by Alley Ciz
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve been getting a bunch of calls and texts from unknown numbers lately. My number must be on some list or something.”
She knew that could be the case for the phone calls but it didn’t explain the texts, they were too personal. She couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone about those yet. She spent too much time having people hover around her after the incident with Tommy, she wasn’t looking to repeat it anytime soon.
Jake gave her a funny look as she described the phone calls but she brushed it off.
She watched Jake say his goodbyes to their siblings. He gave Sean a pound and Carlee and Skye a kiss on the cheek to say goodbye. When it came time to say goodbye to her, he hesitated before doing the same.
She sucked in a startled breath when his lips came in contact with her cheek. His kiss was extremely close to the edge of her lips and flashes of the night before passed through her mind.
She caught his knowing smirk as he pulled away. He knew exactly how he affected her. Bastard.
She told herself not to look at his ass as he walked away but failed miserably.
After Jordan returned home from teaching swim lessons, she decided to treat herself to a nice bubble bath in her Jacuzzi tub. She set up calming, scented candles around the bathroom and filled the tub with bubbles. Before she eased into the warm water, she placed her phone and book on the tub’s ledge.
Once she was settled into her version of porcelain heaven, she rested her head against the folded towel she placed on the edge like a pillow. She let the warm water sooth her aching muscles and hoped her mind would follow but as she settled into her bath images of the night before invaded her thoughts.
She needed to escape. The whole night she spent carefully avoiding alone time with Jake but now that she had a moment to relax the night was starting to take its toll. As she lay there next to Maddey, sleep eluded her.
The temptation Jake presented was becoming too great. Sure she promised her brothers she wouldn’t date another member of the team after what happened with Tommy, but would they really hold her to it?
She shook her head to rid herself of the thought. She got herself into this mess, she could deal with the consequences. Having enough of Ryan’s snoring she got up and went outside for some fresh air. As she sat down on the edge of the pool, she placed her legs in the water and leaned back on her hands to look up at the night sky. Her peaceful haven didn’t last long, after a few moments she was joined by Jake.
It was becoming more difficult to deny the chemistry between them every time they saw each other. She was trying her hardest to keep her promise to her brothers but it seemed no matter how hard she tried to keep him at an arm’s distance Jake was that much more determined to get close.
After one last attempt to keep her distance, Jake stopped her from leaving and confessed his feelings and his intentions. She was rendered speechless by his confession and when he kissed her the rest of her resolve melted away.
Jake’s kiss was perfect. Not too hard or demanding, but enough pressure to show his alpha side. The tingles of pleasure she felt from it had her head ringing even a day later.
But the ringing kept going.
It was after a few seconds that she realized the ringing wasn’t in her head but her phone. Wiping her hand on a towel she reached over to answer the phone.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Jordan, it’s Tyler, Maddey’s brother.”
“Hi Tyler. I was expecting your call.”
“Okay, good, you got my message. I didn’t think you would answer before because Maddey mentioned you don’t answer your phone when you don’t know the number.”
She settled back against the tub to make herself more comfortable. “No worries. So what’s up? It’s not every day I get a call from one of the famous McClain brothers.”
Tyler’s deep laugh reverberated through the phone. “Well I don’t know about famous.”
She laughed at Tyler’s good humor. As the middle of the three McClain boys, he was the one Maddey was closest with. “So what’s up?”
“It’s Maddey.”
She shot up in the tub, sloshing water over the edge. “What happened?”
Tyler could hear the anxiety in her voice and blew out a breath. “Nothing’s wrong, why would you think that?”
She let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Well let’s see… the older brother of my best friend, who’s in the Navy and is barely around by the way, calls me out of the blue to talk about her… forgive me for thinking the worst,” she said sarcastically.
Tyler laughed hard at the comment and it took a moment before he composed himself enough to respond. “Wow you really are a lot like my sister.”
She couldn’t help but laugh in return as she settled back into the tub. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you should. But anyway… the reason I’m calling is to talk about Maddey’s birthday next month.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“So Justin, Connor, and I all arranged to take leave to be home for her birthday and we want to surprise her.”
She played with the bubbles floating around the tub. “So I’m guessing you need my help?”
“Yes.”
“Okay what do you need me to do?”
“I’ll be stateside next Thursday and I was wondering if you were available to help me make the plans and everything and possibly get Skye to get Maddey out of the house.”
She smiled. “On Thursdays I only teach one swim lesson in the morning so I’ll be free after noon. Does that work?”
“Yeah that sounds perfect.”
By the time the two of them finished hammering out the rest of the details, her bath had gone cold. She climbed out and wrapped herself with a fuzzy towel. After being up late the night before she decided to make it an early night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jake watched his Yoshi get hit with a shell as Maddey cheered in delight next to him. She’d been spending a lot of time at the house the past week much to Ryan’s pleasure. The bonus for him was Jordan would also come around.
“Sorry Jake, but you’re in my way,” Maddey taunted while her Princess Peach passed him on the screen.
“Ry you may need to reconsider having her around,” Jake said.
