The Dream

Everyone had the day off after winning the Eastern Conference Finals, I used it to lay in bed and watch movies. Sadly, my stomach was desperate for food, and I gave in. I lightly walk to the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible so my parents don't hear me. I haven’t talked to them in so long, only responding to their texts with my location, and lying when I was with Evgeni, saying I just stayed with a fellow, female intern who has an apartment in Pittsburgh. It was a shitty move on my part but the internship would be over in a month and then I would be back home with them. My lunch is an apple and cheese stick, not anywhere close to what I really want (an extra large cheese pizza with two dozen donuts and a tub of ice cream), but I was showing restraint. As an emotional eater, last night definitely had me craving things that would make me fat again. I miss Evgeni but I need time. We've been together so much for this past month between work and our relationship, I think last night was more out of exhaustion than actual anger. I heard a soft knock on my door, followed by the knob slowly turning and the door opening. My mother entered and slowly walked up to my bed.
"Haven't seen you in a while. How's the internship?"
"Good"
"You going to do anything on your day off?"
"You're looking at it."
She was a little taken aback by my sass and I don't blame her, I couldn't even fake a good mood.
"You want to do something with me today?"
"No thanks. I'll probably hangout with Nicole, haven't seen her in a while."
"Ok..well..." she started to accept defeat, moving towards the door, when she turns around and adds "Don't let this internship ruin your life Mae. You love athletic training and everything, don't let this temporary position spoil your goals in life."
I managed a side grin as she finally left me to The Lion King and my last bite of cheese stick. She was right but it wasn't the internship I was allowing to ruin me. I began thinking about Evgeni and how he must've been feeling, between the hangover and how much of an asshole I had been. We fought for the first time and in a normal relationship fighting is healthy but with how high profile and high stake our relationship is, fighting was dangerous. Evgeni could be the best part of my life or the worst but I need to decide if the risk is worth it and either forget about him or be with him. Sounds simple but it isn’t. The ringing of my phone interrupted my thoughts.
"Yo, biotch. I'm outside let's get some lunch."
Nicole's voice gave away the fact that she had a great time with Sidney Crosby last night.
"Hey Mrs. Crosby. I'm okay. You can come in and watch The Lion King with me though.”
She hung up and minutes later I hear the kitchen door open. One benefit of having the same best friend for so long is not having to let her into your house because she knows the keypad code for the back door. She knocked on the bedroom door and entered my room, a smile plastered across her face. She walked over and greeted my sleepy dog, who has spent the whole morning napping on my floor, and then took a seat on the end of my bed. I sat up unwillingly, because I’m lazy, knowing that she wants to tell me about her night.
“So when is the wedding?” I asked while keeping my eyes on the TV, it was Scar’s solo antagonist song, iconic.
“Oh. My. God. He is ahhhh-mazing. I mean he was so sweet and funny. I’ve never laughed so much in my life but like he’s really hot and I can’t even.”
“Did you sleep with him?” I interrupted, knowing that she could go on for days about Sidney Crosby, but I wanted to know only the important details.
“Mae! No I didn’t! But I did make out with him and wow it was great!”
“Oh boy” I said rolling my eyes, even though I couldn’t help but crack a smile. She knew no matter how sarcastic I was about it I was extremely happy for her.
“We talked all night until the bar closed and he walked me to my car and I don’t know I just had to kiss him but he kissed me back so it was like fa…..” Her words began to fade into the background as I focused back onto the Lion King, such a classic.
“Mae! Freaking listen!!!” She yelled hitting me in the face with a throw pillow.
“Okayyyyy, you made out with him…continue.”
“Well then he asked if I wanted to come over and watch a movie and of course I said yes so I rode with him to his house and he let me pick the movie so we watched Narnia. He popped popcorn and had a blanket that was big enough for both of us to use and I rested my head on his shoulder the whole time. Oh my god and we held hands for like the majority of the movie but when I went to leave I was super tired and he could tell so he just told me to stay,” I was half listening. I tried extremely hard to pay full attention to her but my mind was everywhere, from the Lion King to thinking about Geno, it was difficult to concentrate. Realizing this and probably feeling defeated, Nicole finished her story and took a few minutes to recover from the respiratory stress she just put her lungs through.
“You know he felt awful about last night right?”
I gave her a confused look, assuming she was referring to Sidney and I must’ve missed a key part of her story.
“Sidney took Evgeni home last night and he sat in the back seat babbling on about how he ruined everything with you. Sid told him to give you some time but I didn’t say anything becase I didn’t know what to say.”
She had my full attention now. She went from slap-happy to serious in a matter of seconds and I had so many questions and so much to say but I didn’t even know where to start.
“Mae, you need to talk to him. He really cares about you and you can’t avoid him forever, especially when you work with him.”
I could feel tears filling my eyes and I willed myself not to cry.
