I-55

By the time there was a soft knock outside her door, Roxie was genuinely excited. She had just finished the last touches on her make up, and slipped on a pair of black flats to go with her dark jeans and pastel North Face hoodie—all set and ready to go.

Her door was all but thrown open and a smile instantly spread across her light pink lips upon seeing Jonathan lounging against the wall, fiddling with his cell phone. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie, himself. Even then, the boy was stunning. Upon the sound of the door closing softly, he jolted from the wall with a softness falling across his features as he looked down at Roxie.

“Well howdy,” she giggled, amusement dripping from her voice.

“Hey…you ready to go?” asked Jonathan, and she nodded. He waited a moment for her to look up her apartment before leading the way down to his SUV. “You seem in better spirits, now.”

“Mmhm, I’m real sorry ‘bout that,” she sighed, pausing and grabbing his forearm for a moment before he opened the passenger door. Jonathan turned towards her, his eyes being met with her own hazel orbs swimming with genuine regret. He offered her a small smile, shaking his head.

“Rox, it’s no big deal—really. I understand, shit happens and if you want or need to talk about it then I’m right here for you.”

Her lips pressed together into a small, thin smile as she gazed up at Jonathan. She had only known him for a couple days, but was beginning to feel attached to him rather quickly. This wasn’t uncommon for her, though. She knew she had a tendency to be too trusting, to forgiving, too caring. Jonathan just seemed to fit right into her life at a time where she needed someone just like him, and Kane, and Sharp—all of the guys, really, were wonderful.

He pulled open the car door then, helping her inside his vehicle before closing it and hurrying around to his side. As he drove, they made decent conversation but Jonathan’s mind was elsewhere entirely. He made all the right comments at the right times while Roxie was talking, but for the first time since meeting the southern belle, his thoughts weren’t captivated by her voice alone.

Jonathan wasn’t really sure how he was going to tell Roxie that he was an athlete—that he was paid an overly ridiculous amount of money to play a sport, there was a lake named after him, and he had an Olympic gold medal. He was plagued by the cloud of overly crazed fangirls who he feared would send Roxie all kinds of threats, who probably had already figured out her name and were currently digging through her life. He wanted to protect her from them, but at the same time he didn’t want to hide her.

But, really, what was there to hide? A friendship?
No, he was allowed to have friends and for the time being… that was what he and Roxie were forced to be.

Sharp and Kane met up with the duo at one of the many city parks, giving Jonathan the space he needed to fully think more. He trudged along just a few paces behind, keeping his eyes peeled for anyone whipping out a camera or cell phone to snap pictures of them. Roxie was having a hard enough time as it was, and Jonathan flat out refused to add anything to her pile because of his status.

But something had been bugging him all morning, since their phone call to be exact. He wanted to know what it was Luke could have possibly been harassing her over, and he wanted to help her somehow. Jonathan hadn’t the slightest clue how he could help, but he hoped at least knowing the problem would give him some kind of hint.

Finally the curiosity was too much for him to bare.

“Roxie?”
If the girl in question hadn’t of become acutely aware of Jonathans presence at all times, she would have forgotten he was accompanying her and the two Patricks on account of how silent he’d been. Her feet halted her a couple steps before theirs as she waited for Jonathan to catch up, falling between her and Kane while Sharp stayed on her immediate right.
“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” she nodded, an encouraging smile on her delicate lips that momentarily froze his thoughts.

“You said Luke was harassing you this morning… what’d the bastard want?”

He wasn’t sure what gave him a right to be insulting her husband, and he hadn’t intended for the word to actually be spoken, but the tiny smirk that graced her lips after he did so made his chest swell.

“Wait, your husband called you this morning?” asked Sharp, his head snapping to look over Roxies head at Jonathan. A small sigh fell from the girls lips as she nodded reluctantly, wanting nothing more than to hide in another hug from Jonathan like the previous nights’.

