Chapter 10: Invictus (Megan's POV)

My full attention was on the drop-dead-gorgeous boy skating around the ice. I had a smug smile on my face that matched his; every time he skated by and looked up at me.
The girl in front of me was wearing a Staal jersey and cheered madly every time he came on the ice; it was all my will power not to tell her who had given me my tickets. Don’t be such a bitch! I had to remind myself every time these thoughts popped into the forefront of my mind. It honestly wasn’t like me to be so catty about anything - least of all a boy - but there was just something about this one…
I tore my attention away from the ice as the game ended; to make sure Harley was still there. I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the dreamy-look on her face. I looked down on the ice to see the last skater leaving; Crosby, of course…
“Hey Harley,” I said, pulling her out of her dream-world, “You calling Aubrey now?”

“What? …Oh yah!” She pulled her phone out of her bag, shaking her day-dream away, and began punching in her cousins number. “Hey, are you ready to meet up? … No but I’m sure Megan does… we’ll see you soon!” She hung up the phone and returned it to her bag, looking over at me. “They want us to meet that at the locker room I’m assuming that you-”

“Of course!” I chuckled as she shook her head, “follow me!” We headed down the hallway and through security; they knew me well enough to let me through without question.
We came around the last corner before the locker rooms to see two girls leaning against the wall, talking. As we neared one of the girls sauntered towards us, pulling Harley into a bear hug.
Harley formally introduced me to her cousin Aubrey, and her friend Taylor. Harley and Aubrey began discussing past memories and the latest instalments of their lives; leaving Taylor and I to discus the game, awkwardly. Although I normally wasn’t a huge fan of girls, they both seemed to be cool; but I had more important things on my mind than making friends. “Umm… I’m gonna run to the bathroom, I’ll be right back!” I excused myself. Taylor and Aubrey nodded, accepting my lie; Harley rolled her eyes - she knows me too well, I laughed as I took off down the hall and into the Penguins locker room; where Jordan was waiting.

“Hey! Have fun?” He asked, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. Damn he’s hot…

“Yah, you played well.” He gave me that cocky grin and shrugged his shoulders in a ‘I’m Jordan Staal, what else did you expect?’ way, before turning around to grab his shirt. “So anyways, I know we were going to hang out at my place after the game tonight but..” He looked back up at me; I could see the disappointment flash across his face. I wasn’t flattered by any means, I knew Jordan was just hoping tonight would be the night I finally gave in and let him have the sex I was dying to give him. Normally I would never wait this long but; once again, there was just something about this one. “but…” I continued on, “Harley’s cousin is in town with a friend and I think they want to hang out so… some other time.”

He shook his head and let out a sigh. “Where are you guys going?” He asked finally.

“I don’t know yet, we haven’t gotten that far.”

“Well, why don’t we all go to Diesel together…” He asked moving closer to me, until he was whispering in my ear, “that was you can please your friends… and then me.” Breath Megan, breath…

“Hmm… that sounds doable, I’ll have to double check though… might see you there.” I backed away, trying to hide my smile at the look on his face; and reiterate my will-power - no hard feat when every part of your body is screaming at you to jump his bones immediately. Sometimes you just gotta pop the bubble, I thought as I left the room; taking great care to sway my hips a little extra on the way out.

“I’ll put your name on the list than!” He called after me as the door swung shut behind me.



“Hey Meg, we were planning to go out for a bit… you still going to come with?” Harley asked me on my approach.

“Sure! Let’s go to Diesel!” I shouted, maybe a bit more enthusiastically than I should have.

“How are we going to get in there?” Taylor asked, looking back and forth between Harley and I.

“Let me deal with that…” I smiled back at her, before leaving the rink.



Fifteen minutes later we were taking our seats in the VIP area, easy peasy, I said to myself just as Harley asked; “This was Jordan’s idea wasn’t it?” I shot her a smile and she shook her head.
Harley left to get some drinks, leaving me with Aubrey and Taylor; luckily our conversation flowed easily, they were both great girls.
“Oh damn!” I called out, as I watched the approach of some hockey boys up the lounge. Aubrey and Taylor both turned around to see what I was yelling out. “Mmm mmm, Patrick Kane, yes you can…” I finished, answering their question.

“Please tell me you’re kidding!” Taylor half shouted, “Patrick Kane, ugh!” I started to laugh at myself - what can I say, I‘m a sucker for that kid.

I shrugged my shoulders, “I’d do him in a second… look at that swagger!” We fell into fits of giggles and he walked past us towards to bar.

“Maybe he needs some change, Taylor. You should go ask…” Aubrey suggested as we watched him pick through his pockets for cash. I began to laugh again as my phone started vibrating on the table.

Taylor reached out and grabbed it, making to toss it at me. “Oh…” She said after reading the ID screen. She threw it over and I looked at it; ’1 new message; J. Staal’.

I flipped the phone open; Um, why are you with those girls?

Well, that’s not what I was expecting… I thought to myself as I looked around the bar for Jordan. I couldn’t see him anywhere, so I turned back to Taylor and Aubrey; they both looked uncomfortable.

“So… you’re who he was calling on Friday night…” Taylor stated looking between Aubrey and I.

“Sorry?” I asked, not sure of what she meant. Aubrey sighed and shook her head; causing me to think about what had just happened. Jordan didn’t like the idea of me with there girls; Taylor knew he’d phoned me around 1am on Friday night… oh snap.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all. “Oh man… you’re sleeping with Jordan Staal?” I asked her, unable to do anything but shake my head and laugh.

