Removing the ring from my finger, I held it out to him in much the same fashion as when he'd first presented it to me. Raising his eyes to mine, he bit his bottom lip before slowly shaking his head. "No baby. That's yours - forever. And besides," that damn evil glint of his almost made me groan, "You never actually specified it had to be the winning goal in this series."

That bastard! "You knew what I meant!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Hey Max, Kris, TK, Luce," he called his teammates over, "We need a judges decision. Did Rayne specify that she'd only marry me if I scored the winning goal in this series? Were the Flyers ever mentioned?"

Racking my brain for the exact wording of the deal I'd so thoughtlessly made, I realised he had me cornered. It was clear our friends were having the same thoughts, sympathetic or smug smiles appearing a few seconds later.
"If you score the series winning goal I'll marry you," TK recounted, somewhat scarily, seeing as he'd been so absorbed by the TV.

"Sorry Rayne," Kris sympathised with an arm around my shoulders, "But Gronk does have a point."

Sick of everyone in the room looking over at us, just waiting for a reaction, I knew I needed to get out. "Can we...?" I asked Jordan, motioning towards the door. He slipped the ring that I was still holding back onto my finger to no protest and led me through hallways until he felt we were safe in our privacy. "Why do you keep doing this to me Jor?" I was whining a little with my frustration at constantly being put in situations like this.

It was embarrassing being put on the spot in front of everyone. I was just thankful most of the wives and girlfriends had stayed in Pittsburgh, I could only imagine what they'd be saying if they'd seen that scene. Although, maybe if they'd seen Jordan being the one so intent on marrying me they'd finally give me a break. Not that I cared either way - If they were going to be snotty bitches without even bothering to get to know me then they'd still be snotty bitches after the fact.

Reluctantly letting Jordan pull me into him I let my head rest on his slightly sweaty bare chest. "Is it really so bad that I want to marry you? As far as anyone in that room knows, I'm still joking around with this. But Ray," he pulled back a little so he could look me in the eyes, "I meant when I said that ring is yours forever. I don't want anyone but you. And as much as I'm prepared to wait for you to love me like I love you, I'm still going to take any opportunity to marry you as soon as I can."

Letting out a sigh I dropped my head back to his chest, taking a moment to process his words. Did I really want to let him get away with this? Could I see myself being happy if, by some chance, he did manage to score that important goal in the upcoming few weeks? Would I grow to love him as much as he claimed to love me?

Thinking back over the past week we've known each other, it was clear that I'd been happy whenever I was with Jordan. The times we'd been separated were still pleasant, but as we got to know each other more I began to miss his presence. I loved waking up with strong arms holding me close, even if he did like to grope me in his sleep. He'd never been inappropriate as far as trying to push his boundaries - something most twenty year old's would struggle with.

I also couldn't pretend that I'd be happier without him. Even I'd caught myself smiling just a little bigger as soon as I set my eyes on him as we entered the locker room. I was falling for him fast. But was that enough?

Sighing again, decision made, I gave his left pectoral a quick peck before looking up to Jordan, who'd been waiting patiently, rubbing small circles on my hip and back. "How do you always manage to make me let you get away with everything? Seriously Jor, if anyone else had tried this crap they'd be in pain."

All Jordan could do was laugh at that, leaning down to capture my lips in a sweet kiss. "I know I'm lucky, believe me."

x

Heading back to the lounge, I apologised to my friends for abandoning them. Not surprisingly, they didn't mind too much, and Lucy was there to make sure they didn't get themselves into too much trouble. Jordan also took that time to announce he was staying here the night with us, having gotten permission from 'Disco Dan' to do so. Lucy decided to take his place on the bus back to the Burgh so she could celebrate tonight with Max - no translation was needed there.

"Hey Kris," I called to the shy Frenchman once he'd finished getting himself dressed. "I'm guessing TK's girl will be at your place?" He confirmed my thought with a nod. "And Lucy will be at Max's, so you can have my bed for the night if you want. Just try to stay out of my underwear, ok."

His cheeks were crimson in a split second, the laughter surrounding us not really helping his situation. "Thanks, Rayne," he glared back at me playfully.

x

It was interesting watching my friends get to know Jordan while we were at dinner. He was a lot more reserved than he usually was around the guys, not so much joking around. I think he knew that their opinion held a certain amount of importance to me, but really he had nothing to worry about.

The funniest moment was when Anna asked him if he'd get jealous over knowing that I liked to share my bed with girls. Jordan's eyed had gone as wide as they possibly could, darting between the two of us for a good ten seconds as Anna and I wrapped our arms around each other and teasingly grinned at him. Brenda and Deanna were cracking up at the scene before them, knowing that each time I'd slept with one of them it had been through necessity.

"Um?" he gulped a little, looking lost.

"Aw, don't worry Jor. I sleep with Anna at her place cos she only has one bed and her couch is covered in crap. And I slept with Deanna when we were in Ocean City cos she didn't wanna share with Anna."

"Yea, Anna tends to take up the whole damn thing," Deanna defended.

The rest of our evening was spent retelling stories from past visits, along with a few from Jordan about the trouble he and his brothers got into as kids.

Making our way up to the rooms after a few hours of drinking and having fun, Anna pulled me back so we could talk. "He's a giant, but he's cute, and it's obvious as hell he's head over heels for you. I approve."

The only thing that could have meant more to me would be hearing that from my parents.

Notes

They're still together!! Yay, now BexH doesn't have to die =p

In my mind, Tanger's "Thanks Rayne" is said the same as Duper's famous "Thanks Dan" signoff in interviews with Potash =D [Do I really need to mention how much I fucking miss those???]