Shut Your Eyes

“Patiner plus vite salauds!” (Skate faster you bastards!)

I suppressed a giggle; Vero was really getting into the game. Being out of the box had done something to her. Her tiny hands were beating against the glass with the rest of the fans. There was only two minutes and eleven seconds left in third period and we were tied 4-4.

Marc had looked a little surprised to see her behind the glass, but Max had greeted us with his signature smile once he spotted us. He leaned his forehead to the glass, his helmet clanking against the hard surface. Standing up, I touched my head to the glass with his and smiled. Even though I hadn’t been to a home game in forever, Max still hadn’t forgotten our pre-game ritual. I could see a few of his teammates, namely Jordan, Kris, and Tyler Kennedy, craning their necks to watch the exchange.

I’d mouthed through the glass for him to do well, and Max had done just that throughout the night, making assists and even scoring a goal in the second period. Now they were down to the wire, and needed a goal badly. Vero and I watched with wide eyes as the pluck shot around on the ice between sticks, ending up on the end of Sidney’s. He quickly passed the puck around Marc Staal to Tyler, who set Sidney up perfectly for a goal. The puck flew into the net past Henrik Lundqvist’s outstrectched glove, sending the crowd into a screaming frenzy.

Vero and I jumped to our feet, screaming with the rest of the crowd and the line of boys in front of us. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Marc had two more saves under his belt and the boys had won. We sat around for a few minutes and waited for the crowd to dissipate a little bit before attempting to leave. Vero was anxious to get down to the locker room and congratulate the boys. She was barely able to contain her excitement, sitting at the very edge of her seat with her purse already slung over her elbow.

Eventually the stands began to clear out and we knew the media would be filtering out of the locker room too. Grabbing my wrist, Vero yanked me up to my feet and began dragging me away from our seats and in the direction of the locker rooms. Her slender fingers pressed down hard on the healing purple bruise that was wrapped around my wrist. Unable to hold it back, I hissed and pulled my wrist close to my body. When I realized I’d just done, I looked back up at Vero with wide eyes. She’d stopped walking and turned around to see what had happened.

“Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas, Maggie?” (What’s wrong Maggie?)

My mouth hung agape. I was frustrated with myself for slipping up. Quickly, I tugged the sleeve of my jersey back over my wrist, but it was too late; she’d already spotted it.

“Mon Dieu, Maggie, ce qui ne va pas avec ta poignet?” (My God, Maggie, what’s wrong with your wrist?) She pulled my arm away from my body and pushed the jersey sleeve up to my elbow, inspecting my wrist with a raised eyebrow. Glancing up at me with dark eyes, she pointed to a line of finger shaped bruises under my thumb.

“Qu'est-il arrivé ici?” (What happened here?) Her voice was soft and hard at the same time, a tone I’d heard my mother use many times when Max and I were growing up. I tugged my sleeve back down without breaking eye contact with her. My voice was quiet when I answered her, and I could tell she didn’t believe my poor excuse for the finger marks on my hand.

“C'était un accident. Max m'a saisi un peu trop dur.” (It was an accident. Max grabbed me a little too hard.) Vero cocked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and let my arm go with a small huff. She stared at the spot I’d covered up with my sleeve for a moment before offering me her elbow and allowing me to link my arm with hers.

By the time we arrived at the entrance to the locker room, Vero’s bright smile had returned to her face. She had texted Marc on the way down and he was waiting in front of the door with a large smile that matched hers. Unhooking her arm from mine, she ran at him and jumped into his open arms, planting small kisses all over his face.

I smiled at them, but looked down at the ground and gave them a moment to themselves. After a moment, I glanced back up and saw Marc whispering something sweet into Vero’s ear. She grinned and knocked her forehead against his, saying something back. Silently, I wondered when he’d bite the bullet and ask her to marry him; they were obviously perfect together.

“Come on, Maggie.”

Vero’s voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see her and Marc waiting for me by the door. He had put her down, and they were attached at the hands as she beckoned me over with a warm smile and a wave of her free hand. I walked over to them and Marc pulled me into a hug.

“Je suppose que tu êtes la mauvaise influence qui a Vero assis derrière la vitre?” (I guess you’re the bad influence that has Vero sitting behind the glass?) He teased and Vero smacked him lightly on the arm.

“Tu n'allez pas me reprendre dans la boîte maintenant que j'ai quelqu'un pour s'asseoir avec dans les tribunes.” (You’re not getting me back in the box now that I have someone to sit with in the stands.) She said with a smile and Marc rolled his eyes.

“Nous allons voir.” (We’ll see.) Marc said with as much authority as he could muster up with a wide smile on his face. Vero rolled her eyes, but gripped tighter onto his hand. He turned to the door and opened it for Vero and I to walk through, before running ahead of us to the next door that led into the actual locker room. Some reporters were still milling around in the hallway packing up equipment and talking to each other, but it had cleared out for the most part.

