Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Christmas Eve 2008

I blasted my radio and flew down the roads faster then I probably should be on a snowy night in Thunder Bay. I put down the window and inhaled the freezing air, belting out lyrics, and laughing at the stupidity of it all. It was great being back in Thunder Bay, I had avoided it for almost two years, and I still couldn’t stand all the memories. I drove by the lake that was now iced over.

Flashback

“Come on you baby, jump off with me.” Jordan egged on me on. We were standing on one of the top branches of the tree overhanging the lake. We were planning on jumping off, but then I chickened out.

“But..I’m going to hit my head on a rock. And then I’m going to drown and die.” I said nervously.

He looked at me annoyed. “Do you really think I would let that happen to you?”

I shook my head and he held out his hand. “Come on babe, I won’t let go.” Jordan promised.

I looked at him doubtfully, but took his hand. “Do you promise?” Jordan pulled me forward and I nervously clung onto his waist. He pretended to throw me over into the lake.

“You jackass!” I exclaimed.

Jordan chuckled, “You are so over-reacting.” Then, without a warning, he plunged into the lake. He kept his promise, he never let go. We resurfaced, and I was still clutching onto him.

“Told you it would be fun.” Jordan said laughing. I wrapped my legs around his waist and put my arms around his neck. He instantly moved his hands to my waist.

“Well, that wouldn’t be my description of fun.” I said, sticking to my case. But by then, Jordan was on a totally different topic. He stared into my eyes and brushed a piece of hair out of my face. “God, you’re beautiful.” He stated before undoing the knot that held my bikini top up.

“Jordan!” I squealed, batting his hand away, “Eric is going to be back any moment!” I exclaimed.

Jordan smirked at me; “Well then, we better make it quick.” He said cockily before meeting me with a searing kiss.

End of Flashback

I shook my head; I promised I wouldn’t let those thoughts creep back into my mind. This was a purely happy Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be jolly. This was the perfect Christmas to be back home for. With Jordan, Eric, Marc, and Jared in the NHL, there was no way they could be home for Christmas. I pulled into the driveway of my house and saw that in the Staal’s front yard, was the four candy canes. Shit, that meant they were all home. I took a calming breath, it was fine. I just wouldn’t adventure outside the house. Mike came running from the house and screamed “MARIEY-BEE!” before pulling me in a huge hug. I hugged his large frame and inhaled his familiar scent, the scent that reminded me of child hood. Damn, it was good to be home.

Jordan’s POV

I saw Marie’s distinct car roll down her driveway, music blasting. I glared at Jared; he had assured me she wasn’t going to be coming home.

“Jord, come on, I’m sorry! This seriously must be like the first time she’s come home in two years!” Jared exclaimed.

I glared at him. “Or you could have been setting this up, I know you loved it when Marie and I were together, but it’s way over.” I did regret the horrible things I did to her, but it was over and I couldn’t take any of it back. We just all needed to move on.

Marc, just like when we were younger, egged us on. “Ohhh a set up!”

Eric easily fell into the big brother roll. “Marc, shut up. It’s a coincidence and I think we should enjoy our time together. It’s been six months since the last time we were all together, and several years since we’ve all had a Christmas together.”

Marie’s POV

I was in my old room, just laying on my bed listening to my iPod. I couldn’t go on with the festive holiday activities Mike, Charlie, and my Dad were doing downstairs. I couldn’t stand being around my dad since my mom left, but I put up with it for my brothers. That’s when my phone started ringing loudly. I picked it up to see it was from Peyton, my best friend that I would be in my senior year with.

“Hey BITCH! I here you’re in town! Come down to the river with us, we are taking a swim.” Peyton exclaimed. She didn’t even ask any questions.

I laughed. “Are you crazy? It’s thirty degrees out, we’ll get hypothermia.”

I hear her giggle also. “So we have to keep moving. Besides, what are you even doing? Just ignoring Jor-oh yeah sorry, sensitive subject.”

When she put it that way, it made me feel rather pathetic. “Fine, good point. I’ll meet you there in like twenty minutes.”

“Excellent, well I gotta go Mar. Some guy is feeling me up.” Peyton said calmly before hanging up. I laughed and threw my phone on my bed. Talking to Peyton again is one of those moments where I regret leaving Thunder Bay. But then the thought of running into Jordan reminded me right away why I had to it. I jogged downstairs to see my brothers and Dad trying to cook cookies. Half of them were thrown in the trash and the other half was dumped on the floor. “Marie, help us.” Charlie whined.

I looked at the situation. “Uh well, as much fun as that seems, I’m going out with some friends.” I explained before rushing out the door and running into my car. I drove to the river to see that was one part near the edge that wasn’t frozen over. There was a bonfire near the side, a keg, and crowds of people. This was fucking crazy. That’s exactly why I’m doing it. Many of my old classmates eagerly greeted me and gave me hugs. It was nice to know that I wasn’t just forgotten. I fought my way through the crowd to find Peyton.

