The Dream

I woke up enchanted by the romantic mahogany smell of Evgeni that is locked in his bed sheets, but where was he? I checked my phone while my eyes still struggled to adjust to the light peeking in through the curtains. McLane texted me last night,
"Enjoy your birthday. See you again tomorrow."
Evgeni must have snooped, saw the text, and didn't bother waking me. I could hear the shower running so I sluggishly got out of bed, threw on a black pair of Geno's sweatpants, and wrestled my hair up into a semi-neat ponytail. I knocked gingerly on the bathroom door. There was no answer but I could hear him humming along to some song, maybe "Take the World by the Phantoms, while rinsing off the stress of a morning playoff practice. I was blessed enough to get my birthday off from the internship so I can get super drunk tonight. I was also relieved I got it off because I didn't want to show up to practice in Geno's clothes and have everyone wondering what was going on between us. I left the bedroom and wondered down the hall to the grand staircase at the front of the house. I was hungry and decided that, even though it was technically lunch time, I would make us a huge breakfast. Wow...'us'...it's unreal that Evgeni Malkin and I are an 'us' now. Evgeni had an unreasonably large kitchen for someone who I've only known to cook eggs and toast. He did just stock up on groceries though so I was fully ready to go all Betty Crocker on him. I opened his side by side fridge that was covered in the same tone of wood as his cabinets. I grabbed eggs, milk, peppers, onions, etc. All the essentials for omelettes, pancakes and hashbrowns. As I shut the refrigerator door, I noticed the little magnetic figures of him and Sidney Crosby in their older uniforms. It made me laugh that he loved a teammate so much he has mini hockey magnets of him on his fridge. I sifted through all of his cabinets, basically studying where he keeps everything so that I can get the hang of cooking for him. I began preparing the dry ingredients for the pancakes. Between working and traveling every day for the past three weeks, I haven't cooked much so I felt extremely rusty. As I was mixing, I felt his arms wrap around my waist and his hands meet at my belly button. Evgeni pressed his toned body against the back of me and I could smell his shampoo and aftershave. I let my head fall to the right and Evgeni accepted the invitation as I began to feel his hot breathe on my neck. As his plump lips met my skin, I let out a slight moan and my eyes gave in to him and closed. I wanted him and it was clear he wanted me too. I hated that he thought last night was 'too fast' but at the same time the only thing I knew about him were from articles I read online. He was a reserved guy when it came to his private life but I still didn't expect to work this hard to break down his wall. His kisses slowed while his breathing remained rapid. My eyes remained closed but my head was upright again as Geno put his lips against my ear.
"Happy Birthday beauty. I cook now."
His nearly silent, husky whisper managed to stimulate my whole body. I released the bowl and whisk suddenly and spun around to face the large Russian, our bodies still without space between them. I grabbed his face like he grabbed mine the night before and planted my lips firmly onto his. His hands rested on my waist. Before the kiss escalated any further, I separated our bodies and pulled away from his lips. It was my turn to torture him.
"Zhenya, if you want to cook for me, I will not protest."
A childish grin spread across his face as he lowered his hands ad moved past me to finish the neglected pancake mix. Even though I love to cook, I was fine with letting him take over because I want to be extra lazy today. I sat down on a tall bar stool that was tucked under his breakfast bar island. The light brown, sparking granite alarmed my forearms with a cold sensation but I left them on the counter resting. I couldn't help but stare at the incredible man in front of me. Evgeni looked back at me quickly and then turned his focus back to scrambling the eggs.
"Zhenya sounds good from you."
I looked down and smiled, feeling my face blush. Today was going to be perfect.
We spent about three hours at the dining room table, eating a very well prepared breakfast for lunch, and talking about everything besides hockey.
"I'm impressed G. You can cook for me from now on," I said giving him a little side grin and then shoving another bite of pancake in my mouth. It is amazing that he still looked at me with admiration and lust when I haven't showered or brushed my teeth for 24 hours. At least now I didn't have to wonder if he actually found me attractive or not.
In between chuckles and bites of pancake he managed to reply.
"Нет, Нет. This for birthday. You make food from now on."
We both laughed more than that remark deserved, but I think we were both genuinely happy to be with each other. It was fantastic getting to sit down with him alone and talk about things other than hockey. We both talked about our families and childhood, which were drastically different considering that he grew up in rural Russia and I grew up outside of busy Pittsburgh. I told him about my career goals to become a team physician and he told me about how he longed to have a family and kids of his own. We even spoke in Russian a bit, which was incredibly intimidating for me but Evgeni assured me I did well. It was nearing 5pm and I promised all the guys I would be at the bar downtown by 7, so I hugged Geno goodbye and drove to my house to get ready. It was a 40 minute drive usually, but I was eager to start celebrating so I pulled into my driveway after about 30 minutes. I crept into my house hoping to avoid a questioning from my parents about where I was or whose clothes I was wearing. I showered and dried my hair. Nicole came over early so that she could straighten my hair while I was working on my makeup, multitasking at its finest.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BE-OTCH I LOVE YA!!!" she screamed as I answered the door. Nicole was the most dressed up I have ever seen here in all of the 6 years we've been friends. I wanted to think it was for me but I knew it was for Sidney. As we finished our 10 minute hug, I scanned her up and down and couldn't help but make a big deal over her outfit.