Marc knocked on the locker room door three times before poking his head in to warn the rest of the team that Vero and I were standing behind him. “Put some pants on, assholes, there are ladies coming in.” After giving everyone a moment to get decent, he stepped back and held the door open for Vero and I with a smile. Immediately I spotted Max by his locker, wearing nothing but athletic shorts and a towel slung around his neck. When his blue eyes locked with mine, he broke out into a huge grin.

“Maggie!” He ran over to where Vero and I were standing and tossed me onto his shoulder, spinning me around excitedly. He put me down before I could complain, and hugged me tight.

“Did you see my goal?” He asked like a small child, eyes shining with pride and excitement. I nodded as I readjusted my clothes from Max’s greeting.

“You were great.” I said with a smile, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. He was smiling so much it looked like he’d fallen asleep with a hanger in his mouth. Max led me over to his locker and we both sat down on the bench.

“Did you have fun?” Max asked and I nodded.

“So much. I think Vero was about to come through the glass.” He let out a throaty laugh and nodded.

“I saw her pounding her tiny fists on the glass during the last period. Marc was about to lose it, he was so worried.”

“It’s not like she hasn’t been behind the glass before, Max.” I reminded him quietly and Max nodded but stealthily pointed a finger at the couple who were sitting together at Marc’s locker. Vero was perched on his lap with one arm around his neck and the other flat against his chest. Marc was looking at her like he always did; like he’d just won the jackpot.

“He knows that, but let’s face it, she could be in a padded room and he’d still worry about her.”

“I guess that’s true.” I conceded quietly. I couldn’t help but wonder what that kind of relationship was like – loving someone else that much. It seeped out of their pores, surrounding them and everyone around them. Before I could think too much about it, though, my head snapped to the side when someone called my name.

“Bonjour, Maggie.” My unsuspecting eyes landed on a shirtless Kris Letang as he walked out of the shower room dripping wet with nothing but a towel slung around his waist.

“Merde, Kris! Mettez des vêtements sur, connard, ma soeur est ici.” (Damn it, Kris! Put some clothes on, asshole, my sister’s in here!”) Max exclaimed as he threw a large hand over my eyes, blocking my vision and pulling my head against his chest.

I could hear Kris’ airy laugh even though my ear was pressed against Max’s skin. I tried unsuccessfully to push away from him, but he just held on tighter.

“Maggie’s here?” Jordan’s voice flooded the air this time, his heavy footsteps audible against the carpet. I could tell he wasn’t alone, but I couldn’t be sure who was with him.

“Will you guys put some clothes on? Is Sid the only one who knows how to put on pants?” Max asked in a huff, his voice rumbling through his chest and causing his torso to vibrate against my face. So that’s who was with Jordan.

“Chill out, Max.” Marc suggested from the other end of the lockers, an amused tone to his voice.

“I will not chill out, the one day Maggie comes in the locker room is the one day everyone forgets to put clothes on?” Max waited until everyone at least had shorts on before he removed his hand, allowing me to see that Jordan, Sidney, and Geno had joined us in the locker room since Kris had walked in. They all had smiles on their faces, still happy about the win earlier that evening.

“Hey Maggie.” Jordan greeted with a smile. I returned his smile with one of my own and turned to Sidney who had given me a small wave. I waved back and watched as Kris bumped him from behind, causing his cheeks to tinge red. Geno chuckled and I looked down at my jeans, a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.

“Maggie, do you want to meet my brother?” Jordan asked happily. I nodded shyly, and he waved me off the bench and towards the door, chattering the whole time about the game.

*Max POV*

I watched Jordan lead Maggie out of the locker room with a smile on his face. Shaking my head with a grin, I turned back to my locker and began putting things into my duffle bag. When I turned back around, Vero was waiting for me with a strange look on her face.

“Hey Vero.” I greeted, watching her carefully as she sat down next to me.

“What happened to Maggie’s wrist?” She asked quietly, her calm demeanor revealing nothing as she watched the rest of the locker room with guarded eyes.

My eyes shot to the door that Maggie and Jordan had just exited out of. Vero was waiting for a response, so I threw on a carefree smile and went with the first lie that popped into my head.

“I grabbed her a little too hard the other day when she almost fell off the counter. You know how klutzy she is.” Vero was silent as I continued to throw my clothes into my bag. Finally she sighed and placed a small hand on my shoulder.

“You’ve got to be more careful with her, Max. You grabbed her so hard she had fingerprint bruises.” My fist clenched involuntarily.

“Yeah, I know.” She laughed lightly for a second before continuing.

“I’m so relieved. When she said you did it, I didn’t really believe her, but I suppose I was just being crazy. Congratulations on the goal, Max. You guys did great!” She stood up, leaving me a bit dumbfounded and began walking back over to Marc, who was waiting for her by the door. Halfway across the floor, she turned with a smile and pointed at me.