“MAR!” Peyton screamed running forward and nearly tackling me. I giggled and hugged her back.

She let go and punched me on the shoulder. “I missed you so much, girlie!”

“Life has been so boring without you, Pey!” I told her earnestly.

“Let’s not talk about how depressing it is that we were separated from each other! Let’s go take a swim!” Peyton yelled before running towards the river. I raced after her and we both jumped in.

“Oh m-m-my f-f-fucki-i-ng g-g-g-o-o-d.” I hissed. I was in physical pain the water was so cold. My whole body was instantly numb, but worse. Peyton and I braved it for twelve minutes, but then we had to run out.

“L-l-look w-who’s a-all c-cool n-now.” Peyton stuttered out, trying to laugh, but it came out as shrieks instead.

“Pey, I’ll hang out with you tomorrow. But I’m about to cry I’m so cold, I’ll see you later.” I said before waddling to my car. I was attempting to run, but my muscles were so chilled that they couldn’t even function properly. I blasted the heater up in my car and started driving home. My car drifted into the other lane often and it must of looked like I was drunk. My arms were shaking so much; I couldn’t keep the car straight. I parked the car on the side of the street and started walking down the driveway. I was shaking violently and my hair was dripping icy droplets. I saw three figures in the Staal’s front yard, cleaning up some mess and one was in the front door way. The only one I could tell apart was Jared because of his ginger mess.

“MARIE!” Jared yelled before waving eagerly like a five year old seeing his mom after his first full day of pre-school.

“H-h-hi J-j-jared.” I muttered out and kept walking forward. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. That’s when I saw Mike storm outside the door. He’s definitely pissed about something. “Are you fucking CRAZY, Marie?” He shouted.

“Not here.” I muttered jerking my head over to the front yard.

“I’ll yell at you wherever I want! I heard about the whole river thing, I thought you weren’t STUPID enough to do it, but apparently I was wrong. Do you see yourself? Your lips are fucking blue and you can’t stop shaking.”

I glared at Mike. “Stop trying to be my dad!”

Mike glared right back. “Well, if you can’t be responsible for yourself, then some one needs to be responsible for you!” He yelled.

“I’m not a baby!” I yelled using the classic “little sister” line.

“Well when you act like one, you get treated like one.” Mike responded.

“Just fucking leave me alone.” I hissed before running into the house and up to my room. He completely just embarrassed me in front of the whole Staal family.

Jordan’s POV

I stood in the doorway watching Mike scream at Marie. I couldn’t get a good luck at her in the dark, but even hearing her voice sent chills through me. I definitely missed that girl. Her spunk, her attitude, her laugh, her eyes, her crazy curly hair. But I was a jackass and screwed it up. There was no changing it, or second chances. She even changed schools so that she would be assured she would never see my face again. I was in my bedroom; nothing had really changed since I was a kid. I still had the same twin bed that my feet hung off of. I was getting “dressed up” for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. Getting dressed up for us was a nice pair of jeans and a button up shirt.

Eric barged in. “You’ve been in here forever. What are you, a girl? Did I ruin your primp time?” He asked mockingly.

Tanya put a hand on Eric’s chest and laughed softly. “Leave your little brother alone, Eric.”

“At least I don’t need my wife to stand up for me.” I shot back at Eric, showing I was joking by giving Tanya a smile.

“Says the man who has no wife because no one wants to marry his loud, ugly ass.” Eric said smirking.

Marc walked by. “Aw come on Rick. I told you next time you make fun of Jord, I need to be there!” He complained.

“BOYS! Come to the table.” My mom yelled and we all rushed to insure our seats at the table. When we got there though, we saw there was extra three plates.

“Mom, I know I suck at math, but what’s up with the extra three plates?” Marc asked, making sure he wasn’t going crazy.

“We invited the Haefner’s over.” Dad answered.

“But there’s four of them.” Marc clarified.

Jared clapped. “Good job, Marcy.”

Mom looked at me for a minute before looking back at the table. “Marie’s not coming, Mr. Haefner said she made some plans with some friends.” She said softly.

“More like she doesn’t want to see Jordan.” Eric whispered. We all turned and stared at him, our relationship was never talked about. My mom loved Marie like a daughter, so she was absolutely thrilled when we started dating. When my mom found out what I did to her, she didn’t talk to me for a week. I think a part of her still might hold a grudge that I ruined “one of the best things I had going for me.” There was a knock on the door before Charlie, Mike, and Mr. Haefner walked in holding gifts.

