Status: On the way :)
Oh My Goodness
en
Jessica
I swiped the final item and entered the item number into the computer. I turned to the lady in front of me with a smile.
"That'll be 50.67," I said. As she rummaged through her purse for her wallet, I tapped my fingers on the counter. My mind began to wander.
I was almost done work, and I could hardly wait. When I was finished, I was headed over to my friend Matt's house. He was having a get together and a barbecue to celebrate the start of the hockey season.
I lived in the beautiful city of Denver, Colorado, and had since the day I was born. I loved it. I was saving up to attend my second year of university at the age of 18 - I had a late birthday - and working at a grocery store to help pay for tuition. I had met Matt when he had stopped by the store. He started coming by regularly, and finally worked up the nerve to ask me out. We had gone on a few dates, but nothing romantic had ever really blossomed. We had decided to keep it platonic instead, and now he was one of my best friends.
Matt was what you could call a "star forward" on the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. At the age of 20, he was already a huge leader on the team. I hadn't known that much about hockey when we had met a year ago, but now it was almost a part of my daily life.
Matt's teammates and their families were great. He had had some of them over a few different times throughout the previous year but that night would be the first time I'd see most of them in one sitting, and it would be the first time I'd seen any of them - except for Matt - since last season. I had visited Matt as soon as he came back to Colorado for training camp.
I was excited; I loved being around Matt's friends. They had been welcoming when we had first met, and in a short amount of time, I began to consider them as friends of my own.
When I finally clocked out, I headed to the bathroom to change into my new summer dress. When I was finished, I made my way to my car in the parking lot. As I began the quick drive to Matt's house, I found myself smiling.
***
Gabe
I couldn't believe Matt had put me up to this. He was a nice guy, and he was probably the guy I was closest to on the team so far. He was letting me live with him, and I was grateful for that... And I knew it was because I was the rookie... But I did not want to open the door to Matt's party guests, paste on a smile and introduce myself to my teammates' families.
I knew all of the guys already, of course, after training camp. But meeting the wives, girlfriends and potentially children was different. I knew how important they were as moral support to the guys, and I needed them all to like me. No pressure.
The doorbell first rang at five to seven. Matt yelled out from the kitchen, "Get that, would you, Gabriel dear?" I could hear the mocking tone in his voice and I rolled my eyes, biting my tongue.
I pulled the door open to find Paul Stastny and his girlfriend, Jamie. I greeted Paul and he introduced me to Jamie, who gave me a smile in response.
"They put you on doorman duty?" she asked, to my surprise. I couldn't help but smile and laugh.
"Rookie."
She nodded knowingly before the two stepped into the house. Paul slapped me on the shoulder as he passed by, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She seemed nice. One down.
People began to flow in after that. When Varly, his wife, and son, Jakub, arrived, I knelt down to Jakub's level and shook his hand. Both the goalie and his wife seemed impressed. Everyone was extremely nice, and I found myself relaxing a bit with each new arrival.
Matt came out to check on me after a bit, looking at his watch. "That's about everyone, I think. We're just waiting for Jess now."
I raised my eyebrows. Jess? Matt's girlfriend? He hadn't mentioned her before...
The doorbell rang, and I turned. I glanced back at Matt, who grinned and raised his eyebrows as if to say, "Well?"
I sighed and opened the door. I was met with bright blue-green eyes, and an amused smile.
"Hi?" Her voice was soft. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a navy blue dress.
"Hi," I replied, smiling. I was about to introduce myself when Matt appeared beside me.
***
Jessica
"Jess, this is Gabe."
The man smiled again, and as he reached out to shake my hand, my stomach flip-flopped. The way Matt had introduced him had been so simple. Jess, this is Gabe. The introduction seemed to pale in comparison to the man that was standing in front of me.
He was one of, if not the, most attractive man I had ever seen. His blonde hair, his genuine, perfect smile, and his striking blue eyes were a lethal combination.
A heartbreaker if I ever saw one.
"Nice to meet you." Even his voice was attractive.
"This is the rookie I was telling you about," Matt informed me, breaking me out of my daze and ushering me inside.
"I thought you said he was from Sweden?" I turned to Matt, eyebrows raised.
"I am," Gabe interjected. I turned back to him, and he laughed. "I watched a lot of American TV," he shrugged.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He definitely looked Swedish... I shook my head. "That's incredible."
Matt nodded. "I know, eh?"