“Yah… I’m guessing you are too?” I shook my head, allowing Taylor to laugh a bit.

“We were… I don’t really know what you would call it. Heading in that direction I guess.”

“Well… I don’t think he likes the idea of us talking to each other.” Taylor nodded over to the bar, where Jordan was standing; looking terrified.

“So wait…” I had to ask. “You’re from Chicago right?” She nodded. “When did he know you were coming down?”

“I told him I’d come down like… a week ago.”

“Son of a bitch! He was gonna try to sleep with us in the same day…” Mad? No… not really, especially not at the girl on the couch next to me, after all… it‘s not like I had stopped fooling around. I glanced over to where Jordan was again.

“Are you in love with him?” Taylor asked, leaning in to hear my answer. I shook my head no, not trusting my voice enough to answer that one. “Well, nothing against you, and nothing against him… but that’s low.” I nodded back this time. I looked over at her to see a smile crossing her face. “I have a plan…” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face, as I leaned towards her too.


Jordan Staal finally pulled himself together enough to approach our table. I looked over at Taylor and she gave me a small smile. Is it weird that I’m starting to like this girl more and more? I knew I should be pissed, ripping. Whatever I said out loud, I knew that I did have feelings for Jordan; but really, what else did I expect? I’m upset he slept with this girl… the name night I slept with his brother… that made me feel…Ugh, I don’t even know! I knew there was only one thing that would truly make me feel more in control of this situation; I glanced around the bar for a good-looking guy, as I waited for Jordan.


“Hey Jordie!” I called as he finally made his way up the stairs, “Why don’t you come sit here?” I patted the seat in between Taylor and I. He timidly obliged. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the night then?” I asked, leaning into him until my lips were brushing his ear. Taylor made the same move, leaning into Jordan and whispering in the other side. Aubrey chortled on her drink, trying not to disrupt our plan with her laughter.

“Ugh…” Jordan started straight ahead of him, I could see his mind working frantically to try and find the upper hand in this situation.

“Look babe… I was just talking to your charming friend here… and we’ve decided that you’ve probably had enough fun for one weekend. It might be better if you just… take it easy tonight.” Taylor started to laugh, taking another sip of her drink before getting up and moving off towards the bar.

“See you later Jordan…” She waved as she moved away.

“Too bad your probably tired… tonight would have been fantastic…” I sighed as I got up and followed after Taylor. I grabbed another rum and coke and looked around for Harley; she was talking to Sidney Crosby. No! She’s… flirting? Oh my god.. Harley Scott is flirting… with Sidney fucking Crosby! I shook my head and ordered another drink. Glancing over at Jordan. He was watching me with an poignant look on his face; it made me want to forget about this and just take him home with me anyway, almost.

“How are you doing sexy…” My attention turned to the guy that was now approaching me. Ugh, how do these people get in VIP? I looked back over at Jordan, he looked torn between playing it cool and coming over to stop this exchange. I looked for Taylor; she was now preoccupied with Patrick Kane, Ha!

“Umm… just thinking about getting out of here…” I replied, giving him a flirty grin, “you wanna come with me?”

“Uh… what? I mean sure!” He smiled, probably not believing his luck; he didn’t even have to buy me a drink. I grabbed his hand and headed out of the club, stopping by Harley.

“I’m heading out, I’ll take a cab. You ok here?” I asked looking from her to Crosby.

“Yah…” She looked at the guy behind me and then over to where Jordan was sitting.

“Ok cool, I’ll call you tomorrow.” I said giving her a ‘I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow’ look, before I turned and walked quickly towards the door.

Once on the street I saw two ugly faces in the line to get in; Ugh, Harley’s stupid step-sisters… I felt bad leaving now, but my emotional strength was starting to crumble. ‘Buddy’ - as I decided to call him - hailed a cab and we climbed in. I gave my address to the cab driver and jumped into Buddy’s lap before I could think about what I was doing. He’s ok… I guess, I thought as I proceeded to explore his body in the back of the cab. He wasn’t that tall; shorter than Jordan for sure, but he had cute blonde hair and he wasn’t unattractive… nothing like Jordan though…


We reached my house and stumbled through the front door of the pool house. Over the course of the drive; the alcohol I’d consumed at the bar started to kick in, bad. I could hardly stand up straight by the time I reached my bedroom.
Buddy fell down beside me, groping at my breasts through my shirt, making me feel disgusting and dirty. Well that’s a new one, I chuckled, pushing myself off the bed and faltering towards the kitchen in search of alcohol.
I grabbed a full bottle of Grey Goose and headed back to the bed; smiling to see that Buddy was almost passed out.
“Here drink this…” I said, sloshing the bottle towards him. He grabbed the bottle and took a few mouthfuls before falling backwards onto the bed. He said something that came out in a jumbled mess and I watched as he began to loose conciseness.
I set the bottle down on the floor and grabbed one of the blankets off my bed, heading towards the living room; and the awaiting couch.
I could feel my cell phone digging into my hip as I laid down, and I pulled it out; examining it. I flicked through the names until I came to stop at J. Staal.

To my surprise I felt hot tears pooling over in my eyes and I allowed them to fall in the dark. I thought about dialling the number, but decided against it.
I pressed the phone to my lips hard, kissing it, as the tears continued to fall.

“It should have been you here Jordan…” I whispered out loud into the night. “Why can‘t I just be with you?”