Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ten - The Mall

The mall was a zoo. It seemed no one in Thunder Bay liked their Christmas gifts and everyone wanted to trade them in. We decided to divide and conquer - Marc and Jared went one way, Jordan and I the other, toward J. Crew. Jordan did a lap, piling one arm with everything he liked. The attendant showed him to a room and I took a stool outside. As soon as the shopgirl left, he opened the door a crack.

“Wanna come in?”

MotherofGodYES, I thought. There was no one to see us. But I just waved the door closed. Two seconds later he opened it again: shirtless. “How about now?”

“Oh my God,” I threw my head back in frustration. “Close it!”

Ten more seconds and the door opened again. All 6’4” inches of Jordan in nothing but navy blue boxer briefs. I swear he even rolled down the waistband to fully expose those hard indents just inside his hips that pointed down, sending my eyes racing toward what I couldn’t have missed even if I were blind. He leaned forward, doing a push-up off the door frame. “How about now?”

“Jordan.” It was meant to be exasperated, to admonish him. But it came out in a whisper and sounded like a prayer. His blond hair was disheveled and the cleft in his chin deepened with his smile. He shook his head at the look on my face then closed the door on his own. I continued to stare blankly, stunned.

After that he only showed me clothes - jeans and sweaters, collared shirts and a few button-downs. He looked impossibly good in everything, with the single exception of what he looked like in nothing. The image was burned in my mind like I’d been staring at the sun. Two shirts came flying over the door and landed on my head.

“I’ll get those,” he said. I left them right where they’d landed and finally, finally closed my eyes.

We hit a few more stores. Jordan told me I should pick out some stuff, try on whatever I liked. I declined not out of pride but because I was having more fun watching him. While he went to a shoe store, I went to Bath & Body Works. I smelled everything in the store trying to guess what Jordan would like. Finally, I settled on three different lotions and checked out.

Jordan was on a bench next to a directory sign, elbows on his knees watching the people. I watched him, the mountain of a man in a green shirt and sneakers. A little boy nearby reached for a bag in his mother’s hand, only to topple backwards and land on his little butt. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, if it was worth crying over. His eyes settled of Jordan, who gave him a huge, dazzling grin. The little boy instantly smiled back - crisis averted. I was right in front of him by the time he looked up.

He tried to open my bag. “What did you get?”

“My prize for winning the challenge.”

As he stood, Jordan reached around the back of my neck and titled my face up. It was possessive - but sexy. I wanted him to possess me. This dragging it out was making the tension delicious and we were still teasing each other, but it was happening. The only question is how long we would last.

“Does that mean it’s over?” he asked, lips only a breath from mine.

I gave him a short, sweet kiss on the lips - even the momentary contact threatened to swamp me and sink this ship. He moved in for another and I swatted him on the butt with my bag.

“We could skip the movie,” he suggested.

“Imagine if you tasted like popcorn,” I teased. He let me go with a reluctant sigh, but slid his long, thick fingers into mine and squeezed my hand.

Jared was holding four seats for us in Harry Potter 7. I had a fangirl freakout in the lobby - I hadn’t been able to see the movie because of working so much, but I was a huge Harry Potter fan. The guys laughed at my little squee-fest. I sat farthest to the inside, lifted the armrest and I snuggled right into Jordan. As the previews ended and the lights went down, he leaned down and spoke softly.

“You have no idea how much you’re torturing me.”

Without turning I whispered back, “Trust me. I do.”
____

The movie was perfect - action for the boys, total Ron & Hermione love story for me. I must have been sighing out loud because I could feel Jordan laughing silently beneath me. He kept one arm around my shoulders and one hand in mine the enter two-plus hours. I felt like a teenager on a date, though I had never dated someone like Jordan. He was superhuman and I was completely ordinary, just like in the movie. Even Harry Potter was barely enough distraction to keep my mind from wandering to the wide, solid body that angled under mine across the two seats we’d combined. There may have been another sigh because Jordan rolled his chin down and kissed the top of my head.

