Your Parachute

I took a deep breath as I twirled my auburn hair around my finger restlessly. The blonde girl beside me chuckled as she stared at me, shaking her head in amusement.

"You know, Jenny, it’s not that big of a deal. You've met my brother before," the blonde girl said sarcastically. I shook her head, letting out a sigh as I turned to talk to my friend.

"It's not that, Tay. It's just…. All of the Penguins? Taylor, you know they're my favorite team. I'm going to be meeting my hockey idols all at once. I'm not sure my heart can take it," I said jokingly to my younger friend. Taylor rolled her eyes mockingly.

"Trust me, J. I've met these guys plenty of times. Yeah, they're all pretty hot, but they're really just sweaty, idiotic losers," Taylor said reassuringly. I laughed a little, before smiling slightly downward at the 15 year old; me being 19 and only an inch or two taller.

"You know, you're right, Tay. Besides it'll be nice to see Sid again. I've missed his intense competitiveness," I laughed. Taylor smiled and then sat back to watch the movie for the rest of the plane ride.



Pittsburgh International Airport was not crowded at all. In fact, I barely saw anyone milling around out front, only the occasional business man here and there waiting for the bus. Trina grabbed onto my arm with one hand and Taylor's with the other as they crossed the street to get to the car waiting to take them to Consol.

I smiled softly at Trina's motherly instincts and gladly obliged by hooking my arm through the older woman's. We packed our luggage into the truck and got settled in the sleek, black Mercedes that Sid had sent to pick us up.

The ride to Consol was quite short, in my opinion, because Taylor gave me the rundown of every single Penguins player. By the time we arrived, I had learned that Max was the funniest and could make you laugh despite even the worst of moods. I had also learned that Jordan was the sweetest and the most charming, Evgeni was also sweet and very smart, despite what people may think, and that Ben Lovejoy was her new favorite player and that he was one of the toughest guys she knew. I also got to hear about Kris Letang and how Taylor thought he was the hottest because he was shy and had an adorable smile.

Once we were inside the arena, we made our way to the rink. The boys usually practiced at Southpointe but they were doing some construction and so they practiced at Consol instead. They were hard at work practicing, but since it was a closed practice, all eyes shifted to us as we entered. One of the workers opened up a section of the boards and Sid jumped off the ice, capturing his little sister into a hug before attacking his mom and dad with one.

Sidney looked over at me and a smile made its way onto his face.

"J," was all he said before I got a face full of his sweaty chest. I struggled to get out of his grasp, laughing.

"Ew, Crosby. At least have the decency to wait 'til you don't smell like crap to hug me that hard," I said, laughing at his innocent face.

"What are you guys doing here?!" he asked quickly, his smile so big I thought his face might burst. Troy gave his son a warm smile in return.

"We thought we'd give you a surprise visit since we haven't seen you since the Winter Classic," Troy said happily.

Just then a boy with long-ish blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and a charmingly crooked smile skated up to where we stood. I knew it was Jordan Staal right away and my inner fan girl squealed quietly.

"Look, it's the whole Crosby clan," he said teasingly, reaching out to ruffle Taylor's hair and giving a respectful smile to Trina and Troy. His eyes fell on me and the gleam in his eyes got brighter, his smile widening dramatically. "And who is this? Care to introduce her to us, Sid?"

A couple other guys had gathered around too. My cheeks flushed and I heard Taylor stifle a chuckle at my behavior, since shyness wasn't my usual quality. Sidney smiled and slung a muscular arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him. I grimaced as I could feel- and smell- the sweat on his practice jersey.

"This is my neighbor and old childhood friend, Jenny. Or, as most call her, J." he said proudly, beaming at me. I smiled shyly at the Penguins who stood in front of me before my eyes found the floor much more interesting.

"She cute," I heard a heavily accented voice grunt. I looked up with a slight blush into the brown eyes of Evgeni Malkin. Then another voice sounded.

'Dibs," Jordan said cutely, smiling that smile and looking at me with those sparkling eyes. Everyone laughed and Sidney squeezed my shoulders once more before letting go.

"Watch it, Staalsy. No one lays a hand on J," he said threateningly. I frowned to myself. I knew he meant well, but hey, I was definitely not letting a bunch of sexy hockey players go to waste.

"Hey, if they want to lay a hand on me, I won't protest too much," I said before I could stop myself. All the guys laughed and Sidney gave me a playful shove.

"See there you have it , Sid," Jordan said smugly before turning his gaze on me yet again and motioning for me to step closer. "Now, I propose we make this official and just get married! What do you say, future Mrs. Staal?"

I let out a laugh that soon turned into a screech as, without any warning, Jordan scooped me up bridal style and skated me around the rink. He looked down at me as we skated and my breath caught as his gaze locked onto my lips.

"Let’s seal it with a kiss," he said huskily. He inched closer and closer-

The horn blasted signaling the end of practice. Sidney was right behind Jordan and I wondered how long he had been there.

"I'll take that," he said jokingly, holding out his arms for Jordan to deposit me into. Jordan did so quickly, barely sparing me a glance as he skated off the ice. I sighed quietly to myself, looking up at Sid to see him staring off at where Jordan had just been. "Don't let him mess with your head, J."

"Maybe I need my head to get a little messed with," I argued back softly, my heart still stuttering from being in Jordan’s arms.



"She's not one of your puck sluts that you pick up at a bar, Staal," Sidney said, the annoyance clear in his voice as they both unlaced their skates side by side. Jordan chuckled.

"Relax, Sid. I was just trying to get the girl to loosen up. She looked so shy, thought I'd show her there was no reason to be. It's not like I'm gonna try to fuck the girl," he snorted, rolling his eyes at his friend and partly trying to convince himself.

"Fine, dude. Just watch yourself," he said playfully after a moment's hesitation, tossing a lopsided grin at his team mate.

Jordan watched Sidney walk away and set about getting changed back into his regular clothes. His thoughts ran wild as he did so. That almost kiss on the ice..... What did it mean? How her eyes had fluttered and her breath had caught? How her lips had parted and how her eyes met his so intensely? What did it all mean? He knew, despite his parting smile, that Sidney had been totally serious.

& Jordan Staal didn't know if he could follow his Captain's orders this time.