We headed into the living room where the rest of the guys and girls were seated. Most of them had beer in their hands, which I politely declined. We all chatted for a while, listening to summer stories, and of course, all of the guys nagged on Gabe. I couldn't help but smile at his reluctance to speak about himself. He explained that he was born in Sweden, played in Canada for junior, and now he was here. The guys managed to get some embarrassing childhood stories out of him, before everyone headed outside into Matt's backyard, where he had gone a bit earlier to start barbecuing.
***
Gabe
I was relieved when the group of us headed outside. I could only take retelling my embarrassing moments for so long.
I walked over to ask Matt if he needed help with the barbecue, and he waved me off, so I headed over to where Paul and Stefan Elliott stood, joining their conversation. The two men greeted me.
"Sorry about the grilling, Landy," Stefan grinned. "Standard procedure."
I laughed and nodded. "I know."
I listened as the two men started to talk about the upcoming season. I pitched in my two cents every now and then, but a lot of the time I found myself glancing over to where Jessica was chatting with Peter Mueller's wife, Kelly. Every time she smiled, I found myself smiling a bit, too. Matt had definitely gotten lucky with this one.
***
Jessica
I stood by the pool, catching up with Mueller's wife, Kelly. She told me about their vacation to Fiji that summer, and I told her how jealous I was. All I had done all summer was sit on my butt when I wasn't working.
I finished my chat with Kelly and decided to sit on one of the lawn chairs. I absentmindedly glanced over at Gabriel - which I couldn't seem to stop doing. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I wasn't sure how to react to his Greek God resemblance. I had known Swedish boys were attractive, but this guy had definitely gotten more than his share of attractiveness. He laughed as he talked with Ryan O'Reilly, and I felt my lips turn up at the sides as I watched.
"He's a cute one."
I let out a surprised laugh. I turned to find Jamie, Stastny's girlfriend, sitting down on the chair beside me. She was a pretty good friend of mine - we had clicked from the start. I turned back to glance at Gabriel. "Yeah," I shrugged before lying back on the lawn chair and closing my eyes.
"Just saying."
I laughed again, and heard the chair next to me creak as she mimicked my position. It was silent for a moment until Jamie spoke again.
"He's looking at you."
My eyes snapped open and I looked around frantically before it registered that my friend was laughing beside me, and that he hadn't really been looking at me at all.
"You think he's cute."
I looked at her. She was smiling with her eyes still closed. I sighed and closed my eyes, muttering, "Shut up."
I swiped the final item and entered the item number into the computer. I turned to the lady in front of me with a smile.
"That'll be 50.67," I said. As she rummaged through her purse for her wallet, I tapped my fingers on the counter. My mind began to wander.
I was almost done work, and I could hardly wait. When I was finished, I was headed over to my friend Matt's house. He was having a get together and a barbecue to celebrate the start of the hockey season.
I lived in the beautiful city of Denver, Colorado, and had since the day I was born. I loved it. I was saving up to attend my second year of university at the age of 18 - I had a late birthday - and working at a grocery store to help pay for tuition. I had met Matt when he had stopped by the store. He started coming by regularly, and finally worked up the nerve to ask me out. We had gone on a few dates, but nothing romantic had ever really blossomed. We had decided to keep it platonic instead, and now he was one of my best friends.
Matt was what you could call a "star forward" on the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. At the age of 20, he was already a huge leader on the team. I hadn't known that much about hockey when we had met a year ago, but now it was almost a part of my daily life.
Matt's teammates and their families were great. He had had some of them over a few different times throughout the previous year but that night would be the first time I'd see most of them in one sitting, and it would be the first time I'd seen any of them - except for Matt - since last season. I had visited Matt as soon as he came back to Colorado for training camp.
I was excited; I loved being around Matt's friends. They had been welcoming when we had first met, and in a short amount of time, I began to consider them as friends of my own.
When I finally clocked out, I headed to the bathroom to change into my new summer dress. When I was finished, I made my way to my car in the parking lot. As I began the quick drive to Matt's house, I found myself smiling.
***
Gabe
I couldn't believe Matt had put me up to this. He was a nice guy, and he was probably the guy I was closest to on the team so far. He was letting me live with him, and I was grateful for that... And I knew it was because I was the rookie... But I did not want to open the door to Matt's party guests, paste on a smile and introduce myself to my teammates' families.
I knew all of the guys already, of course, after training camp. But meeting the wives, girlfriends and potentially children was different. I knew how important they were as moral support to the guys, and I needed them all to like me. No pressure.
The doorbell first rang at five to seven. Matt yelled out from the kitchen, "Get that, would you, Gabriel dear?" I could hear the mocking tone in his voice and I rolled my eyes, biting my tongue.
