Sitting so close to the bench I'd gotten a chance to see what the players actually looked like, well as much as I could see with their helmets on. I have to say they weren't an entirely bad looking bunch. I knew probably more than half had to be missing teeth, but I also knew a few rugby players with that problem. It was just one of the 'perks' of contact sport. Hell, when I was a kid and used to play netball, which is officially a non-contact sport, I copped quite a few elbows to the mouth resulting in loose teeth.

After the crowd had cleared a little Lucy suggested we head down to meet Max. I let her lead the way, still conversing about the game while stifling a few yawns as we walked. A few turns, a set of stairs and some security checks later we made it to a lounge filled with people.

I was politely introduced to a group of girls all wearing large Penguins jerseys, player's girlfriends and wives, while we waited. It was only then that I clicked to Max being the Maxime Talbot playing in the #25 jersey that matched the one Lucy was wearing. Yea, I felt a bit thick for it taking so long, but I had been awake for the last god knows how many hours.

While the group of women talked and caught up, I settled into the background, trying to work out just how long exactly I had been awake. 8:00am Friday morning, New Zealand time, translated to 2:00pm Thursday in Pittsburgh. It was currently around 10pm, so that meant roughly thirty-two hours. Over half of which had been spent in uncomfortable airline or airport seating. No wonder I always found it so hard to sleep while travelling. I think my personal record for sleeping on a plane was around four hours, coming on a twelve and a half hour journey from Hong Kong to Rome.

A hand waving in front of my face brought me back to the real world. I could feel the colour tinting my cheeks as Lucy smirked at my zoning, "I know the jet lag is catching up, but we can go in now." She motioned to an open door across the room, a few of the other women we'd been with already moving through it.

Our trek took us to the far side of the locker room, a dark haired man with a cheeky grin scooping Lucy into a crunching hug as soon as he spotted her. While they greeted each other with a kiss I glanced at my surroundings, seeing players in various states of undress celebrating their win with the mass amounts of people who crowded around them. A few still had media surrounding them, but for the most part it was family and friends.

"Max, your plan to turn Rayne here into a Pens fan has hit a bit of a snag," Lucy giggled as she remembered me standing behind her.

An eyebrow quirked as he looked me over, "Oh? I see you followed my orders and forced her into a jersey. Even if it is Gronk's. Where's the problem?"

I shrugged at the apparent insult towards Staal while taking in the strong accent he spoke with. "I was already a Penguins fan, have been for quite a while, even if I haven't seen a game in years." That statement left Max visibly shocked, though a smile quickly shone through. "As for Gronk," I slightly questioned the nickname, "Your girlfriend assured me he needed some more love. I don't really see why though, he's a pretty good player."

That was all it took for Max to start yelling across the room. "Hey Staal! You actually have a fan!"

It was clear he was just having a go, but the blonde he was apparently addressing still looked at him as if this were a shock. "What? Me? Did the hockey gods finally listen?"

Most of the people who had stopped to witness the exchange turned back to their previous conversations as the blonde came over to us. "Hi, I'm Jordan," he greeted as I could still feel a set of eyes on my back. "Can I hug you? Being my first fan and all..." Tilting his head to the side a little with a gorgeous grin breaking out he was hard to say no to.