“The party can now start, Charlie has arrived.” Charlie said loudly. I grinned; it was nice to know that some things had never changed. Eric, Marc, Jared, and I all stood up and hugged Charlie and Mike. We spent every childhood moment with them; they were part of the reason we all made it to the NHL. Every one sat down and we started handing out presents. It was loud, every one chatting cheerfully. That was until Mr. Haefner handed Mom a present. “It’s from Marie.” He said quietly.

My mom’s face lit up and we all watched her curiously. Mom ripped open the wrapping paper and exclaimed. “It’s a scrap book about her senior year so far!” And Marie was still a suck up; every one knows how much my mom loves scrapbooks. She went through the pages chuckling and making comments. “How does she get in crazy situations like that?”

It was uneventful until she got to what I assumed was a winter formal. “Look at her dress, isn’t it beautiful?” She asked showing Tanya. Tanya nodded her agreement. “It looks beautiful on her.”

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. “Who’s this boy that’s in all these pictures with her?” Mom asked. Every one in the room turned around at stared me, like they were expecting I was going to start sobbing or something.

“A jack-ass.” Charlie growled.

“Why do you say that?” Mom asked worriedly.

“She dated him about three months. She would call me and wouldn’t shut up about him. “Tristan this, Tristan that.” Then, Marie found out he cheated on her and she blew up at him, obviously. So they broke up.” Mike explained. I clenched and unclenched my fists by my side. It’s coincidental that I’m getting at a mad at a guy I don’t know for doing that to Marie, when I did so much worse to her. I leaned back in the chair, letting the first two arms in the air. Eric was between Mom and I, so if I leaned back far enough I would be able to see the picture. Marc grinned at me and I knew what he was going to do, but there was nothing I could do. He kicked the chair and I landed in a mess of arms and legs on the floor with the chair on top of me.

“Yeah, Marie really does horrible taste in guys. One bitches about her to every one and leaves her in the dust and the other cheats on her.” Jared said coolly.

Dad stood up. “Jared, apologize to Jordan, right now.” He threatened.

Mr. Haefner saw the distress. “Crap, Jordan, I left a casserole in the oven. Do you think you could go bring it over?” He asked trying to avert the situation. I nodded and walked out of the kitchen, not before hitting Jared and Marc on the back of the head.

Marie’s POV

I was starving, so I decided to go down to the kitchen and see what was in the fridge. Of course, my dad left the casserole in the oven. If I were a nice daughter, I would go take it over when it was finished. But that meant facing all of them, so I quickly decided not to. The front door open and to my shock, Jordan walked through the door humming. He suddenly stopped when he saw me in the kitchen and his jaw dropped. He obviously wasn’t expecting to see me. I had no idea what to say because all I wanted to do was cry. But there was no fucking way I was going to give him the privilege of seeing me cry. I decided to get out all of the ingredients I needed to make an awesome PBJ sandwich, trying to pretend that he wasn’t there.

After getting out the peanut butter, jelly, and bread, all the things needed for making a PBJ sandwich, things seemed to abruptly change. He had taken a few hesitant steps into the kitchen, glanced at me then headed towards the fridge. I turned my back on him, focusing intently on the sandwich at hand while he searched for something to eat. After a minute of searching through my food, I finally turned around, hands on my hips with a butter knife clenched in my fist. “Are you really going to waste all my cold air? I kinda have to pay for that.” My voice came out as a snap and it caused him to turn. He looked over, so I stuck my chin in the air defiantly. He swallowed and closed the fridge door, clenching and unclenching his fists. “What?” I demanded, looking at him with suspicious eyes. He looked at the floor, and then up at me, and within the half a second it took for his eyes to reach mine, our thoughts were synchronized. He took two giant steps over to me, and I took on towards him, and he met me with a kiss His lips spread and I welcomed their closeness greedily. His hands moved from my cheeks to my back. Mine played with the hem of his shirt before running up his chiseled stomach, over every hollow and every rivulet of his beautiful muscles. He backed me against the counter, forcing one of my hands out from the game going on under his shirt to the counter. I grimaced as it landed on the half of my sandwich covered in peanut butter. Jordan only let a smirk dimple one cheeks, before picking up my hand and kissing it once, twice, three times, before licking off all the peanut butter slowly. I never knew Jordan Staal was such a tease. Well, two can play at that game. I slipped one hand down the front of his pants before feeling his large erection. I massaged his dick very slowly, taking my time to hit every pressure point. My eyes flickered towards his, watching every emotion fly across his face. Jordan’s breathing became ragged, one hand flying out to the counter for support. He moaned before kissing me again, hand slipping under my shirt and up my stomach to my chest slowly. My shirt went up with his hand until he slipped it over my head in a flustered rush. I moaned, if it weren’t for his hands supporting me, I would have crashed to the floor long ago. I arched my back to give him better access, grinding my hips against his. Jordan lifted me onto the counter; kissing me so long it caused me to go light headed. He grabbed my jeans and quickly stripped them from me; lips traveling down my neck to my collarbone, then to gently suck the curve of my breast. I gasped, his hands moving to unclip my bra and throw it against the fridge. I barely caught it’s descent, his fist already tightening on the side of my panties. And then in one swift motion, he tore them from my hips. Jordan paused for a moment to discard his own shirt, a pool of clothes was quickly gathering on the floor for a moment. I fumbled with his belt, trying to get it undone and not losing my balance at the same time. He growled impatiently and pinned my wrists with one hand to the cabinet above us. Jordan then undid his belt and stepped out of his jeans, leaving him just in his boxers. My breathing was ragged, cut short by the intensity of the moment. His lips nearly crashed into mine, our mouths moving with each other’s. Hands explored each other’s bodies, memorizing each curve as if it was a life saving map. Jordan took my whole breast in his mouth, sucking at it greedily. This was it, we both knew it. It was now or never. He inserted two fingers into me, rubbing my clit in a figure eight motion. I could barely breathe; my whole body was clenched around his. I couldn’t move from this position if my life depended on it.

