “in fact, when we heard you were coming, we had this made right away.” Mr. Patrick pulled a jersey from the wall beside him, unfurling it to show Jordyn that the back read JT along with the number nineteen.

“Thanks.” She forced out a smile when all she really wanted to say was so you’re the ones who ruined my life? Even if she knew it probably wasn’t their direct fault.

“So I hear you’re joining me in the box tonight.” Mr. Leonsis smiled, “I can assure you we have the best food here at the Verizon Center, anything you could possibly want.” Jordyn simply nodded and smiled as she clutched the jersey to her chest. “We hear you’re quite the lacrosse player, Jordyn.” Leonsis continued.

“When I remember to keep my elbows in. “ She replied with a small smile as Jon placed a strong hand on her back reassuringly.

“Point?” Leonsis asked, genuinely interested.

“Center.” She replied.

“Awesome.” He grinned, managing to get her to crack a small smile. “Well, we have just a bit of business to attend to, but we are very happy to have you hear and look forward to having you as part of the Capitals family.” He wrapped up his little speech. Jordyn bid them adieu before turning to Jon with wide eyes as they exited the locker room.

“Don’t leave me with them.” She all but pleaded. “Please don’t leave me with them.” She begged.

“Jord, we have to make friends! I can’t just get you a ticket in GA.” He insisted.

“Yes, you can, I know you can. Please, I don’t want to be left alone with a bunch of old guys in suits for the rest of the night.” Jon sighed, running a hand over his face and tugging the ends of his hair.

“Just this once.” He insisted, taking her hand again. “Just this once and I can get you a ticket in the crowd for the rest of the season.” He asked of her curtly, to which she nodded with a soft sigh. “Come, let me show you around some more.” He said, leading her from the locker room just as she could hear more footsteps in the hall that was lined with team-oriented doors. They checked out the nice, new family lounge, the trainer’s room, media room, hydrotherapy centers for players and finally, the home bench.

Jordyn took a seat on the sturdy bench, swinging her legs slightly.

“They just want you to feel accepted.” Jon said, running one of his hands over the jersey in her arms. “They know how important it is to me that you’re happy here.” He said with a small smile. “I bet they’d rather make you happy than me.” He joked softly.

“Will you just show them that they’re lucky to have you tonight?” Jordyn requested quietly. “Like they made the deal of a lifetime?”

“Anything for you.” He leaned down to kiss the top of her head before extending his hand to her again. “Come on, let’s go cop some free Powerade them head up to the concourse. Jordyn nodded, struggling stepping off the bench level in her small black heels for a moment. Jordyn rarely wore heels, but these weren’t tall by any means and she took the time to do her hair and make up for once so she decided to go all out and wear a pair of heels with her nicest jeans as well. She wore a black North Face on top of a very inconspicuous Blackhawks shirt that was only recognizable if she took the fleece off, which wasn’t happening unless need be.

If you asked Jon, he would say that she looked a little too over dressed for a hockey game, and a little older than fifteen going on sixteen. In his opinion she looked eighteen going on nineteen.

Jon snatched them both a blue Powerade from the locker room lounge before they wandered around a bit more, finding the visitor’s locker room and equipment room.

“Oh, sorry.” Jon ducked his head in recognition, causing Jordyn to peek her head in and her nerves to stone over. Jordyn had nothing against Alexander Ovechkin other than the fact that she wanted him to drop off the face of the planet. He gave Jordyn what she assumed to be a smile and she simply stared at him with an unchanging expression before turning on her heel and walking away from the room that she didn’t get to see much of.

“I don’t like him.” Jordyn said simply as they walked down the hall, not caring if he heard them or not.

“I know you don’t, he’s not my favorite either, but he’s a teammate now, Jordyn.” Jon tried to explain the dynamic of the team.

“I don’t care if he bottle feeds abandoned kittens on the weekend, I don’t like him.” She said finally, and he knew better than to try and argue with her. As they left the lower lever, they walked by a jazzed up Mike Green who was bopping along to the music on his iPod. Jordyn had talked to him once or twice before when Jon introduced them at their apartment building and she giggled softly as he nodded at Jon and held a hand up to Jordyn for a high five all without missing a beat or pausing his intense walk. “Mike, I like.” She finished as they entered the main concourse, walking around until they found suite twenty-eight which already had a few people in it now that almost the whole team had arrived and were getting dressed for warm ups.