I pulled the door open to find Paul Stastny and his girlfriend, Jamie. I greeted Paul and he introduced me to Jamie, who gave me a smile in response.
"They put you on doorman duty?" she asked, to my surprise. I couldn't help but smile and laugh.
"Rookie."
She nodded knowingly before the two stepped into the house. Paul slapped me on the shoulder as he passed by, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She seemed nice. One down.
People began to flow in after that. When Varly, his wife, and son, Jakub, arrived, I knelt down to Jakub's level and shook his hand. Both the goalie and his wife seemed impressed. Everyone was extremely nice, and I found myself relaxing a bit with each new arrival.
Matt came out to check on me after a bit, looking at his watch. "That's about everyone, I think. We're just waiting for Jess now."
I raised my eyebrows. Jess? Matt's girlfriend? He hadn't mentioned her before...
The doorbell rang, and I turned. I glanced back at Matt, who grinned and raised his eyebrows as if to say, "Well?"
I sighed and opened the door. I was met with bright blue-green eyes, and an amused smile.
"Hi?" Her voice was soft. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a navy blue dress.
"Hi," I replied, smiling. I was about to introduce myself when Matt appeared beside me.
***
Jessica
"Jess, this is Gabe."
The man smiled again, and as he reached out to shake my hand, my stomach flip-flopped. The way Matt had introduced him had been so simple. Jess, this is Gabe. The introduction seemed to pale in comparison to the man that was standing in front of me.
He was one of, if not the, most attractive man I had ever seen. His blonde hair, his genuine, perfect smile, and his striking blue eyes were a lethal combination.
A heartbreaker if I ever saw one.
"Nice to meet you." Even his voice was attractive.
"This is the rookie I was telling you about," Matt informed me, breaking me out of my daze and ushering me inside.
"I thought you said he was from Sweden?" I turned to Matt, eyebrows raised.
"I am," Gabe interjected. I turned back to him, and he laughed. "I watched a lot of American TV," he shrugged.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He definitely looked Swedish... I shook my head. "That's incredible."
Matt nodded. "I know, eh?"
We headed into the living room where the rest of the guys and girls were seated. Most of them had beer in their hands, which I politely declined. We all chatted for a while, listening to summer stories, and of course, all of the guys nagged on Gabe. I couldn't help but smile at his reluctance to speak about himself. He explained that he was born in Sweden, played in Canada for junior, and now he was here. The guys managed to get some embarrassing childhood stories out of him, before everyone headed outside into Matt's backyard, where he had gone a bit earlier to start barbecuing.
***
Gabe
I was relieved when the group of us headed outside. I could only take retelling my embarrassing moments for so long.
I walked over to ask Matt if he needed help with the barbecue, and he waved me off, so I headed over to where Paul and Stefan Elliott stood, joining their conversation. The two men greeted me.
"Sorry about the grilling, Landy," Stefan grinned. "Standard procedure."
I laughed and nodded. "I know."
I listened as the two men started to talk about the upcoming season. I pitched in my two cents every now and then, but a lot of the time I found myself glancing over to where Jessica was chatting with Peter Mueller's wife, Kelly. Every time she smiled, I found myself smiling a bit, too. Matt had definitely gotten lucky with this one.
***
Jessica
I stood by the pool, catching up with Mueller's wife, Kelly. She told me about their vacation to Fiji that summer, and I told her how jealous I was. All I had done all summer was sit on my butt when I wasn't working.
I finished my chat with Kelly and decided to sit on one of the lawn chairs. I absentmindedly glanced over at Gabriel - which I couldn't seem to stop doing. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I wasn't sure how to react to his Greek God resemblance. I had known Swedish boys were attractive, but this guy had definitely gotten more than his share of attractiveness. He laughed as he talked with Ryan O'Reilly, and I felt my lips turn up at the sides as I watched.
"He's a cute one."
I let out a surprised laugh. I turned to find Jamie, Stastny's girlfriend, sitting down on the chair beside me. She was a pretty good friend of mine - we had clicked from the start. I turned back to glance at Gabriel. "Yeah," I shrugged before lying back on the lawn chair and closing my eyes.
"Just saying."
I laughed again, and heard the chair next to me creak as she mimicked my position. It was silent for a moment until Jamie spoke again.
"He's looking at you."
My eyes snapped open and I looked around frantically before it registered that my friend was laughing beside me, and that he hadn't really been looking at me at all.
"You think he's cute."
I looked at her. She was smiling with her eyes still closed. I sighed and closed my eyes, muttering, "Shut up."
♠ ♠ ♠
Gabriel Landeskog is sent from the heavens. That is all.