Accidentally In Love

Thunder Bay, Ontario. One of the most beautiful places I had ever seen or been to. Jordan and his brothers have taken me everywhere in the two weeks that we have been here. I have met so many people who grew up with the boys and knew them well. There were tons of parties and get togethers, but today’s events were going to top everything that we did this summer. The Stanley Cup was coming to Thunder Bay again.

Everyone in the Staal family woke up early and met at Linda and Henry’s place for the arrival of the Cup. Jordan had been smiling all morning, causing all of us to have permanent smiles on our faces too. I pulled my camera out and snapped some pictures of everyone waiting for the big arrival. When it was finally time, Henry pulled out the camcorder and began recording everything. Neighbors were all outside waiting along with us for the Cup and when Jordan finally got it out of the trunk and lifted it into the air, everyone went nuts. Tears burned my eyes as I watched Jordan place a kiss on it and pass it to Henry who had handed Eric the camera. The Cup was passed throughout the family, even I got to hold it.

Once everyone got pictures with it, it was time to start our busy day. There were parades, appearances, dedications, and visits all day long. I went with Jordan wherever he had to go, taking pictures and just being there for him. All day long, I sent pictures to the guys and my sister giving them ideas of what we were doing. Finally we ended our day with a party back at the Staal Farm. Friends and family were all going to be there. When we got back to the house, I noticed there was another car parked in the garage. I smiled when I noticed the New York plates. I knew Jordan was bummed that Marc and Lindsay hadn’t been here before the Cup arrived, but I knew he’d be happy that they were here now.
“So Mr. Stanley Cup Champ, how was your first day with the Cup?” I asked him, lacing our fingers together as we made our way to the end of the driveway where the keeper of the Cup was waiting with the prize.

“So far, great. I’m spending it with the people I care about the most.” He smiled and my heart fluttered.

I still couldn’t believe we were together even after we’ve been a couple for almost a month now. When I first started having feelings for Jordan the one thing that had everyone worried and freaking out about was the age. He was seven years older than me. Plus on top of that he’s a professional athlete and at the time when I first met him he was a huge player. It still shocks me that I, me a normal teenage girl had changed all that. Sure, there was that time when he came to Virginia for Taylor’s softball game where he got totally wasted and didn’t say good bye to me. I cried so hard that night after they all left, and that was only after a couple of days hanging out with him. That was the last time Jordan got really drunk…at least that I knew of. Everyone told me how much Jordan changed since we started talking all those years ago, but I never truly believed it until I saw the change with my own eyes.

Jordan squeezed my hand and pointed to the blue SUV with a huge smile on his face. “Marc made it.”

The smile on his face brought tears to my eyes. He was so happy that his big brother was able to make it. “I’m glad he did. I doubt he wanted to miss today.”

Once we made it inside, Jordan went straight to Marc and embraced his brother, then did the same to Lindsay. No matter how old Jordan was, he still really wanted his older brothers’ approval. After about an hour of setting up, people started showing up for the party.

***
I was talking to Lindsay, Tanya, Megs, and Megs’ sister, Jessica, when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. I knew that it wasn’t Jordan or his brothers because they were all outside playing a game of hockey with their friends. Slowly I turned around and came face to face with one of my favorite Frenchmen.

“Kris!” I squealed, wrapping my arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?!”

He smiled. “Jordan didn’t tell you I was coming?”

“No!”

“I’m ‘ere to celebrate with Staalsy…and to tell you that I signed a two year contract extension.”

I cheered and hugged him again. “Kris, that’s great! I’m so happy for you.” I turned to the girls. “Guys, do you all know Kris? He plays with Jordan.”

“Yeah,” Megs smiled. “We all know him, well except for Jessica.”

I quickly introduced Jessica and Kris before taking Kris to go find Jordan.

“So ‘ow’s your summer with Jordan going so far?” Kris asked.

I smiled and nodded to a group of Jordan’s friends as we passed before answering. “It’s going great. We have been having a great time together. We spent about a week or so in New York with Lindsay and Marc when they had Melody and we are going to Nova Scotia in a couple of weeks to see Sidney and Taylor. Then we all are going to Virginia for a little while to visit my parents.”

“Mandy, have you seen Jordan?” Jordan’s best friend from Thunder Bay, Brian, asked.

