𝘩𝘰𝘵-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 @ Jack Hughes x OC

episode 11

             The pair continued the interview and Lana asked some simple questions about what they did to prepare for the game and how important it was to the season. He tucked his head close to her to hear her over the music and screams of the fans, which caused her face to burn and turn bright red. 

             "So, Jack," she brought the mic close to her mouth and leaned closer, "thank you for all of the pregame input tonight! We appreciate your view as always, and we are super excited to watch another game of intense hockey. Is there anything else you would like to say to the fans?" 

             She tilted the microphone to his mouth and he let out a breathy giggle before saying, "Heh well yeah, I'm gonna get you that hatty I promised," and he winked, skated away, and starting warming up his close range wristers.

              "Thanks Jack, back to you in the studio!" Her voice was light, airy, and fun. She let her professional smile drop from her face and handed her microphone back to Tony before taking her phone out to film some warmup content for the Devils Instagram page. She recorded a video of a fan catching a puck from Nathan Bastian and fist-bumped him as he skated by. She also took some quick videos of the boys doing their laps and finally she spotted her guy, Jack. His skate blades were sharp and shiny as he warmed up his edges, twirling about the ice he left fun carvings into the thick white sheet. His blue eyes connected with her deep brown pair and his smile widened and the speed of his skates increased to daringly quick levels. He spun around Mercer and Lazar, and skated backwards at a breakneck speed to the bench until he halted parallel to Lana, who still had her phone out to film content. She greeted him with a smile and he brushed her gaze off, requesting his water from the bench manager and popping his helmet off. He de-gloved his pale hands and rested them on the edge of the bench wall. He took his squirting water bottle from the manager's hands and drew out a long swig of the hydrating formula before dowsing his forehead and long brown hair in the water. He ran his left hand through his hair sloppily and curled it behind his ears. Lana stood, essentially starstruck at the sight, her face once again a burning hot red even though the room she stood it was barely fifty degrees. Jack noticed her again. She dropped her gaze immediately, but that quick stolen glance didn't satisfy him. He skated backwards until he was parallel with her and continued to adjust his hair. He caught her looking again.

               "You like the view?" He smirked and clipped his helmet back onto his head.

               "I'd like it better if you weren't in the way,  I'm trying to film content here!" She retorted sourly.

               "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" He questioned, snapping his gloves back onto his hands and adjusting the wrist cuffs so they're more comfortable. 

              "What are you talking about?" She was annoyed now. Mostly at herself, but he was getting on her nerves now too. She couldn't have feelings for him. She wouldn't let herself have feelings for him. The best thing to do is to avoid him as much as possible and cut out the jokes. She grimaced and shot him an attitude saturated look. 

              "You want me so bad it makes you look stupid," and with that statement, he skated away and into the line drill that they were warming up with as a team and did a circle on the ice before returning to the bench to send her a wink. She stood stunned. Absolutely petrified. She was in deep now, far too deep, and he was onto her. Maybe she could keep it casual? Or keep it from bubbling up into anything real? All Lana knew is that she had to stay far away from him. Her bottom lip curled up though and she broke out into a mess of silent giggles. But of course, maybe it wouldn't be all bad?

••••••••••••••••

            The game started and Lana busied herself in taking care of mundane tasks around the underside of the rink with Bella to try and rip her focus from the game ahead of her. The less she thought about him, the better, and she knew that the same way she knew her left from her right. For now they were organizing signed images to be sent out to certain seasons-ticket members for fan appreciation week, and while it was incredibly repetitive, it kept her brain busy. Underneath the arena it was almost quiet, but even through the soundproof ceiling, the roar of the crowd was prominent, and one could feel it deep in the bones of their feet. 

              "Oh look at the monitor Lan, we just scored!" Bella shouted and pumped her fists in the air all while her white sweater bounced as she jumped giddily. Her light caramel hair flipped from side to side while she did her little dance to the goal song. 

                "No way! Who was it?" Lana pulled her eyes away from a large stack of photos signed by Palat with enough time to see Jack Hughes tuck a puck underneath Luukkonen's left pad in slow motion. He dropped on one knee and pumped his arm a few times. The bench erupted in a series of celebrations and screams while he skated by with his hand out. Once he got to the end of the line, he spotted a stationary camera man and held up one finger and winked. 

               "Holy shit no he didn't," Lana covered her face with her hands and whispered just loud enough for Bella to hear from across the table. She looked at her with a knowing look.

               "What do you mean? It was a good goal I guess," Bella shrugged her shoulders, swiping her phone open to post the video clip on the Devils Twitter. 

                "Oh yeah, never mind it was a good goal! He just made a joke earlier about scoring a hat trick so I thought it was kinda funny. I mean I doubt he'll get it so-" 

                She trailed off and busied herself back into her papers for the rest of the period. With Bella covering social media responsibilities for a bit, that meant that Lana did not have to sift through Tweets judging her interview or speaking about her reporting online. She enjoyed staying off her phone whenever she wasn't working, it was like a breath of fresh air to her. Unfortunately, the sabres had answered with two goals of their own, Thompson and Skinner. The Devils were now down 2-1 heading into the second on only a few shots. It was frustrating and draining for the boys. It was blatantly obvious through the clips that the two had to edit and post. 

             Around the ten minute mark of the second period they finished the merchandise packages for season ticket members, and decided to head back upstairs to see if they could help anywhere with the ice crew or administrators. A few of the ice crew girls needed some uniform and hair repairs, and Lana and Bella loved hanging out with the ice ladies, so they gladly obliged. Bella helped quickly stitch a few costumes, and Lana re-braided some of their hair so their styles all matched. The game was playing in another monitor in their dressing room, so they all sat on the edge on their chairs waiting for the Devils to pull off an equalizer. They had to win this game to send them into the Allstar break with a decent amount of points, then push super hard through the last chunk of the season to make that wildcard position. 

               A chorus of screams overtook the room and a few of the girls leapt from their seats in happiness. Lana's head snapped to the television, hearing the roar of over fifteen thousand fans echo out through the speakers and through the building. There he was again. Jack Hughes was once again celebrating another electric goal, this time by leaping into the arms of Nico Hischier, who was centering his power play line. Jack skated past the bench again, dispersing high fives and profanities. Just like last time, his eyes locked onto the camera except this time he held up two fingers and winked again. 

                 "Why is he counting his goals and winking like that?" Tiffany asked, she captained the ice squad. 

                 "Girl I got no clue," answered back Bella who was working on her stockings. 

                 "Bell  we better get going," Lana gathered her stuff, "we should be up there to watch the third and finish putting up our content," 

                  "You're so right! Let's go!"