"Dayummmmmmmmm female look at you! Do you got a bae or nah?" We both laughed as she took a few strides down the imaginary living room runway, and finished off the show with a few turns. Her dress was tighter and ended above the mid-thigh. The fabric was a silver white color and it was completely covered with silver sparkling studs. The v-neck was deep but didn't reveal too much, and the small amount of sleeve rested softly on her shoulder. Her silver heels were just as flashy as her dress with a thin strap around her ankle and across the base of her toes, they made her as tall as me. Her long, thick, auburn hair was in perfectly bouncy curls, and her highlight and eyeshadow managed to make her blue eyes pop.
"Listen bitch, you're not supposed to be hotter than the birthday girl!" I joked as we walked into the bathroom. Even with both of us working on me, it still took a half hour to reach the finished product. With my hair straight, it was long enough to reach my lower back. I had roughly a half hour to pick out something to wear.
"Why don't you just wear this?" Nicole asked while pulling a tight, white lace dress out of my closet.
"Ew no. That's the dress from my high school graduation, I can't wear that to my 21st"
She rolled her eyes and stuck it back into the closet. I stood there just starring at my wardrobe, that was completely full but felt completely empty. Nicole, frustrated, collapsed on my king sized bed. Because of the rush, I had just thrown my clothes from earlier today onto my bed before getting into the shower. I didn't realize they were still there until Nicole went to move the shirt.
"ew why do your clothes smell like a dude?"
Before I could fabricate a plausible scenario, she held up the shirt to see the penguins logo on the front. She turned it around to see the name "Malkin" and the number 71 on the back. She looked at me in udder shock, slowly putting the pieces together. She sat up, throwing the shirt back onto my bed.
"You didn't have an actual doctors appointment this morning did you?"
I couldn't hide it from her any longer. She knew I was always a huge fan of Evgeni but she didn't know that, thanks to my job, he's become such a huge part of my life. I began smiling so wide that my mouth was actually in pain. I looked down at the floor in embarrassment, not wanting to make eye contact with her.
"oh, my, god....YOU SPENT THE NIGHT AT GENO'S LAST NIGHT DIDNT YOU?" she screamed. I ran over and closed my bedroom door in a panic that my parents heard.
"shhhh shhh shhhh," I said with my index finger on my lips, like I was warning a child. "Yes I did but no one knows. You're the only one, alright? So you need to keep your mouth shut tonight."
"WAIT....DID YOU....YOU KNOW....DO HIM?"
I instantly bursted out laughing. She was 24 years old and still couldn't say the word sex. She stood up and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me slightly while continuing the interrogation.
"MAE MARIE BREANT DID YOU SLEEP WITH EVGENI MALKIN?"
I slapped the inside of her arms hard enough so that they left my shoulders. In between laughter I replied.
"Nooooo. I slept with him but we didn't have sex Nicole. We just hung out and ate food and talked.....oh and we made out a little."
"WHAT!!!? WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME?"
"Come on, please shut up. My parents can't find out I'm dating a 29 year old hockey player."
She finally managed to lower her volume but you could still hear the excitement in her voice.
"Wow. My best friend is dating Evgeni Malkin! Holy cow! Does this mean I get to date Sid?" We both laughed and I talked briefly about the connection Evgeni and I shared almost immediately on my first game day and how a visit to his house to yell at him somehow turned into me spending the night and stealing his clothes. While I was catching her up she continued searching every inch of my closet, now fully aware of how important it is that I look my best tonight.
"Mae, this is it!" she said, as she struggled to untangle the winning outfit's hanger from all of the others'. It was my weight loss motivation dress. Senior year of high school I bought a small size with plans on losing the weight and rewarding myself by wearing it for a girls night out. Three years later and I've lost over 100 pounds but the tag remained on the dress and I never had my night out. It was perfect. I went into the bathroom and squeezed into, then, before leaving, I gasped at my reflection in the mirror. It was a bright solid and red, skin tight dress that barely reached my mid-thigh. The v-neck was deep and very risky but I didn't care. For once in my life I felt beautiful. Lace started at the shoulder and continued down my arms creating an elegant element to an otherwise sexy cocktail dress. I quickly combed through my hair with my fingers and was finally ready to get Nicole's approval.
"WOW. Geno is not going to be able to keep his hands off of you! You look amazing!"