“Yeah, he did…he wanted—well, it started—no, i—“ Roxie gave long sigh, pushing her fingers through her long hair as she recomposed herself. “I didn’t look at who was calling—I thought it might have been you, Jon—but, I apparently answered a little to chipper. He demanded to know who I was cheating on him with in Chi—oh, god…”

Her heart fluttered to a stop. She had been so caught up in her frustration with Luke that she hadn’t even realized he mentioned Chicago. He knew where she was, somehow. But how could he have found out? The only people who knew she was here were her family, and she knew they wouldn’t dare tell Luke. They wouldn’t so much as hint to him where she was, which meant he had to of done a lot of digging to find out.

“Roxie? Roxie, what is it?”
Her eyes came to focus on Jonathans peering down into hers, laced with worry. Sharp and Kane flanked her, while Jonathan held onto both of her arms and stood directly in front of her. Roxie could feel the panic slowly settling in like a fever, taking control of her body.
“He knows where I am,” she breathed in a shaky voice with wide eyes. Jonathans jaw clenched tightly, but it was Kane who had regained himself first to speak.

“He wont touch you, Roxie. I don’t make many promises—but I do promise you that; he won’t touch you ever again.”
Her gaze shifted to him, and without any warning she flung her arms around his neck. Kane stumbled back a couple steps, chuckling softly as he rubbed her back soothingly. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, and Patrick squeezed her tighter upon feeling an overwhelming need to protect the small girl at all costs. His eyes met those of his captain, and he would have been utterly terrified if he didn’t know better. If he didn’t know that the dark, silent fury was reserved for this Luke guy.

Jonathan knew he shouldn’t have felt like he won a mini victory when Roxie had essentially told him her husband viewed him as a threat. But it was true.
She had greeted him, thinking Jon was on the other line—and that greeting triggered a possessive reaction from the man.

“Roxie,” spoke Sharp gently, pausing until she had detached herself from Kane and moved back to her original place before he continued. “Pat’s right. We’ll keep you safe.”

She gave him a watery smile before engulfing him in a hug that ended much quicker than the previous.
“Let’s keep walking, guys,” suggested Kane, already moving forwards again. Sharp threw an arm around her shoulders protectively as they all moved along the lines of stores in the middle of downtown Chicago.

“I don’t want y’alls protection,” sighed Roxie, breaking the silence. “It just—I just—he, well, I can—“

“It doesn’t matter if you want it,” Jonathan spoke quietly, casting a sideways glance. “You’re still going to get it.”

“I can take care of myself, it’s just… I still love ‘em, I’m just… I need him out of my life, y’know?”
The three hockey players all gently agreed before the group fell into a comfortable silence. Jonathan was a brewing storm of jealousy—a volcano waiting to erupt. He couldn’t have honestly expected Roxie to not love her husband, that was unfair and there were still just too many fresh wounds on the girls heart for him to think that. But the admittance still stung, as well as how cozily she was tucked into Sharpys side.

Jonathan hated how jealous he was growing to be. It was so outrageously out of character for him, but he was utterly powerless at the steady buildup of feelings he felt towards Roxie. There was just something about her that – to Jonathan—felt perfectly like home. She was an ocean of everything he needed or wanted in a woman.

It wasn’t his fault that he wanted her to be by his side, and his side only. He knew her friendship with Sharp was innocent, but that did nothing to quell the feint green jealousy fighting in his mind.

However, she quickly pulled him out of his own darkness yet again. It was a simple action, one she did almost hesitantly, but the feeling of her small hand slipping inside of his own lit his body on fire. And that fire put out every dark, hateful thought that had rooted inside his mind. Instantly, he slipped his fingers between hers and locked their hands together, smoothing his thumb across the soft skin of her knuckles.

A couple blocks later, a harsh elbow from Kane pulled Jonathan from his daze. People were beginning to notice who, exactly, was walking around Chicago and a couple were making an advance on the small group.

“Sharp,” barked Jonathan, the ice captain coming through instantly. Roxie jumped a little at the sharpness in his voice, it was an edge she hadn’t heard from him yet.

Jonathan didn’t remove his eyes from the fans, but allowed his hand to easily slip from Roxies as Sharp quickly turned her into the nearest store.

He and Kane would handle the fans, and when they all dispersed the group would relocate somewhere private—like one of the guyss apartment, for movies and take out.