“Did you check out front? I’m pretty sure he and his brothers are all out there playing street hockey.” I smiled, Brian and I have met a couple of times since Jordan and I became friends. He was really excited when I showed up at the beginning of the month and we told him we were finally dating. He reminded me a lot of Taylor and my cousin Drew, so we got along very well.

“I didn’t, thanks Mandy.” He smiled before disappearing into the kitchen to grab a drink.

I turned back to Kris. “Sorry about that, everyone comes to me when they can’t find him.” I smiled. “Once we are done in Virginia, Jordan and I are heading back to the ‘burgh, since I start school before training camp starts.” Just as I expected, Kris stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me as I continued walking. I turned around and smiled when I saw the French-Canadian standing there with his mouth hanging open. “You heard me right.” I told him. “I’m going to school in Pittsburgh, Robert Morris to be exact. Sidney’s sister and I are going to be roommates.” I turned to walk to the front door, but stopped when my feet left the ground and I screamed so loud catching everyone’s attention. “Kris, put me down!” I laughed.

He gently put me down and wrapped me in a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He pouted. “You know this is going to make the next two years even more enjoyable?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but slammed it shut and grinded my teeth together when I spotted a certain blond that I never wanted to see again standing in the living room. Anger quickly spread through my body like wildfire. What gave her the right to be here? She wasn’t welcomed, nor invited.

Kris noticed my sudden mood change and concern filled his eyes along with question. He turned around to see what I was glaring at and his body stiffened when he spotted her. “What is she doing ‘ere?” He asked quietly.

I unclenched my jaw, “I have no idea” I spat. I glanced over at my friends and noticed they all shared the same expression I did, aside from Jessica who had no idea what was going on or who the blond was. Then the worst happened, she noticed me standing there, but not without help. Parker came rushing into the living room and stopped in front of me.

“Mandy, Uncle Jordan is looking for you!”

I smiled down at the five year old. “Thanks Park, I’m looking for him as well.” I said, ruffling his blond locks. “Can you go tell him that for me?” I asked. With a nod he took off looking for Jordan. I turned around and saw Heather glaring at me. Just then, things got just a little bit worse. Jordan walked into the room and he smiled when he spotted me and started making his way for me, just as Heather was making her way to him. Leaving Kris’ side, I weaved my way through the crowd to get to Jordan before Heather got to him.

“Hey babe,” he smiled, wrapping his arm around my waist. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, but I could tell he wasn’t drunk. “Are you having a good time?”

I smiled. “I am, are you?” I didn’t wait for him to answer, I was running out of time. “Look who I found,” I told him, pointing to Kris who was now talking to Marc and Eric. “Also, Heather is here and making her way over here.” I hissed.

Jordan tightened his grip on my waist and I looked up at him, I noticed by the way his muscle in his jaw was jumping that he was clenching his teeth as he watched Heather approach us. There really was no getting away.

“Jordy,” she cooed as she got closer and I visibly cringed.

Couldn’t she get a hint? Some people would say I was jealous and I would just laugh at that group. I wasn’t jealous of Heather at all, if anything I pitied her. Some other people would say I was threatened by her, those people would be more right. I mean who wouldn’t be threatened by a beautiful, 5’10, blond, with a body every girl envied? She was more right for Jordan than I was.

“How are you?” She asked, hanging on his arm.

I was about to say something to her when Jordan pulled his arm out of her grip. “I’m doing good. Have you met my girlfriend, Mandy?” He asked. I smiled when he emphasized the world girlfriend and I actually had to bite my lip to keep myself from sneering at her.

Heather made it very clear that she was sizing me up. She knew who I was, we met once before, but I wasn’t Jordan’s girlfriend than. I was just his friend and Sidney’s sister-in-law. I was a threat to her now.

“She’s so young. I didn’t know you were into little girls, Jordy.” She sneered.

The hand that wasn’t wrapped around Jordan’s waist, balled into a fist. “I’m twenty, thank you.” I spit at her, even though I wasn’t turning twenty until January. God, how I wish I could punch her pretty little blond head in.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She smiled at Jordan again. “If you ever get bored of babysitting, you know where to find me.” She purred and spun around on her heels.

I quickly unwrapped my arm from Jordan’s waist and lunged for Heather, but with Jordan being a hockey player and having quick reflexes, he quickly wrapped both of his arms around me and held me against his broad chest.

“Easy there Mandy.” He whispered, kissing my temple. “Let it go.” Heather walked away laughing as I continued to fight Jordan’s grip. He wouldn’t let me go until the front door closed behind the blond. “Are you okay?” Jordan asked, dropping his arms.