After throwing on my all black leather stilettos, we were finally ready for the drive to Pittsburgh.

One advantage of hanging out with hockey players is that they can pretty much reserve any place in Pittsburgh for themselves. Luckily, Evgeni was able to reserve a bar that was more low-key so crazy fans didn't try to get in. Since moving to South Carolina and, when I am home, spending all my time at work, I lost connections with nearly all my high school friends. Nicole was the only friendship that survived my move so I was really lucky to have bonded with the guys enough to have them help me celebrate my birthday. As we walked up to the bar, I still haven't seen Geno and he hasn't texted me either. We were only about 10 minutes late so maybe we managed to beat him there. The bar was on the corner of a street lined with continual townhouses. It had red brick that stretched up three stories and windows that were tinted completely black lined the first floor, with the only light coming from them being the LED sign that read "open". I was hesitant to enter wondering if we were at the right place or not but as I approached the door I noticed a paper hanging in the window.
*Bar has been reserved for night. Unwanted guests will be greeted by police. Regular business hours will resume tomorrow at 3pm.*
"Well lets hope we're on the guest list" I joked to Nicole as I pulled the door open.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The guys all screamed in unison as music began playing and laughter and chatter instantly filled the room. The bar was the same color brick on the inside as it was on the outside and was decorated very rustic, excluding the Penguins banners that were scattered along the walls. There were multiple tables in a row pushed against the left wall. They had a variety of food available, including steak, chicken, and salad. Next to the buffet was the alcohol bar that had numerous liquors lining the well lit shelves behind the bartender. Small tables and chairs were scattered around the front of the bar but the back of the bar was left empty for, what I could only assume, was the dancing that would come after everyone managed to get me drunk. Ian Cole was the first to approach me individually and handed me the frozen drink in his hand.
"Don't ask me what it is because, to be honest, I don't even know! I just told him to make ya something strong! Happy birthday!"
"wow thanks Coler!" I said, giving him a quick hug. His scruff scratched against my neck lightly and it managed to tickle me a little. After our embrace he leaned in to my right ear and said softly, just loud enough for me to hear over the music, "who's your friend? She's pretty hot." I looked over at Nicole who was clearly scanning the room for Sidney. I reached over and tugged her arm a little to get her attention.
"Nicole, this is Ian. Ian this is my best friend, Nicole."
"Hey how's it going?" Nicole remarked, not even giving him the slightest smile. Ian glanced at me with a concerned look and I just shrugged my shoulders. He turned to Nicole and said "It was nice meeting you" to which Nicole replied "yeah same." Ian accepted defeat and walked back to the bar, leaving me in a fit of laughter.
"You realized you just shot down Ian Cole in the most dramatic fashion ever and now he probably thinks you're a bitch."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Who invited all the wives and Girlfriends? And where is Sid?"
By now we were making our way through the crowd of well dressed and already buzzed hockey people, stopping along the way so I could greet everyone and introduce them to Nicole.
"I invited the wags so I could finally meet them beyond instagram and I don't know but I have a feeling that if we find Sid we'll find Geno."
She was handling it all pretty well, besides obsessing over Sid, but even that is less crazy than expected.
"Mae!!!!" I heard his deep, Russian voice and knew exactly who I was turning around to. It was Geno, dressed to the nines, with his right arm draped over Sidney Crosby's shoulder. I could already tell he was drunk and that Sidney was slowly loosing all his patience with his giant best friend. Crosby wore a perfectly fitted, navy blue suit, with a white undershirt. His shoes we're plain black but somehow still looked expensive. His hair was well groomed and a little spiked and his face was freshly shaven.
"Woah Mae, you clean up nice! I'm not used to you without your polo....and where are the khakis eh?" Crosby said, his thick Canadian accent solidified more and more with every beer he drank.
"Hey Siddy! Look who's talking! You traded in your ice skates for some loafers huh?"
He managed to shake Geno off of him for a quick hug. I completely forgot Nicole was probably having a heart attack right now. I looked over at her and her jaw was practically to the floor.
"Sid this is my best friend Nicole. Nicole, this is Sidney Crosby."
She managed to extend her hand for him to shake, but she was still extremely starstruck.
"You have really nice eyes," Sid said sweetly while releasing her hand.
"Thanks," Nicole replied so quietly I guarantee Sidney didn't even hear.
"Can I get you a drink?"
"Hell yeah!"
If he didn't hear her thank you, he definitely heard the hell yeah. I watched as she wrapped her arm around Sidney's right bicep and they headed off in the direction of the bar. I smiled knowing how happy tonight was making her. When I turned around, Evgeni was about a foot away looking only at me.