“Jordan” I groaned, unable to help myself. Calling his name spurred him on, rubbing my clit at an impossible speed. Finally, I was able to make out a coherent sentence. “I..need..you..now.” I said breathlessly. He slowly pulled his fingers out and he finally kicked his boxers off. Jordan pulled me from the counter and pinned me against the fridge. One hand was braced against the fridge, while the other was on my hips. I looked at him for a split moment before kissing him again, and at that moment he pushed into me. My gasps for air came in rhythm with his hips now pounding me against the fridge. The cool metal of the refrigerator door was a stark contrast with our sweaty bodies. My hands ran down his back, grasping him, urging him faster and harder. He grunted with effort, panting as he drove his dick in and out of me. The pure electricity of us being so close was enough for me to fall, but he never let me go. Jordan’s stamina was the last thing on my mind. The moan, my moan, “Jordan..” seemed to keep him going beyond the point of exhaustion. And soon, after the hardships of standing were over, he took me from my place and lowered me to my ground, his body followed. He was always connect to me, in me, holding me. He began pumping again, how he could keep going was beyond me. You gotta love the stamina of a hockey player. My nails dug lines down his back, and at times even breaking skin. I wrapped my legs around his waist, urging him to get even closer. Our sweaty bodies were sticking to each other, moving at the same rhythm. Up and down, up and down. Through some point, I was flipped on top of him. His lust filled eyes stared at me; while I was trying to keep up with the pace he was setting, his hips crashing into mine at an almost painful force. I ran my hands through his hair, chin titled to the ceiling as I tried to breath, still riding him. Jordan groaned and his head fell back against the linoleum. I looked down at him and fell forward, panting like a dog. My face fell against his chest; I kissed it softly, exhaustion creeping against us like a shadow. And that’s how we fell asleep on the kitchen floor.

We were both snapped into reality when the oven timer went off. I jumped off of Jordan and started finding my various clothing that was strewn all over the kitchen. Jordan did the same thing before going to the oven and taking out the casserole. He still hasn’t even looked at me.

“Jordan..please. We have to talk.” I begged grabbing onto arm. He turned around and stared at me. “Talk about what? We have nothing to talk about.”

“B-but, does this mean we are back together? Do you forgive me?” I sputtered, hoping for the best.

Jordan let out a bitter laugh. “If you weren’t good enough for me when I was eighteen and living in Thunder Bay, what gives you the idea that you would be nearly good enough for me when I have a whole city full of girls I can fuck? You really are a crazy bitch.”

I stepped back, it felt like I had gotten slapped from him. Tears formed in my eyes and I blinked rapidly, making sure that they didn’t fall. I had made myself believe that he still loved me. When we were having sex, he did seem to love me. But now I realized that he was just bored and was fulfilling his needs as a man.

“I don’t know any one would have sex with you. I just did it because I felt bad for you. And please, it’s more like you weren’t good enough for me.” I knew that it sounded stupid and my own voice sounded thick to my ears. Now, he was the one that looked hurt, so I built off of it. “If I really loved you, then I would have come with you to Pittsburgh, but you were clearly just a fling. You lived next to me, you were just a convenient bed warmer.” I told him, trying to sound convincing.

“Well, you not coming with me was the best thing you ever did for me. And you think I didn’t know it was just a fling? Baby, I was the one that started the fling. I could have ended it at any time; I could have made you do anything I wanted when I snapped my fingers. You were nothing more then my bitch. Goodbye Marie.” He said coldly before stepping out the door. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up a glass and hurled it at the door, where his head was moments before. The shattering glass was a perfect representation of my heart.