Jon instantly frowned as he saw a small group of teenage boys dressed in suits sitting in the front of row of the suite seats. Damn draft picks. “For cotton candy.” He said the same three words he always recited when she attended home games, handing her a five-dollar bill.

“Thanks, Dad.” She whispered gently now that most of the attention in the room was on the pair. He glanced at his watch, the same one Patrick gave him for his birthday and she knew he needed to head down to the locker room. “Don’t forget what you promised.” She insisted.

“I won’t.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek and gave her a tight squeeze before turning on his heel and exiting the suite. Jordyn sighed, giving a polite smile to the people she made eye contact with before setting her jersey in a cupboard off to the side and under a sink where no one would notice it before walking down to the seats, sitting to the right where they split for the walkway. She happened to not even notice the three young men sitting on the other side of the stairs, despite the fact that she had caught their attention the second her perfume wafted in their direction.

Unfortunately for Jon, Jordyn just seemed to attract hockey players. The three sat, trying to be discreet as they eyed her while she typed away on her cell phone. Jordyn snapped a photo of the ice and arena that was slowly filling up with fan, setting her feet on the railing in front of before sending it off to Dylan.

To: Dylan :)
New ice, new arena… miss you.

Sliding her phone back in the pocket of her fleece, she took a sip of her Powerade before setting it down on the floor beside her just as a presence occupied the seat beside her. She looked over and gave the guy an awkward smile as he full out grinned at her.

“Tyler Jones.” He stuck out his hand.

“Um, nice to meet you, Jordyn Toews.” She replied, trying to stay polite but wondering what in the world was up with this weirdo.

“I was sitting with my pals over there and you looked like you could use come company if you wanted to join us.” He offered politely. He was cute, good skin, straight teeth and a brunette. Even if her boyfriend was a dishwasher blonde, Jordyn always did seem to prefer brunettes.

“I’m fine, thanks.” She politely declined.

“How’s adjusting?” He asked, ushering out to the arena in front of him.

“Honestly? It sucks.” She replied, earning a cute smile from him. “Are you from around here?” She asked.

“Born and raised.” He nodded. “So I can understand how much it would suck to be uprooted from your home. I hope I stay here my whole life.” He smiled wistfully.

“Yeah, well, that’s what we thought too.” She gave him a pointed look. “So is there some kind of press conference after this or did I not get the memo about formal attire?” She asked, peeking past his broad chest to the other two teens who tried to quickly hide the fact that they were watching the two interact.

“The three of us were drafted to the Caps, so when we attend games, we dress up.” He explained, making her nod.

“That’s cute.” She commented on the fact that they had to dress up, even if Tyler thought she was calling him cute.

“First Caps game?” He asked as she took her feet down from the railing, crossing her legs in her tight denim.

“Yes,” she nodded, “the only team I go out of my way to watch is the Penguins.” She said pointedly.

“Wow, sweetheart, you really did end up in the wrong place.” He laughed, making her relax and smile as well.

“I’m fine, my Dad and I travel to see Sid and the boys play, so I won’t be too crushed.” She insisted.

“Sid and the boys…” He shook his head with a laugh. “I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but you really are Toews’ kid, aren’t you?” He asked.

“That would be correct.” She nodded.

“Wow, do you just… wake up every day and thank God for that?” He asked, looking out to the ice.

“Every day.” She nodded with a much more serious tone than he. It wasn’t long until the Caps and the Oilers took to the ice for warm-ups and Tyler insisted Jordyn stand so he could teach her a bit about the players down on the ice that were now a part of her father’s team.

“Fahey… he’s from Illinois…” Tyler pointed out their numbers with a tad bit of information on each of them. “Then of course, there’s Ovechkin.” He shook his head with a small smirk of a smile.

“I know everything I need to know about Alex Ovechkin.” She stated very lowly, causing Tyler to look at her oddly. “He put my Dad into a coma when I was eleven years old. It was the one time I was scared of becoming an orphan again.” She said quietly.

“I remember hearing about that on ESPN, I’m sorry.” Tyler mumbled with a bit of guilt to his voice.

