Stop Standing There

Vancouver.

Ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world. Boy, was that true.

I locked the doors of my car and squinted up at the large building in front of me, a smile settling itself on my lips. Rogers Centre. My new home.

I approached the building with my cousin at my side, swinging my keys around on my index finger and humming Adele's Rolling in The Deep, which had just been on the radio. Sky glanced over at me with an amused smirk. I didn't know why I was in such a good mood today. Maybe it was the fact that, after a long, chilling, rainy winter, the sun was peeking it's head over the clouds today. Or maybe it was because there was a game tonight against the Flames, and those were always good.

We made our way into the building, smiling and nodding in greeting to everyone we recognized. We slid through the bright blue doors that read 'Team Personnel Only', and walked briskly down the hall.

Sky and I were interning with the Canucks as equipment managers. The job wasn't glamorous, and that was exactly what we wanted. We liked the team, the staff, and hockey - it was a perfect fit.

I headed into the locker room, with Sky behind me. I took one step onto the blue carpet, and my eyes fell on the scene before me. Standing in the far corner of the room were two men I had only ever seen on enemy ice, or on TV before, but the only reason I could name them was because they had been brought in yesterday for the trade deadline.

As soon as I had stepped in the room, the man facing my direction had looked at me. He had been laughing with the other man, whom I now knew was Chris Higgins, and when he saw me his smile faded, but only a bit. The other man had turned, too, and was looking at my cousin. I quickly tore my gaze away, met Sarah's eyes with an 'I don't know' look, and hurried past the men into the equipment room.

"New guys?" Sky asked as I grabbed some sticks and she grabbed a few pairs of gloves, and we headed back out into the locker room to put things in the stalls.

I shrugged, throwing her a glance. "I guess."

"I heard they played together a few years ago," she said.

"Did you research us?"

I turned around at the sound of the deep male voice. As he smirked down at Sky, I excused myself and headed over to Luongo's stall by the door. I had just put his helmet on the shelf when Sky grabbed me by the arm, yanking me out into the hallway. I turned to her and couldn't help but laugh. She looked so mad.

"What? It was funny."

"Excuse me?"

Skylar continued on her rant about Chris. I pointed out that he was a good looking man, to which she agreed, but at that point, my mind was on the other man. Where had he gone?

My thoughts were interrupted as I watched, amused, as Chris snuck up behind my cousin. She turned on him, and my jaw dropped as she snapped. She turned on her heel and I rushed after her, grabbing her elbow.

"Skylar," I hissed. "You can't talk to him like that! We have to get along."

"If he's going to be like that, how do I get along with him?"

I had never seen Skylar this worked up over a guy before. I sighed. "Just do your job, and let him do his, okay?" I proceeded to convince her that she needed to apologize, and with a huff she agreed. I watched, amused, before turning and walking down the hall under the stands to get to the bench.

As I reached the opening to the ice, I noticed the second man from earlier was standing by the bench, his arms crossed as he looked out over the ice. I turned away quickly, trying as fast as I could to organize the extra sticks the way I had been taught against the wall.

"Come 'ere often?"

I winced and turned to face the man. I stared at him. He was an attractive man; deep brown eyes, brown hair, a bit of scruff around his jaw, but just enough. The kind I liked, actually. He had a strong jaw and a dazzling smile, which was on full display at the moment. And his accent, clearly French, was quite appealing. But he would have been that much more attractive if those words hadn't have left his mouth.

"It's my job," I replied, raising my eyebrows and turning back to line the sticks up along the wall.

The man was silent, but I could still feel his presence behind me. I sighed and turned around, since I was done with the sticks. He held out his hand, and I reluctantly shook it.

"I'm Max," he informed me. "I was just kidding earlier."

I nodded, tugging my hand away. "Welcome to Vancouver," I stated awkwardly. He looked at me, as if expecting something, and I nodded, adding a quick, "Okay" before hurrying back down the hall.