“Nicole, he told everyone, without even talking to me about it. I love him I really do but he could ruin my internship and I just don’t know what to do.”
We sat on my bed, with Lion King playing in the background, for what felt like an hour, talking about everything. I felt bad because I could barely listen to her story but here she was giving me great relationship advice. In a way, talking about it helped clear the dark cloud that’s been over me since the argument last night. She had to leave to meet a “friend” in Pittsburgh for dinner.
“Is it Sid?” I said smiling as she was clearly trying not to make it a big deal.
“Yesssss!” she said giggling.
I told her to have fun and keep me updated, and after she pulled out of the driveway I decided to get my life together. After showering and changing into black leggings and a red USC tshirt, I scrunched my wet hair, brushed my teeth, and grabbed the folded sweatpants and tshirt that sat atop my dresser for too long. After about an hour drive, I rang the door bell at Evgeni’s house. He texted and called so many times today but I wanted to talk to him in person. It was a sunny and warm May day. I look down at my worn out tennis shoes and wonder why I didn’t wear flip-flops. The door finally eases open and the giant Russian emerges from behind it. He looked rough with untouched bed head, a loose white shirt, and baggy grey sweatpants. His eyes were tired but were revived briefly when I smiled at him.
“Can I come in?” I said softly. His response wasn’t verbal but the smile that came across his face exposed his subtle dimples and he moved to the side, gesturing with his hand to enter. I didn’t walk far into the large foyer before turning around to face him.
“Here’s your clothes from before. Sorry it took me so long to give them back but I washed them.” He took them from me slowly and sat them a few stairs up. It’s easy to tell when Evgeni doesn’t want to speak or doesn’t know what to say. He’s not a shy guy but, kind of like when the Penguins lose, he picks when to be an introvert. I went ahead and got the ball rolling.
“Do you get that as a doctor it’s unethical to date a client? I understand I’m not a doctor yet but having a relationship with a player, with you, could still make me lose this internship. I shouldn’t have yelled at you but I was just caught off guard. I agreed to this, to us, too so I can’t blame you for everything I just want you to know why I was upset.” I couldn’t even make eye contact with him knowing that if I looked into his brown eyes I would burst into tears. I could hear him stepping towards me, then his arms surrounded my waist and rested on my lower back, pulling me into his body where I instantly knew I was forgiven. We stayed like this for a number of minutes, my hands resting on his chest and our breathing synchronized. Evgeni whispered Russian to me but it was so hushed and deep I couldn’t translate it. I could tell by his tone though that he was sincerely happy and excited to be us again. We finally pulled away from each other and he grabbed his clothes from the stairs and ascended the staircase, I followed behind him. As we walk into his bedroom he asks, “Boys go out to dinner tonight want to come?”
“I would but I don’t have time to drive back home and change.”
“Why change? You look beautiful. Wear one of my clothes I don’t care.”
I smiled like a giddy middle schooler going on her first date. I missed his innocent compliments and sweet charm. I watched as he entered his closet and began sifting through all his dress clothes.
“What am I suppose to do G? Wear one of your suits?”
He smugly laughed. His laugh gave me life. It wasn’t anything loud or crazy but it was rather low and delicate for the size of the man it was coming from. I couldn’t help but feel extremely satisfied with myself that I managed to make him laugh.
“Here, this” he said excitedly throwing a jersey at me, turning to face me, and waiting patiently to see my reaction.
“What is this?” I said as I held the jersey out in front of me. It was clearly a Russian jersey and it was huge so he must’ve worn it in a game. I looked past the jersey to see him smiling wide, waiting for me to react.
“What ahh- what game is this from Evgeni?” Now, excitement was overwhelming me knowing that the jersey had some sort of importance to him.
“2012 World Campions and MVP for Russia. I not got it framed yet but that’s from game, you know, wore it, even when beat Slovakia.”
“Wow Geno, I can’t wear this! I’ll get ranch dressing on it or something.”
We both laughed at my comment, knowing it was very accurate. I held out the jersey, giving him the chance to retract his crazy idea that I wear it. He walked up to me and took the jersey, rustled it around a little bit before throwing it over my head and shimmying it down my body. I slipped my arms up through the sleeves realizing how big the jersey truly was. The bottom hem was in line with my knees and the sleeves’ length hid my hands completely, so wide that my arms looked like that of a scarecrow’s. I was five foot ten and fully figured but still managed to drown in the six foot three heavily padded hockey player’s jersey. I smiled so wide it began to hurt. He moved closer to me and gingerly took my face in both of his amazingly huge hands.
“Ты моя любовь. Я хочу, чтобы мир знал (You are my love. I want the world to know).”
He leaned down and kissed me passionately. Wow I missed his lips. After separating our lips and releasing my face, his hands lightly traced down my arms, reaching the opening of the sleeve and scrambling to find my hands. Our fingers laced together and our hands held on tightly to one another. We never broke eye contact and I spoke up sternly and certain,
“Ты мой мир, и вы уже знаете, я в любви с вами, Женя (You are my world and you already know, I am in love with you Zhenya).”

