Dark Blue

Adrenaline was pulsating through my entire body. All my senses were on overdrive, picking up every minute change around me. The excitement buzzing through the eight of us was so palpable I was utterly convinced one could see little electrical currents surging between us, filling up the small space inside the Otter. With a heave, Jax threw up the garage-like door and we welcomed in the rush of cool air.

“Let’s get this party started!” he yelled over the engine roar. I made a last minute adjusted the GoPro strapped to my chest and tightened the strap of my oxygen mask. Jax stepped back to the side, and with one tap to Jasper’s shoulder we were off. I waited for the six men before me to exit, and once I reached the door I was teetering between excited and a state of raw ecstasy.

When I felt the tap on my shoulder, I threw my body out of the plane without so much as a second thought.

After a couple moments, I joined hands with Jax and Cooper in our small formation. Round and round we spun, the world swirling in a blur of color beneath us, and nothing else mattered in that time. I was first to break with a nod and wide grin to the rest of our group, each of them giving a nod in return, and I released Jax and Coopers hands.

Immediately, I was ousted from their area by the wind and air. I twisted my body to perform a perfect back flip, my legs arced over my head as I gazed down at the earth – still curved beneath me – and watched my horizon quickly become more defined.

The view was glorious.

My eyes found the altimeter strapped tightly to my wrist after a bit longer, and I kept my gaze steady … steady … and then when I reached the very bottom of my opening, I pulled my chute.

It unfurled like eagles wings, breaking my fall violently. My legs swung around before dangling beneath me as I began to glide around. I made quick work of removing my oxygen mask, taking a large inhale of pure untainted air, and let a face-splitting grin take over.

I could see the Memphis skyline from where I was, but as close as it looked from here I knew it would be a bit of a drive back into the city. I could see for miles in every direction as I flew along, pulling sharply on my right toggle so that my chute spun in a perfect circle, reversing my body until I was facing the sky and slowly returning back to a normal stance- looking around at the earth.

We all were circling the drop-zone, taking great care to not stray too far so we couldn’t hit our target. Jasper was the first to land, as graceful as a bird, and setting the bar high for the rest of us.

My feet were the last to touch down on the ground and my landing was rather stable. One of the packers was waiting for me, a young girl in her early twenties like myself, and instantly began to praise my landing and ramble off about what a mess the canopy was in a rush of words. I gave her a silent smile in thanks, and set off in a light jog towards the hangar.

“Hey, Ace!”

I skidded to a halt at the sound of my nickname, spinning around to face the group who were approaching with large smiles. I waited for them to get out of yelling distance before greeting them, myself.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” grinned Gabriel from his position beside Jax, and I rolled my eyes in response to his comment. It was something he said since day-one when I went on my very first tandem jump here, and continued to say throughout the process of mentoring me through getting my license.

“The pleasure is mine,” I retorted, laughing out loud a little when he pulled me into his chest for an over-bearing hug.

“When can we expect to see you back?” asked Jax, popping a cherry Jolly Rancher into his mouth. “We miss having you around.”

“I know,” I groaned and wiggled out of Gabriels grasp. “The guys around ChiTown are nowhere near as fun to jump with as you lot. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

“Better not be.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised, and went through the process of hugging the group and saying my goodbyes. I had a very small window of time to make it to the airport for my flight back to Chicago if I wanted to be on time for the game.

I dashed out to my car, still in my flight gear, and sped back into the city. I changed into a comfortable pair of sweats and a fitted black Nike tank the airport after checking in for my flight, which would begin boarding in twenty minutes.

I plopped down into one of the plush chairs in the terminal and pulled out my cell. Hmmm… twelve texts, three missed calls, one voicemail.

Looks like Niklas spilled the beans to the rest of the team.

I clicked through my texts first. There were a couple from the guys at work either in regards to a report or case, one text from my manager at Dick’s, but the majority were from my little group of Blackhawks friends.



I shook my head with another laugh and quickly texted Nik, informing him my jump was safe and I was currently waiting to board my flight with a request he let the rest of the team know. From there, I glanced through my missed calls – two belonging to Patrick Kane, and one from the Police Department where I was working.

Just as I was finished, the plane began boarding passengers. My phone was shoved into my pocket as I gathered my things, moving quickly to the line.



“Dinner? He asked you to dinner?” Niklas brow was furrowed deeply in confusion before he glanced to his left at Patrick, who simply shrugged.

“Don’t look at me. I have no idea – maybe he’s finally getting the balls to ask you himself instead of having one of us do it for him.”

“Is possible,” David relented, leaning against the side of his sleek red BMW. “Or maybe he just wants to hear about skydiving from 30,000 feet.”

I rolled my eyes. “35,060 feet, D.”

“Whatever,” he replied, sticking his tongue out at me. “I’m just saying maybe there’s nothing behind his text. Maybe he really does just wanna hear about it and knows with the rest of us around there’s no way she’d be able to tell him about it.”

“Either way, he’s headed over here right now, so we should probably head on to the bar…” said Niklas, trailing off at the end as he made a face. “Now. C’mon. Have fun talking to Tazer, Dev, see you later.”

I nodded my head, hugging each of the three before they all scrambled into their cars. Patrick, of course, drove over to where Jonathan was moving towards me and they both halted for a moment. Jonathan briefly glanced back towards me and then back at Pat, who sped out of the lot a minute or so later.

Jonathan gave me a small smirk once he stood several paces in front of me and his head tilted to the side. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I quipped, smiling softly. “You wanted to go eat?”