Other than that, Jordyn had a rather pleasant time with Tyler, and after the second period she met the other two boys, Cameron and Joseph as well. They were all really nice guys and she was relieved to meet some people her age that she could hang out with at games. Tyler was a freshman at Penn State while Cameron and Joe were seniors at high schools in the area, so she was glad to know that they would be at a lot of the games when they had time. Later in the game, Jordyn was typing Tyler’s number into her phone when quiet Cameron spoke up.

“Won’t your boyfriend be upset that you’re getting other guys’ numbers?” He asked with a small smile.

“He’s not the jealous type.” She replied, not understanding that they were fishing to see if she was single, not necessarily asking about her boyfriend.

“Oh, so there is a Mr. Jordyn Toews out there, is there?” Tyler asked.

“Yes there is.” She nodded with a blush.

“Where does he play?” Was Joe’s first question.

“And how do you know if he does or not?” She asked.

“Call it a hunch.” Joe laughed with a small smile. Joe was perfectly nice and friendly, but she could tell his nose had been broken and fixed a multitude of times.

“Morgan Park Academy, it’s back home.” She explained, turning off her screen and turning it back on to refresh the screen saver before holding up the cell to show them the photo of she and Dylan on the ice after one of his games.

“Isn’t that cute.” Tyler teased softly.

“Hush.” Jordyn nudged him with her shoulder. “He’s gonna be drafted this summer.” She said proudly. “Supposed to go top twenty.” She boasted with a smile.

“Top twenty, psh.” Cameron flapped his hand. “You’re looking at number twelve baby.” He replied, making them all laugh. Jordyn was relieved to make some friends her age and it made watching the rest of the game all that more pleasurable. When the third period had ended, the Capitals had won five to two over the Oilers, two of those goals being Jon’s. He had a point to make and he sure did make it loud and clear. Jordyn grabbed the jersey from under the cupboard before bidding her friends adieu and heading back down to the lounge to wait for her Dad.

Waiting patiently, she watched as several players filed in, showered and ready to go home to their warm beds after collecting their loved ones. Jordyn simply watched darkly as Ovechkin entered, grabbing himself a Powerade and leaning against the wall opposite the couch she sat on. There were only a few other people in the room but it was impossible to ignore his presence. When they made eye contact she made sure to hold his as she stared at him with an expression of indifference. His lip curved in the smallest of smirks as she broke the gaze only when Jon entered the room, hopping up from the couch to give him a hug.

“I missed you.” She confessed with a blush. “It was weird to watch you down there in a different jersey.” She added.

“I missed you too.” Jon hugged her tightly, closing his eyes for a moment as they embraced. “Come on, let’s get something to eat and head to bed, I’m exhausted.” He insisted.

Jordyn found the tiniest bit of comfort and familiarity in the McDonald’s bag she cradled on her lap, nibbling Jon’s French fries while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Well I’m glad you made friends, I suppose.” Jon sighed as she told him about the three boys she met in the suite. “Fry me.” He opened his mouth at a red light, letting Jordyn put a few fries between his teeth. By the time they made it back to their apartment, all that was left in the bag was Jordyn’s little box of nuggets and one of the two quarter-pounders Jon ordered. They decided to split what was left and sat on the floor of their family room, legs tucked under the coffee table as they watched the Food Network.

“I miss Amy.” Jordyn said rather abruptly.

“Me too.” Jon replied a few moments later and much quieter, eyes still transfixed on the dinner Ina Garden was making.

“When do you think she’s gonna come see us?” Jordyn asked, dipping her last nugget in honey mustard before Jon could look over and give her a pathetic look. She sighed as she fed it to him before he could wrap his arm around her shoulder.

“I don’t know baby girl.” Jon shrugged. “We’ll see.” He added to which Jordyn rolled her eyes. We’ll see always meant that something was up but he didn’t want to tell her. We’ll see was a cop out.

“How about Grandma and Grandpa? Can Davey come visit?” She asked, closing her eyes softly as his hand rubbed up and down her back comfortingly.

“Now that I can do.” He nodded. “I’ll call Grandma tomorrow.” He insisted. “And maybe we can figure out a time for Dylan to come visit.” He added with a small grin.

“Really?” Jordyn squeaked, jumping under his arm and looking at him excitedly.

“Sure.” He nodded. “Why don’t you go call him and see when he has a weekend free, huh?” He asked before she could damn near jump on top of him.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best!” She all but squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly with a kiss to the cheek before disappearing down the hallway.

He figured at least one of them should see the person they love.