Evgeni and I walked into Nakama hibachi hand in hand while I proudly wore the jersey with his last name on the back. It was a warm summer night in Pittsburgh and Geno was dressed for it. He wore jean shorts that fell right above his knees and looked worn, with a white long sleeved quarter button up shirt, and a snap back hat that he's only ever worn backwards. His outfit was completed with brown flip-flops. I envied him because between the heavy Jersey and the half-mile walk from the parking lot to the restaurant, I was sweating bullets. It didn't help that I hung onto him, snuggled into his side the whole time, but I wanted everyone who walked past us to know that we were in love. We walked to the back of the restaurant and up to the large hibachi grill that was surrounded by some happy penguins players and their wives/girlfriends. I made my way around the table, stopping to hug Conor Sheary and Jordan, Patric and Malin, Chris and Maureen, and Bryan and Kelsey. Geno followed me, cracking jokes with some of the guys. After we greeted everyone and finally made it to our seats, Evgeni pulled out my chair and I gracefully sat down, looking up at him and grinning at how adorable he is. He sat down between Patric and I. I saw Horny lean in and whisper something to him, Geno had a whole conversation with him but I couldn't hear and I didn't want to make a big deal about it so I forced myself to forget it even happened. It didn't take long for Evgeni to find a resting place for his hand on my thigh. We spent dinner laughing and catching up with the guys and their lives outside of hockey. This was my first time actually experiencing what it was like to be a WAG and I loved it. The wives/girlfriends we're so sweet and laid back, telling funny stories about their families and asking me questions about myself.
"Yeah I actually work with the Penguins as a medical intern." I answered Maureen's question will struggling to get a grip on my chopsticks.
"Oh wow that's awesome. So you're a doctor?" Kelsey asked.
"Well I mean not yet but eventually that's the goal."
"Well how young are you? You're in med school right?" She continued the interrogation.
"She's 21. Geno threw her a birthday party like three days ago remember?" Patric interrupted. The guys all recalled the event along with Jordan and Malin, the only WAGs at the dinner that went to the party. I actually had little social interaction at my own party, my focus was mainly on Evgeni that night. Nakama was fantastic and we ended up eating and talking for almost three hours. Fans would occasionally stop one of the players if they got up to use the restroom but other than that it was a pretty relaxing night. When everyone began to collect their things to leave, Geno threw his arm around my shoulders and leaned in, kissing me firmly on my cheek. When his lips left my skin he whispered into my ear, "I love you". I blushed and smiled at him, knowing that it made him incredibly happy to be out with me. Feeling the same way, I decided to show him rather than tell him, so I grabbed his face with both of my hands and pulled him in, passionately and irresponsibly making out with him in front of his teammates.
"Ow ow!" Kunitz yelled.
I pulled myself away from his lips, smiling at how satisfying kissing him felt. He smiled back approving the PDA. We left as a group and walked to the parking lot together, waiting until we reached our cars to say goodbye to each other. Although they knew they'd see each other in the morning for practice, the guys acted as though they wouldn't be seeing one another again for weeks. Evgeni and I got into his all black Audi and enjoyed some Russian music while he sped all the way to his house.
"What did Patric say to you at dinner?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. He took his eyes off of the road for only a second, to look and gauge how serious I was about the question.
"He say 'I knew before everyone else' and I said ' what?' He say 'I knew you loved her before you did' and we just laugh and he said 'she's a good one G'. That's all"
"Oh" I replied coyly, smiling stupidly at Hornqvist's comments. Geno reached over and grabbed my hand, lifting it towards his lips and kissing it softly, then letting our arms rest on the console, our hands remained together for the rest of the drive. Once we pulled into the driveway I knew I wanted to jump on him. I wanted to repay him for everything he's done for me and show him how truly happy I am to be with him, plus I spent the whole dinner sexually frustrated with his hand going farther and farther up my thigh. As soon as he put the car in park, I unbuckled my seat belt and swung myself around as gracefully as possible so that I was now sitting on his lap looking into his lust filled brown eyes. A five foot ten woman trying to fuck her six foot three boyfriend in the driver's seat made me realize how small the luxury car actually was. I reached down to the bottom side of the seat and pulled the lever, making the seat fall back to be nearly horizontal. Geno's laugh grew louder as the sudden jolt down surprised me and as a result I let out a "holy shit" followed by a "what the fuck?"
"Classy," he remarked in-between chuckles. I took off his hat throwing it into the back seat. I began running my fingers through his hair, massaging his head gently. He allowed his eyes to close and a slight moan to escape his lips. I started kissing his neck, pulling on his hair subtly. I made my way up to his lips where our tongues danced together for a while. My breath began to deepen and I knew he was ready by the bulge I could feel coming from his shorts. His hands found the bottom of his jersey quick and began to sneak their way up from my hips to my bra. I could sense hesitation so I pulled away from his lips, out of breath and confused.
"Practice tomorrow." He said, before I could even ask.
"So? It'll be quick." I said, grabbing his hands before they managed to escape the jersey.
"You have hour drive home and you have to have your uniform. I see you tomorrow, we can, you know, spend night here."
He was completely serious. I was throwing myself at him in HIS hockey jersey and he was still rejecting me. Although in the moment I was disappointed, I knew he was right. I opened the driver door and got out, waiting for him to finish adjusting the seat back so I could hug him before heading home.