“Yeah she totally cheats.” Tucker complained as Maddey’s driver hit his out of the way.
“I do not cheat. You guys just don’t like losing to a girl.” She bumped Tucker with her shoulder.
“I swear these girls are taking over the house.” Nick said, handing out beers.
The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard in the room before a familiar female’s voice followed. “Nobody better be naked. I don’t need to see all that.” Jordan said as she walked into the house.
“See what I mean. Coming in here like they own the damn place,” Nick pointed out.
“Shut it Nick.” Jordan said as she took his beer.
Jake patted the armrest of his chair motioning for her to sit before returning his attention back to the TV, he had a princess to catch after all.
“Let me guess. Maddey’s kicking your ass?” Jordan asked as she laid against the top of the chair, the position had their bodies touching a little. Since the night of the party the week before things had shifted between them. Unfortunately there were no repeat performances of their kiss.
“Oh yeah. No one’s even come close to beating her,” he confirmed.
“I guess she didn’t tell you that back when we lived in the dorms freshman year, we had Mario Kart night every Wednesday.” Jordan said with a laugh.
“Nope she neglected to mention that.” Jase said as his Bowser spun out on a banana peel.
A few minutes later the race ended with Maddey once again the winner. The guys passed off their controllers to the next challengers. With his attention now free he was able to focus it on Jordan.
“Where’s Skye? She’s usually with you,” he pointed out.
“She s
hould be here soon. We’ve been trying to find a yoga studio around here but haven’t had much luck.”
“You know where you guys should go?” Jase said from his spot on the floor.
“Where?”
“The Steele Maker. It’s a gym in town. I know they offer a bunch of different yoga classes there.”
“Is that Rocky’s dad’s gym?” Jake asked thinking of the pretty physical trainer major that sometimes worked with the team.
“Yeah,” Jase said.
“I thought her dad trained fighters?” Tucker asked.
“He does but he owns a full size gym. They have the usual gym equipment and a room they offer classes in.” Jase turned back to face his sister. “If you want, I’ll go with you guys to take a class. I can even introduce you guys to Rocky, she’s pretty cool.”
“That sound great. Are you free tomorrow?” Jordan asked.
“Sure I can make that work. Let me text Rocky and see what the class schedule is like.”
Jordan pushed Jake by the shoulder. “You should come too.”
“For yoga?” He asked, confused.
“Yeah.”
“You want Jake to get all bendy, Blondie?” Tucker said around his beer.
“Why not? Jase does it. Plus it’s good for his butterfly style playing. Gotta keep up the flexibility for those straddle split saves.”
Jake knew she had a point. Anything that aided in his training he would try. Plus it was another way to spend more time with her so there was no way he would say no.
“The pro scouts love that sort of stuff too. Anytime they hear of unorthodox training they take notice,” Ryan added.
Jake nodded. Ryan constantly used the attention he garnered from the pros to help those with potential on the team who dreamed of going pro. It was something else that could be affected by dating Jordan. Besides the possibility of ruining his friendship with the Donnelly brothers, he feared his chances of playing professionally could be at stake.
In the end she was worth any fallout to his potential hockey career.
“Sure, I’ll come. Tucker you’re coming too,” he announced.
“Bro,” Tucker complained.
“Come on BB3. It’ll be fun.”
“Ok, fine. But you owe me Blondie.” Jake loved how much of a push over his best friend was when it came to Jordan. It was another tool he had in his arsenal in convincing her to take a chance on them being together.
JORDAN PARKED HER car across the street from the hockey house, not at all surprised to see Maddey’s car parked nearby. Her friend had been spending quite a bit of time at the house since Ryan asked her on their first date.
She also caught sight of Jake’s Jeep and couldn’t stop the bloom of happiness it caused her to feel. Ever since Jake made his intentions known the week before, he was constantly around. It was like the universe was pushing them together.
She deserved a medal for not giving into her urges where he was concerned. Everyday she cursed her brothers for making her promise not to date another teammate.
She did however take every opportunity available to be close to him. She was only human after all.
Luckily she’d always been friendly with the guys so it wasn’t suspicious when she sat close to him or had casual touches.
He was quickly becoming one of her closest friends on the team. Surprisingly enough, so was Tucker, even if he was a man-whore. Proving it once again by how he started hitting on Skye the moment she arrived.
“Seriously. Can anyone beat her?” Billy complained as Maddey won yet another race.
“What can I say? I have skills.” Maddey charmed him with a smile.
From somewhere in the room a phone went off. Wade grabbed it and held it up for the room. “Whose phone is this?”
Jordan was closest and recognized the cartoon frogs on the case as Maddey’s.
“Hey, Madz, looks like you’re getting a Skype call,” she said to her friend.
Maddey jumped up from the couch to reach for the phone. “Oh my god it must be one of my brothers.”
Maddey sat down next to Jordan as she answered the call. When the call connected Maddey’s brother Connor filled the screen.
“Connor!”
“Hey, sis.”
“How are you? Are you okay? Where are you calling from?” Maddey’s rapid fire questioning made Jordan laugh.