“Yea,” he drawled, dragging out the a. I quirked an eyebrow, waiting patiently for him to continue.
“Are you hungry? – sorry I took so long, I had to answer more questions than I anticipated.”

“It’s fine – I’m not starving like I’m sure you are, but I could eat something. You can choose, I’m not terribly picky.”

Jonathan’s eyes skimmed across my face before he gave a slight nod. “There’s this really great steakhouse that stays open pretty late not too far from here…”

“Sounds good,” I grinned. “I love steak.”

His molten brown eyes lit up, “Thank God. My girlfriend decided not too long ago to go vegan and refuses to go near a steakhouse. She’d kill me if she knew I did.”

“Oh?” I inquired and gave him a sly smile and wink. “Your secret is safe with me, Jonny.”

Jonathans lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile and he slowly nodded.

“Do you wanna ride with me over? I can bring you back here later.”

I debated it for a moment, but quickly declined – instead insisting it’d be easier for me to just follow him since I would be heading to the bar after.

Dinner with Jonathan wasn’t bad. He was calm, cool, and collected – every bit of how he usually came off. I always had assumed it was a front, but I was beginning to think as our night drug on that was just his personality. He was always in control on the ice and nothing changed off ice – even with our conversation. There were times that I thought I was steering the conversation, but I soon realized he was completely in absolute control the entire time.

Just as both of our plates were cleared, Jonathan’s cell began ringing. With an apologetic glance, he answered it.

“What?” he asked quickly, then rolled his eyes immediately as the other person began speaking. I had to stifle a giggle as I watched Jonathan mock whoever was on the other line. Of course, the waiter chose to bring the check now. I moved to pull out my wallet from my white purse, but the steely look Jonathan gave me froze all movement. He quickly handed over a shiny card, giving me an ‘I-don’t-think-so’ look as he continued on with the conversation. “Yeah… yeah, just ate… Bicks, I’m not sure if sh – yeah,… yeah, fine, whatever. I’ll see you later.”

“I could have paid,” I grumbled, and Jonathan barked a soft laugh.

“I don’t think so, Devin. I invited you, I picked this place – don’t deny me the pleasure of paying for your meal, now.”

I was speechless under his smoldering gaze, unable to tear my eyes away from his. Jonathan leaned back into his chair as he continued to stare intently; each second his blazing gaze lingered, the darker the blush on my cream-colored cheeks. A slow smile drug across his lips, almost as if he were privy to some kind of private joke. In most any circumstance, that would irritate me – but not with Jonathan. The smile was very becoming of him, and a smiling Jonathan Toews was the epitome of beautiful.

“That was Bickell. He wanted us to join the guys at the club,” he murmured softly, not once breaking eye-contact. “What do you say?”

“Uh – I was going to meet Nik and Patrick there anyways,” I replied, grabbing my glass of white wine and taking a sip of the liquid courage.

Jonathan nodded, grabbing his card from the table where a waiter had placed it. Holy cow, I completely missed that. Jonathan stood then and held out his hand, “let’s get going, then.”

I eyed his hand skeptically, but shrugged indifferently after a moment and placed mine in his. Jonathan effortlessly pulled me up and began leading us out, keeping my hand firmly grasped in his own. When he avoided the revolving doors, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was so he didn’t have to let go of my hand.

I knew how ridiculous the thought was, but I allowed myself to entertain it for a fleeting moment. I followed quietly behind Jonathan, but began to pull away when he led me over to his sleek Mercedes.

“Jon – “

“Just ride with me, Dev. It’ll be easier. I’m not going to kidnap you or whatever you’re afraid of,” he teased, and I rolled my eyes, playfully delivering a smack to his bicep, but complied.



We stayed at the bar for a couple drinks, but no longer. We both were beginning to get rather tired and the loudness would only cause a headache. Our drive back across town to the restraint was mostly silent, both of us beginning to be consumed by exhaustion.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight, Devin,” he said softly, peaking over at me as he slowed his car to a stop beside mine. “I didn’t really think you would come, to be honest.”

I allowed a small smile, “of course I would come; it was nice talking to you without there being at least five or so professional children yelling and screaming in our ears.”

“It most certainly was,” he grinned, and a moment of silence lapsed between us before he cleared his throat and glanced around the empty lot. “I suppose I’d better let you get home, now. I’ve kept you out late enough.”

“Goodnight, Jonathan. Thank you for tonight,” I said, and he gave me another soft smile as I exited the vehicle. When I popped open the door to my Charger, Jonathan took off in a circle in front of me so that he could exit the way we came in.

I dropped my purse into the passenger seat and snuggled back into the leather, inhaling deeply, and inserted my key into the ignition. When my eyes flickered open, I was shocked to see Jonathan sitting beside me again – only this time, his car facing opposite mine so that our driver sides were adjacent. His window was rolled down, a sly smirk on his face, and I quickly pressed the button so mine slid slowly down as well.

“Before I leave, Miss Cox, I just wanted to say you looked lovely tonight… “

“Well I knew you would be in your post-game suit, so I figured I would dress to your standards, Mr. Toews,” I retorted playfully. Jonathan’s head cocked to the side again and shook his head briefly.

“Regardless, you looked beautiful tonight. Thank you, again, for coming and drive safely, Dev.”

With those words and a wink, Jonathan sped off before I could reply– leaving me to sit in stunned silence for a moment.

Beautiful? Jonathan thought I was beautiful…?