“You and Maggie are coming to the house tonight, right? It’s our turn to have the party.” I nodded. After every home game that we won, someone on the team would have a party so we could all celebrate without going out to a club. Tonight was Marc’s turn.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, Vero.” She let out an excited squeal and turned back to Marc, pulling his hand into hers.

“Don’t be late!” She called out as they exited the locker room, leaving me, Sid, Kris, and Geno standing by our lockers.

“Maggie’s coming to Marc’s tonight?” Sid asked curiously, glancing over at me with his large brown eyes.

“Yeah. I should probably go get her from Jordan before he proposes.” I muttered the last part, causing the boys to laugh. Jordan’s flirtatious nature was well known, and we’d all seen him swear up and down that a girl was ‘the one’ after only knowing her a few hours. I was only halfway joking about the proposal.

“I’ll go with you, you might need some help.” Sidney stood up and followed me out of the locker room, Kris and Geno trailing behind. We made our way to the visitor’s locker room, following the sounds of laughter. Over the deep barks of laugh from the men, I could hear Maggie’s musical chuckle ringing out. We opened the door only to be confronted with the scene of Maggie sitting in a circle on the floor with some Rangers, raking a pile of money to herself.

I smiled as I stared down at her, wild hair absolutely everywhere, her already small body dwarfed by the large hockey players she was playing with. Looking up, her eyes brightened when she saw me. Once she spotted the other boys, however, her cheeks flushed pink. She obviously didn’t know she had an audience.

“Take her away, Max, she hustled all of us!” Marc Staal called from his spot in the circle, a teasing smile on his face. I leaned against the door jam and looked back at the guys behind me. Kris was amused, laughing at the scene before him. Geno was impressed, staring at Maggie with an appreciative look on his face. Sid was another story, watching her with a strange look on his face. I didn’t have time to question it, though because Jordan laughed out loud while helping Maggie count her cash.

I turned back to the circle and smiled at my little sister. Jordan looked like a child on Christmas, bright eyes and a mouth open in laughter. “Damn, Maggie, you cleaned up!”

From behind me I could hear Geno ask Sidney what Jordan meant. He mumbled his usual response (“It’s an expression, Geno.”) without tearing his eyes from the circle in front of him. Evgeni smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with the answer.

“What’d you get, Maggie?” I asked with a smirk, my smile growing when she shyly ran a hand through her hair.

“Two hundred dollars and a jersey.” Her response was quiet, but it earned a roar of laughter from the men circled around her.

“Who’s jersey did you get?” I asked, highly amused by the situation. Blushing, she looked over at Lundqvist from under her hair, blue eyes shining bright and biting back a smile. He rolled his head in my direction, a wide smile on his face.

“She’s better than she looks.”

Another roar of laughter went up, myself and the guys included. After it died down, I caught Maggie’s eye and pointed in the direction of the door. “Come on Mags, time to go to Marc and Vero’s. You too Staalsy.”

She nodded quickly, wrapping her winnings up in the jersey and cradling it close to her chest, hopping up from the circle and turning to say goodbye to the newest members of her fan-club.

“Thanks for letting me play with you guys.” She said quietly, a small smile gracing her features. Henrik ruffled her hair lightly before taking her hand and shaking it softly.

“Thank you for keeping us humble, nothing like losing to two Talbot’s in one night.” Maggie flushed light pink before turning to Marc Staal, who also took her small hand in his.

“It was great meeting you, Maggie. Good luck with having to put up with this one.” He pointed at Jordan who rolled his eyes and huffed a little under his breath. Maggie smiled.

“I have a feeling I’ll need it.”

She said goodbye to the rest of the guys she had met before following Jordan over to where the rest of us were standing. Sidney took the bundle she held in her hands and held it to his own chest.

“I’ll carry that for you.” He said softly with a smile. Looking at Maggie’s face, I could tell his actions confused her. She wasn’t used to men treating her like a lady instead of like property. She looked down at the floor with a small grin while a pink hue painted her features.

“Thank you.” Maggie replied and exited the door Sidney held open for her. I hung back slightly as we walked to the parking lot, watching her in the center of a line of hockey players. Sidney and Geno walked on either side of her while Kris and Jordan flanked the outsides, hands in their pockets and voices carrying throughout the parking garage. Sidney matched his usually long strides to Maggie’s shorter ones, keeping his pace with hers. He kept his face turned towards her as they walked, listening half-heartedly to some story that Jordan was relaying to them. Maggie, as usual, was oblivious – completely consumed in whatever it was that Jordan had to say. She watched the blonde giant as Sidney watched her, quickly turning his head away whenever he felt he was about to get caught.

It hit me like a two ton bag of bricks. Watching him watching her, it all clicked – why he was watching her like he was afraid she’d melt away into the concrete below her. It was the look I’d seen a thousand times in high-school, the look that had sparked a million whispered comments and even more fist-fights with Franck, Will, and I. I’d never seen the look on his face before, but seeing it now, it was all too clear why Sid was acting the way he was.

Captain Canada liked my sister.