She watched as the man she met earlier took some warm up laps while the crowd cheered him on. His uniform definitely made him seem taller and more muscular. The skates and padding probably helped quite a bit. Charlotte couldn't help but cheer as he came by and thought for a moment that he may have seen her and smiled. She wasn't going to dwell on it though. She also wasn't going to dwell on the way he stared intently and clenched his jaw as the puck was dropped to start the game. Charming, handsome hockey players have been nothing but trouble for her.
As the cheers died down, Aiden began to eye the empty seat next to her. "So who are you going to bring with you to the games?"
Jack had given her the pair of seats, but she wasn't sure what she would do with the tickets for that extra seat yet.
"Actually, I don't have any friends here so far so I don't know," she explained. "How about we make a deal? If I don't have a guest for a game, you can sit in my extra seat."
"Awesome!" Aiden said as he pushed away from his mom and into the extra seat next to his new neighbor.
She would have to thank Jack later for giving her some cool people to sit with during the season.
Charlotte turned back to the ice just in time to see Jordan score the first goal of the game. Suddenly, the noise in the arena was deafening and energizing. Jordan skated by the glass in front of them with a fist of triumph in the air, flashing his killer smile and amazing blue eyes. She couldn't help but jump to her feet, cheering along with the rest of the crowd and high fiving a few of the people sitting in front of them.
The crowd began to calm down and return to their seats as the ref lined up to drop the puck for the next face-off while Aiden stared ahead. "Jordan King is so cool," he said in awe.
She had to agree. "He does seem pretty amazing. How long have you been a fan of Jordan's?"
Aiden shrugged. "As long as I can remember, and I'm six years old so it's a long time."
Charlotte became more relaxed as the game went on. She was always so nervous in a setting like this since she could tell when people would treat her differently. There were times when she just wanted to be looked at like a normal person who wasn't recognized by everyone in the arena. But the Wards put her at ease, giving her suggestions for some good places to visit in the area and even asking her out to dinner.
"We have to give you the real Detroit tour," Adam explained between the second and third periods. "We'll show you some of the landmarks around here and then end with chili dogs at American Coney Island."
"Lafayette Coney Island," Rachel replied.
"American."
"What's the difference?" Charlotte asked.
Rachel rolled her eyes as Adam explained, "American is the better Coney Island."
"I don't think so, dear."
"So they're both in the city?" Charlotte asked.
"Oh yeah," Adam said. "Right next door to each other."
"Next door?" she said skeptically.
"It's a Detroit thing."
Charlotte laughed at Adam's succinct explanation. "Well, if you ever make it to New York, I'll be more than happy to return the favor and explain the difference between Famous Ray's Pizza and Ray's Original Pizza."
"Oh, that's a deal," he replied.
She was going to like sitting here this season.
As the last seconds ticked off the clock, Jordan could feel the crowd getting anxious. The Pirates still had the lead, but Jordan's goal was the only one on the board for either team. Luckily, Detroit's goalie made a miraculous save right at the end to get the win, but it was still a little too close. He would have to talk to the team about that the next time they had a captain's meeting.
He headed down the tunnel, happy with his performance at least. He had been trying to get a long scoring streak going this season, but he would always get thrown off only a few games into them. Something felt different tonight. He wanted to say it was something about the ice or the way the team worked together or the cheering from the fans. He wanted to say the team at least showed some grit, making sure they didn't squander the one goal he had picked up.
But as he pulled off his sweaty jersey and sat down in front of his locker, his body tired from the beating it took that night, he knew it wasn't any of those things. Charlotte was exactly where he expected to find her among the sea of people over by the penalty box. Three rows up and a little off to the left, her long blonde hair standing out against the black jerseys in the crowd.
"You OK there, captain?" Alex asked him.
Jordan turned to see a goofy grin on the Russian defenseman's face. "Yeah, why?"
"You seem a little distracted. I hope that Stone girl didn't get to your head."