“That was awesome,” Marc said. Jared and I discussed some of the finer details because he’d read the books. We did another lap around the mall, me and three huge guys. They all wanted new 3-D TVs, so we tested the display models and tried some video games. I made them stop at the pet store and admit they thought puppies were adorable. One little bulldog puppy with a squashed face and a chubby butt kept barking at Jordan.

“She thinks you’re cute!” I bumped his hip.

“She has good taste,” he smiled. The dog promptly pooped. We had to run away we were laughing so loud.
____

We got back to the house well after lunch, intentionally skipping it. Linda was making a roast for dinner before we all had to head out tomorrow morning. I helped where she would let me, then flopped out on the couch to watch the boys play video games. They were competitive but not crazy, more interested in wrestling with each other than winning. I was sad to think of leaving - it was so comfortable here, so happy and everyone had made me feel very welcome. I loved my parents, but something about a house full of people at the holidays seemed so perfect.

Linda asked us for laundry so she could wash everything together before we had to pack. I added my clothes to Jordan’s in a plastic basket and he carried them away. I went into his room and lay across the bed. His heavy footsteps came back, went into my room first then found me. Jordan closed the door before coming to kneel over me. Even on all fours he was a mile up.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Not wanting to go back,” I admitted.

“Aside from hockey, I don’t want to go back either,” he said, settling himself on top of me. I groaned under his 220 pounds but in truth it was wonderful. I felt like a grilled cheese sandwich: warm all over and melting in the middle. Huge arms crossed under my shoulders and lifted me close. His cheek was smooth as he pressed his lips to my neck. One knee slid between mine, connecting our bodies in a whole new way. I couldn’t breathe and it had nothing to do with his weight.

“Jordan,” I whispered. This was very quickly getting hot and heavy. He inhaled deeply from my skin.

“You smell really good.” He brought his mouth to my ear. “Better than breakfast.”

I turned his face to mine. “And you look better than a pile of presents.”

“If I kissed you now, what would you do?” he asked playfully. He knew damned well he could do whatever he wanted.

“Probably faint,” I smiled.

“If you fainted, would you still feel this?” He moved his body, rolling me into the mattress and making sure I felt everything.

“Yeah,” I meant to say, but it was a whisper.

“And this?” His mouth found that soft spot just beneath my ear, then he nipped the lobe gently between his teeth.

“Definitely.” If I’d been a thermometer, I’d have shattered glass and spilled.

“What about this?” He slid his palm up my stomach, flat to my flesh leaving a trail of tingles in its wake. My shirt went with it.

“Mmmhhhmmmm,” I agreed. He stopped as his heel fit under my rib cage, long fingers just brushing the underside of my breast. Any farther and we were...

“Jordan!” his dad called from downstairs. “Can you give a hand digging out the shed?”

He groaned and I giggled. For a brief, glorious second we allowed ourselves to kiss. It rumbled like thunder in the distance, promising a storm.
____

A/N: I had the most fun writing this one, but now I'm torturing myself too!

4 comments:

  1. Ack! Loved it! Love the whole story! But you're right, this is torture!

    Update sooooon, PLEASE!

    Seriously though, you're a fantastic writer. Your ability to develop a character and the plot line is amazing. Love your work!

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  2. talking about toturing yourself! your torturing your readers!!!! this is so good!!!! this has became my new favorite thing!

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  3. oh gawh!! are you sure torturing is the right word to use lol, they were so close and if Jordan offered for me to get in the dressing room with him I wouldn't be long goin in there with him I am telling you that now C: So now I am wondering what is going to happen when they go back to Pittsburgh... will they admit that they like each other more and try to have a relationship :/ But seriously the best story I have ever read and what makes it better is that it is Jordan Staal story.
    So keep it up, you are an amazing writer, can't wait for more C:
    Update soon please :P

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  4. Wow. That was...umm...yum? Haha. No, but seriously I loved it. He's so cute! More soon?

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