Without asking, he reached over to play the next one.
"Hi, it's Charlotte again. I'm calling because I need to know what I can do to make this right with us."
Jordan couldn't help the smile that began to tease his lips, getting bigger and bigger with each word from Charlotte's message. Her voice was determined and hopeful this time. She wanted to make it right and she wanted to be with him.
"I haven't given up on us yet."
She hadn't given up on him. She wasn't holding his bruised ego against him. And to be honest, he hadn't given up on her either. He had never really given up on her. He just didn't know how to approach her and change this. But he quietly was thanking whatever it was that made her finally decide to reach out to him.
"So what are you going to do now?" He looked up to see Ethan sitting across from him, his face warm and comforting. "Seriously, Jordan. What are you going to do?"
He just shook his head and smiled. "I'll come up with something."
Chapter 12
Charlotte had thought about wearing her Jordan King jersey to the game that night, like she always did, but then decided to go a different route. Red t-shirt with a deep V-neck, tight blue jeans and black heels. By the way fans were looking at her as she walked down the corridor in the arena, she was definitely getting noticed. She didn't always like standing out in a crowd, but surrounded by black and white jerseys, all eyes were on her, which was exactly what she wanted.
It had only been a day since she left those voicemails for Jordan, and he hadn't returned any of them. It was disappointing, sure, but it made her more determined to find a way to get his attention, and hopefully his forgiveness too. Charlotte still didn't think she should have to apologize for her relationship with Declan. It happened and there was nothing she could do about that anymore. But she should've been more honest with Jordan. She just hoped he would forgive her, especially considering she wanted to forgive him after their blow up in her apartment.
Charlotte watched as more fans turned to look at her as she went by, but she couldn't really tell what they were thinking as they stared at her. Were they mad because her ex-boyfriend had punched their captain? Were they happy she was here, assuming it meant that Jordan would be scoring again? Did they think her return meant Jordan would definitely be in the line-up tonight? To be fair, she honestly didn't know the answer to that. Jordan was apparently a game-time decision because of his injury. Coming to the game was a gamble, but it was a gamble Charlotte hoped would pay off.
Game five against Washington tonight was a potential game changer. With the Pirates ahead in the series, a win here would eliminate their rivals and move them on to the next round in the playoffs. It was a huge deal for the team, and they would have to bring out their big guns to get it done. She just hoped Jordan would see her in the stands to know she was making an effort to fix whatever happened between them and that she was there to support him on the ice as well.
"Charlotte!" Aiden yelled, running up the stairs from his seat to meet her.
"Hey!" she replied, giving him a big hug.
A few fans looked at her and then turned away, perhaps not willing to trash talk her while she held a small child. Charlotte walked down to her seat with Aiden's hand in hers, saying hello to Adam and getting a hug from Rachel.
"It's good to see you back," Rachel said quietly. "I would ask how things are going now, but I have a feeling there are many prying ears around us."
"I know, but there's not much to tell," Charlotte replied. "We'll see how this plays out tonight."
"Why do I have a feeling you're not talking about the game?"
Charlotte just gave her a knowing smile and settled in, waiting for the players to come out and warm up. The lights went down and the teams spilled out onto the ice with Charlotte keeping an eye out for Jordan. He was there, warming up without his helmet on, which she had teasingly warned him about before. "You can still get hurt in warm-ups, you know," she once told him. But tonight, she didn't mind watching his hair blowing in the breeze as he sped around the rink.
That's when he saw her. Their eyes locked for just a moment as he went past, but Charlotte knew he had noticed her and would know she was here. The red t-shirt had done its job. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he moved around the ice, and she worried a bit when she noticed a slight grimace as he twisted to get a stray puck and give it a small slap towards his goaltender. He was definitely out there, but he was playing hurt and her fingers clenched nervously knowing he wasn't at his best. He was going to be a moving target for the other team all night.
And they definitely targeted him. It started in the first period with each hit a little harder on him than his teammates, a little more directed specifically towards his rib cage, just under his padding. But Jordan battled back each time. He seemed to be in a zone that she had never seen him in before, as if he had extra motivation to leave all he could out on the ice.
About halfway through the first period, he found the perfect line on the ice, breaking through two defensemen to easily shoot the puck past the goalie and into the net. The noise was deafening from the crowd in the arena as the Pirates skated over to congratulate their captain. In the celebratory scrum, Charlotte could see Jordan looking over his players' shoulders, catching her eye and smiling at her.
"Fist bump, Charlotte!" Aiden cheered besides her.
She was more than happy to oblige.
It only took a few more minutes before Jordan scored again, but the reaction from the crowd was a bit more subdued. This time, he had been watching his shot go into the net as an opponent skated up and checked him in the back into the boards. He winced, slowly getting up off the ice as the crowd booed the Washington player who was now being escorted to the penalty box. Charlotte could tell the goon had done some damage as Jordan immediately went to the bench without celebrating his goal and headed down the hallway to the locker room. He didn't even acknowledge the crowd as he left the ice.
The second period was calm and quiet. But it was too calm and too quiet because there was no scoring and no Jordan. The lack of seeing him on the ice for twenty minutes made Charlotte nervous. She felt like her stomach was tied up in knots, a nervous energy taking over her as she tried to will him back to no avail. Being gone this long wasn't a good sign.
During the intermission, she could feel the tension in the crowd as fans began to worry. Where was King? What happened to him? One fan even came up and asked her if she knew anything. Charlotte could only shake her head and hold her hands in her lap, too afraid that her nervousness would be obvious if she wasn't physically restraining them.
The crowd quietly stared at the entrance to the locker room as the team came back on the ice for the last period. The players spilled out and still nothing. No Jordan. Nothing more than subdued cheering from the fans. Their captain was still missing from the ice.
Charlotte took a breath and put her head down. Then she heard the crowd. There was a buzz, a rumbling, a nervous energy that was starting to take hold. It felt like that moment right before the skies would open and the thunder would echo through the streets of Manhattan.
Except this was Detroit, and this was hockey.
