Shut Your Eyes

Jordan let out a long whistle once we were back in Flower’s car.

“No wonder Talbot’s been keeping her a secret.”

From the backseat, I saw Marc shoot Jordan a look. “Don’t even think about it, Staalsy.”

“I’m not the only one thinking it!” Jordan exclaimed, turning his head to me and shoving an elbow into my side. We were crammed into Marc’s SUV like sardines, with Geno in the front and Jordan, Kris, and I shoved in the back. Marc was taking us to his house, determined to use his new Wii.

“Don’t you think she’s smoking hot?” Jordan asked me.

Yes I did. The second I saw her on the other side of Max’s door, my heart stopped for a second. The picture in Max’s locker didn’t do her justice. Her wide blue eyes were the first things I noticed. They were the exact same shade as Max’s, but they were framed with thick lashes. She had wild storm-tossed hair that fell past her shoulders in coffee colored curls. Her skin wasn’t as dark as Max’s, it was the color of sun-kissed cream, and there wasn’t a blemish on it. She only came up to Max’s shoulder, fitting neatly under his arm like a puzzle piece. So did I think she was hot? Yes. I thought she was beautiful. Did I say any of this out loud? Hell no.

The look on Marc’s face was enough to shut me up. “I’m staying out of this one, Staalsy.” I said quietly as I stared out the window. Jordan huffed in response.

“Whatever. You don’t have to say anything; I know you thought she was hot. You stared at her all afternoon.”

“I didn’t stare-” I started, but Kris nudged Jordan on the shoulder and interrupted.

“Don’t forget the blushing.” He threw in with a wicked grin, and Jordan chuckled.

“I wasn’t blushing!” I defended, looking to Marc for some backup, only to be let down when he laughed along with the other guys.

“Oh please, you turned about a million shades of red.” Kris said with a cocked eyebrow. Geno turned around in the seat and smiled at me.

“He’s right. You did.”

I only shook my head, smiling as they carried on around me. “Max was right, you guys are assholes.” They finished laughing, and we spent a moment in silence. Then Marc spoke up, a serious but soft tone to his voice.

“Seriously though, guys, don’t scare Maggie off. She just got here, and if she leaves because of you assholes, Max won’t be happy. So keep your hands to yourselves, and don’t treat her like some random chick you can just hook up with and never talk to again. That means you, Jordan.” Marc warned, steely brown eyes watching us from the front seat.

Kris howled with laughter as Jordan feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know damn well what he’s talking about, Staalsy.” Kris said, still laughing from Jordan’s clear warning from Marc. Jordan shoved him as best he could in the confined space of the backseat.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about, Tanger. That goes for you too.” Marc said with a parent-like authority, causing Kris’ laughter to stop short and Jordan to smile triumphantly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence. When we got to Marc’s, Vero was inside the kitchen on her laptop.

“Where have you been? I thought you were going out for lunch after practice and then coming home.” She asked Marc and he walked over to her to give her a kiss.

“We ended up going to Max’s for lunch to see Maggie.” He told her and watched with a smile as a squeal flew from her mouth.

Picking up a magazine, she rolled it into a tube and hit him with it on the shoulder, a wild smile still on her face. “You had lunch with Maggie and didn’t invite me? It’s bad enough you got to see her first, but you got to have lunch with her first too? And with these guys?”

Marc just smiled and went to the fridge to get bottles of water for everyone. Vero turned her attention on us, staring happily at us over her laptop, glasses still perched on her nose.

“So, what do you guys think of Maggie?” She asked, a sly tone to her voice.

“Very sweet.” Geno stated simply with a small grin, catching a water bottle that Marc threw him. “Kind of quiet.”

Vero just smiled. “That’s Maggie. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She turned around to glare playfully at Marc. “I’m still mad you didn’t tell me you were going over there.”

“It was sort of last minute, Vero. Maggie didn’t even know we were coming over until she opened the door and saw us standing on the other side of it.”

Vero looked at us with wide eyes. “You didn’t even warn her you were coming over?”

Kris pointed a finger at Marc. “It was his idea.”

Vero wasn’t amused. She looked at Jordan and me standing innocently in the kitchen doorway. “I suppose you were forced into it as well?”

“Uhhh…” I couldn’t form words. Angry women made me uncomfortable. Actually it was just angry Veronique. Jordan stayed silent, his mouth hanging open as he looked back and forth between me and Vero, trying to figure out what to do.

She rolled her eyes. “You guys can’t just show up at people’s houses, it’s impolite.”

“How else were we supposed to meet Margaux? Max obviously wasn’t going to bring her to the rink anytime soon. You, Marc, and Max talk about her all the time and we wanted to see what all the fuss what about.” Kris whined and Geno nodded along with him.

“We were just being good teammates, trying to welcome her back to Pittsburgh. And if we happened to find out if she was hot in the process, then so be it.” Jordan said with a smile.

Vero began fussing at him as Kris and Geno looked on. I walked over to where Marc was and leaned on the counter next to him. He was watching his girlfriend with an amused grin. When he felt me standing next to him he looked over at me, the grin never leaving his face.

“I saw how you were looking at her.” He said smugly.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Who? Vero?”

“No you idiot, Maggie.”

I looked down at the floor before shooting my eyes back up at him. “I wasn’t too subtle, was I?”

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “She didn’t notice though. She was too busy answering everyone’s questions. You like her don’t you?”

“I just met her.”

“Ok, maybe you aren’t crushing on her yet, but you do think she’s pretty.” Marc had taken on the tone of an excited five-year old.

I rolled my eyes. “Well I’m not blind, Flower.”

He chuckled a bit before getting serious. “I hope she moves back. Maggie’s a sweetheart, she just needs time to become comfortable around you guys.”

I was confused. She seemed fine when we were at Max’s house. “She’s not comfortable around us?”

Marc shook his head. “I’m sure she likes you guys, she’s just very jumpy. Like a scared kitten. It takes a while for her to get used to people. She hasn’t come out of her shell yet. You didn’t notice how skittish she is?” He asked.

Thinking about it, I realized Marc was right. Every time a car door slammed outside or there was a sudden burst of laughter, she flinched. Jordan had made the mistake of coming up behind her when she was putting dishes into the sink. She’d let out a cute little squeak and nearly jumped out of her skin. Maggie was quiet, that much was obvious, but sometimes she’d acted as if she was scared of us.

Looking back at Marc, I nodded my head. “Yeah, I guess she was kind of nervous.”

Marc took a sip from his bottle of water. “She’ll warm up to everyone in no time. I just hope she hangs around long enough to.”

I looked back up at Vero as she continued on with her rant at Jordan. No matter how hard I tried to distract myself, my thoughts kept drifting back to Maggie with her wild curls and musical laugh. In the short time I’d spent with her, she’d fascinated me. Whether it was how she bit her bottom lip when she was nervous, or the way she’d blushed when she caught me looking at her, I was hooked.

I thought about Marc’s last statement and took a swig of water from the bottle. I didn’t know how long it would take for her to warm up to everyone, but I agreed with Marc.

“I hope she sticks around too.”