“Are you with Jordan? I thought she and Skye moved out?”
Maddey adjusted the phone so the two of them filled the screen. Jordan waved when Connor turned his pale green eyes on her. They were nice but didn’t compare to the emerald ones Jake had. “Hey, Con.”
“Hey, Jor.”
“So what’s up bro? Didn’t realize you missed me so much.” Maddey joked with her brother.
“Can’t a brother call his sister?”
“Is that Tink?” They could hear a voice call in the background.
“What’s Dex doing there?” Maddey asked, sounding concerned.
They watched Dex move his way into the picture to wave.
“Seriously Con, is something wrong? Did someone get hurt? Is it Ty? Is that why Dex is with you? Your teams usually don’t get stationed together.” Maddey’s voice started to take on a panic quality. Jordan reached out a hand to calm her down.
“Nothing’s wrong Tink. Ty’s with our LPO,” Dex said.
“Yeah he’s gonna be pissed when he finds out he missed a call with you,” Connor added.
“Who needs a beer?” Billy called out to the group.
A chorus of mostly male voices sounded through the living room.
“Madison Belle where the hell are you?” Connor demanded after hearing the guys.
“Don’t you Madison Belle me, Connor Matthew.”
Jordan laughed at the badass look on her friend’s face. The two of them had bonded over the ridiculousness of their older brothers’ protectiveness.
“Ooo she told you McClain.” Dex clapped Connor on the back as he laughed.
“Anyway… Not that it’s any of your business, I’m at the hockey house with Ryan.”
“Ryan? Is he the guy Mom told us you were dating?” Connor asked.
“Ahh… so that’s the real reason you called. To check up on me.” Maddey looked to Jordan, the two sharing a knowing look.
“What, it’s our duty to make sure he’s not a total asshat.”
“I’m pretty sure Babs and Jack are my parents, not you idiots.” Maddey’s comment earned a laugh from their listening audience.
“Don’t worry he’s not an asshat,” Jordan informed them.
“You know I can hear you right?” Ryan said from his seat on the couch.
The girls ignored him.
“And how would you know?” Connor directed his question to Jordan.
“Because he’s my brother. And as much as he annoys me, he’s a good guy.”
“Not really feeling the love JD,” Ryan grumbled.
“Quiet you,” she said to him.
“I can’t believe you wasted a phone call to check up on my dating life,” Maddey complained.
“You know you love us,” Connor stated. “Now come on, we want to meet this guy.”
Jordan caught the worried look on her older brother’s face. It was about time he got a taste of his own medicine. Maybe dealing with Maddey’s overprotective brothers would make him ease up on how he treated her.
“Okay, but be nice. If not, I’ll shoot you myself,” Maddey warned.
“You know how to shoot?” Nick asked.
“Of course, I come from a family of SEALs.”
Maddey’s tiny stature and gorgeous appearance were deceiving. Underneath she was tough as nails.
“Wait is your dad’s name really Jack McClain?” Jake asked.
“Yup,” Maddey said with a smile. Her dad’s name was one of the biggest jokes in their group.
“So your dad’s legal name is John McClain?” Jase asked.
“Yeah so don’t get any funny ideas with my
sister. He’s a lot like the other John McClane,” they could hear come from phone.
With Maddey now back in her seat next to Ryan, Jordan leaned back to her original position on the chair, bringing her body back in contact with Jake’s.
“I take it you know Maddey’s brothers pretty well?” Jake asked.
She watched as Ryan and Maddey talked to Conner and Dex. Her usually calm and confident brother looked a little green around the gills and she couldn’t suppress her laughter.
“Yeah, I guess. I’ve only met them a few times between deployments. They all Skype pretty regularly with her, so living with her, Skye and I have been around for most of their calls and have gotten to know them more that way.”
“I take it they’re close?” Jake’s hand reached out and started tracing circles on her knee.
She stiffened at his touch, but relaxed after a quick survey of the room showed everyone else occupied with either the video game or harassing Ryan while he got grilled.
“Yeah. One of the first things we bonded over was how much we love and hate our overprotective brothers,” she said with a smile.
“You know,” Jake continued to trace the bumps of her knee cap as he spoke. “If Ryan can convince a bunch of Navy SEALs to approve of him as boyfriend material, how hard can it be to do the same with a bunch of hockey players?”
He shot her one of his smiles that revealed the dimples she loved so much. She wasn’t surprised at all that he was pushing the envelope about them, even in the presence of their friends. He was as fearless in his pursuit as he was between the pipes. Just another thing to add to his attractiveness. Damn him.
She really hoped Ryan’s relationship with Maddey would make him okay with her breaking her promise. Because her resolve to stay away from Jake was paper thin.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Shortly after returning home from teaching swim lessons, Jordan was showered and changed to go out and help Tyler plan Maddey’s birthday celebration. She sat at the kitchen table with her mother telling her about her plans for the day when the doorbell rang.
Before anyone else could get up to answer it, Sean was out of his seat and running to answer the door himself. A few moments later he returned with Tyler in tow.