"ты самая красивая женщина, которую я когда-либо видел (you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen)," he said with a slight slurr. He looked a whole new level of hot tonight in a jet black suit with a white, collared undershirt, a white pocket square, and a slim black tie. His hair was messy but in a clean and sexy way. The watch on his left wrist brought attention to his abnormally large but incredibly perfect hands. His cologne polluted my nose and I was instantly reminded of waking up this morning wrapped up in his warm bed. I decided to cue the flirting, just so it would drive him nuts.
"Evgeni Malkin...are you flirting with me?" I inched closer to him, making sure my hips swayed more dramatically than usual. We didn't break eye contact with each other as his right hand was delicately place on my lower back.
"People are going to notice G."
"Let them." he said confidently as he pressured my back so much that I fell into him. He brought his left hand up to my right cheek and I embraced the contact. He started to lean in and I knew what was about to happen. Our lips were inches from each other when all of a sudden a familiar voice rang out over the speakers.
"Uhhhhh, hello Pittsburgh!" The Swedish accent made the english barely comprehendible.
"It's DJ Horny up in hereeeeee. Are we ready to parrrrrtayyyyy?"
Leave it to Patrick Hornqvist to take on the role of MC.
"Mae...where are ya at?"
I slowly back away from Geno, leaving his eyes begging as they watched me make my way through the crowd. Everyone was shouting including Nicole, who still sat next to Sidney at the bar, enjoying a Blue Moon. I joined Hornqvist out on the center of the dance floor.
"Maeeeee you are not nearly drunk enough!"
Everyone roared out in agreement.
"Happy 21st friend! The Pens will never have a smarter or hotter team physician than youuuuu....time for shots!!!!!"
Before I knew it, Patrick, Geno, Cole, Tanger, and Rusty all stood beside me with three shots of vodka lined up in front of each of us. The crowd counted to 3 and we all began taking them one by one, Geno finished first. I leaned forward and shouted past Hornqvist to Geno, "Babeeee, don't you know you're supposed to let the girlfriend win!"
"That not rule in Russia!" he replied as the bartender replenished our drinks. The other guys gave up, worrying that they might've already had one too many, and they didn't want a major hangover for the game tomorrow. Geno and I, on the other hand took six more shots between the two of us and headed to the dance floor. With songs like Make It Bun Dem playing in the brackground, everyone was out dancing. I looked over and in the far corner of the dance floor Nicole had her arms around Sidney's neck while Sidney held her waist, swaying it to the music. I couldn't help but smile at how adorable they are and I was praying Sid didn't break her heart.
"Dance with me pretty." Geno said as he spun me around to face him and grabbed my waist. I let my hands slowly make their way up his chest as I moved my hips to the rhythm and pressed my body against his. We moved to the music as one and stayed on the dance floor for what felt like hours. As the party started dying down, I stood by the door of the exit and thanked everyone for coming, reminding them to drive safely. I was completely exhausted and still extremely tipsy. I watched as Sid gave Nicole a hug goodbye, leaving her with a kiss on the cheek. Her smile was so wide, I knew I was never going to hear the end of her date night with the Sidney Crosby. I told him I'll see him tomorrow at the game and with that, all the guest were gone....besides Geno. He stood up from the bar and walked over, hands shoved into his dress pants pockets. He was looking down at the ground, clearly exhausted. When he got to the door I stepped up to him and looked up into his sleep filled eyes.
"Geno..." I said at a low whisper, the only other people in the bar being Nicole and the Bar's owner. He finally lifted his head enough to look me in the eyes.
"Спасибо, Евгений (thank you, Evgeni)"
"что-нибудь для вас любовь моя (anything for you, my love)."
I had to basically stand on my tippy toes, but I stretched up and lightly kissed his lips.
"You better go before Sid leaves you." I whispered, wanting everything but for him to leave. He kissed my forehead gingerly and headed for the door. Just like that he was gone and I could already feel the hangover setting in. Coach Sullivan was going to kill us if we didn't get the win tomorrow just because I wanted to party with the Penguins on my birthday. Hopefully the guys would have an easy morning practice, take a solid nap, and then leave everything on the ice for the win. Nicole and I helped the owner of the bar clean up a little, leaving him a generous tip, and thanking him for everything. We loaded my car up with the leftovers and she volunteered to drive home, since I was clearly not in great condition. The clock in the car read 3:09am. I was ok with not talking at all during the ride home, in fear that I would get car sick, and I also wanted to get a head start on sleeping. When we pulled into my driveway, Nicole was too tired to drive home so she stayed with me. We laid in bed starring at the ceiling as she told me the details of her night with Sid. I was so distracted, thinking of Geno, and she knew it.
"You love him don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah....I think I do."
We talked a little bit longer before drifting off to sleep.

Best Birthday Ever.

Notes

Wow this chapter was exhausting to write, I don't know why. I'm happy it's done though because the story is finally getting good...will post some more good stuff soon )))))

Also, if you're going to the Stadium Series game Saturday, I'll be there! Can't wait!