I didn’t answer, I couldn’t. Embarrassment, rage, and doubt all flooded my mind. I looked around the room and saw people looking at me and whispering to each other. I need to think, clear my head. Without a word I rushed out of the house and made my way to my favorite part of the Staal farm, the lake.

“Mandy!” I heard Jordan yell as I ran across the lawn. Ignoring him, I continued running until I came to a stop at the dock. I took a couple deep breaths, trying to get a grip on my thoughts. Soon anger was the dominate emotion running through my body and when that subsided, all that was left was doubt. Did Jordan really want to be with me? Was I too young for him?

Tears began filling my eyes as I sat on the edge of the dock and slipped my shoes off before sinking my feet into the cool water. I knew people were going to talk about us, especially Jordan’s female fans. I knew deep down that there were other girls out there prettier than me. I also have the thought in the back of my mind that Jordan will break up with me.

I wasn’t aware that the tears falling down my face, until they dropped into the lake in front of me causing little ripples. As I wiped them away, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Mandy, are you okay?” Eric asked quietly, taking a seat next to me. “Talk to me, what’s wrong?”

I sniffed and looked over at the oldest Staal brother. Eric and I were actually pretty close despite the age difference. I always went to him when I needed to talk to someone. I went to him a lot throughout the years of Jordan and my friendship.

I shook my head. “It’s stupid, I let what Heather said get to me.” Even though it’s all true I added.

“You’re right, it is stupid.” He stated, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t let what that bitch said get to you. She’s just jealous and can’t get it through her thick skull that Jordan doesn’t want or like her, that he has you.” I smiled at Eric’s statement. Knowing that he felt the same thing towards Heather made me feel better.

Neither of us said anything for a while. I had a million things running through my head. I needed to get the answer to the one thing that was driving me insane. “Eric, tell me the truth. Am I too young for Jordan?”

Eric took a deep breath and looked out over the water. “At first, yes we thought you were and we tried to get Jordan to see it too, but he really liked you and wouldn’t have anyone tell him differently. Then he started to change, in a good way. He stopped drinking and stopped sleeping around. We realized that having a friendship with you was a good thing for Jordan. Then his feelings for you got stronger and he told us about them and we were okay with it. Plus, now that you are older, seven years isn’t that big of an age gap. You aren’t too young for him.” He paused and smiled at me. “He also doesn’t care how old you are. He cares about you. Mandy, I don’t know if you know this, but my brother is in love with you.” He smiled again. “Don’t tell him I told you.” He squeezed my shoulders, causing me to look at him. “And you love him too, I can tell. You give Jordan the same look I give Tanya or Marc gives Lindsay. You have nothing to worry about, so stop worrying and go inside and enjoy the company of your boyfriend.”

I just sat there absorbing everything Eric told me. He was right, I needed to stop worrying about everything. The only thing that I still couldn’t wrap my head around was the fact that Eric said Jordan was in love with me. He was an NHL star and I was a nobody from Virginia. I now understood how Taylor felt with Sidney when they started dating.

Eric stood up and offered me his hand, which I took. In one fluid motion I was back on my feet. I wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you Eric.”

He kissed my cheek. “Anytime Mandy. Now go find Jordan, he’s worried about you.”

With a nod of my head, I made my way back into the house. I found Jordan in the kitchen talking to Marc, Kris and some of his friends. He jumped off the counter he was sitting on when he spotted me. He instantly wrapped me in a hug.

I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat before speaking. “I’m sorry.” I mumbled.

Taking one arm off of me, Jordan placed a finger under my chin making me look up at him. “Don’t apologize, there’s no need to. I just want to know if you’re okay.”

I nodded. “I am, I had a talk with Eric. Everything’s fine, let’s just forget about what happened and just have fun for the rest of the night.”

Jordan kissed me gently. “I like the sound of that plan. Come on.” He led me into the kitchen and easily joined into the conversation again.

The rest of the night neither Jordan nor I brought up what happened earlier in the day, no one else mentioned it either. We managed to enjoy ourselves with friends and family. But to say I wasn’t at least thinking about what happened would be a lie. In the back of my mind the incident with Heather was on replay constantly, but I managed to ignore it. She was another problem for another day. I wasn’t going to stress over her anymore today. I had other things to worry about and had more importance, like my boyfriend holding the Stanley Cup again.