"Made it home. I love you Evgeni." I texted him after the exhausting drive. I had text messages from Nicole that I've been neglecting since earlier this evening.
"Sidney took me to Kennywood as a surprise!!!! This guy is amazing!"
"How are things with Geno?"
"Are you guys having sex right now?"
"Mae answer."
"We kissed a lot"
"And I'm spending the night with him again."
"I think it's going well."
"He told me he'd hook me up with tickets to the whole Stanley Cup Final series."
"Wow"
"I'm in love"
The texts came in over the course of six hours and they stopped about an hour ago so I figured I wouldn't get a reply but I responded anyway.
"hahahaha what a night for both of us! I'll see you at the game in a couple days! Use protection!"
I change out of my jersey, hanging it up on a hook inside my closet door. After putting pajamas on, I lift my old dog onto the foot of my bed, collapsing down beside him. My bed was comfier than Evgeni's but if I had to choose, I would rather be in his right now.

Practices leading to the first Stanley Cup playoff game went smoothly. No players developed new injuries and some were even allowed back into the lineup. The players knew about Geno and I but we still decided to keep it from the coaching and medical staff. The Stanley Cup with in our view and the last thing I wanted was to be the reason the team was thrown off balance. I took a quick break from paperwork to meet Nicole outside of her section. Sidney gave her seats right on the ice and I was extremely jealous she got to enjoy the game as a fan while I had to watch from the TV in the medical office. I told her about how things went with Geno and she told me the details of her day with THE Sidney Crosby. After telling her I would catch up to her after the game, I headed back downstairs to finish my work. The Penguins won game 1, 3-2 over the San Jose Sharks. Every player was pleased with the game but they wanted the cup so badly that they didn't focus on the win and instead focused on the next game. Evgeni decided to pull the superstition card and exclaimed that if I didn't spend the night with him every night and nap with him every pregame, I would be the reason why they lose the cup. Not wanting that much pressure on my own shoulders, I obeyed and made the trip home that night to pack for the week (and to finally tell my parents about him).
"YOU'RE WHAT?" my mom yelled as I wheeled my suitcase past her.
"Mom calm down! We've only been seeing each other for like a month and it's an adult relationship not just a fling. And we haven't had to tell any of the boss people so it's fine!"
"MAE HE IS 29 ALMOST 30 ARE YOU CRAZY?" I figured between the two of them, my dad would be reacting like this but to my surprise he just stood there starring at me with wide eyes.
"Dad....a little help here."
"I honestly don't know what to say Mae." I stopped at the door, not wanting to leave without knowing they were okay with this.
"I'm surprised but uhhhh you're an adult and he's an adult."
My mom threw her arms up in the air, obviously in shock that dad wasn't ready to drive the Evgeni's house and kill him
"I want to meet him though, if it's serious I have to meet him."
I smiled and shook my head agreeing.
"After they win the cup I'll invite him over."
He flashed me a smile and my mom just stood there, tears in her eyes, clearly disappointed in how this unfolded. I don't blame her though. I usually told her everything and she tustve felt so betrayed that I hid this from her. She shook her head to the left and right and walked up to the staircase before disappearing upstairs without saying another word.
"She'll come around once she meets him," dad assured me. I let go of my suitcase and walked up to him, hugging him for the first time in forever. I fought back tears and spoke in a calm voice.
"I'm sorry I lied. I love you guys."
"Mae, you don't have to lie. Just be careful and let us know you're still alive every now and again."
I loaded up my car and took off towards Pittsburgh. Game two of the cup final was tomorrow and Evgeni was eager to snuggle down and get some rest. He was three wins away from being a Stanley Cup champion again.

Notes

I'm soo lit about getting to write about winning the cup.

Also, over 3,500 readers is crazy! Thank you guys! I never thought this would do so well lol

Will update soon!