Chapter 19

Luckily, Mattie was still passed out when I woke up at 6; saving me from having to explain to him why I was in another bed. I couldn’t even consider the fact that I had ‘slept’ at all, my mind and body were exhausted.
I stood under the shower head, unmoving, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Obviously, I knew that what was wrong with me had to do with Mattie and Geno… but I wasn’t sure how it was effecting me.
After washing my hair and focusing on my mood I decided that I was guilty, sad, and something else… but I wasn’t sure what. I was guilty because I had cheated on Mattie, and guilty because I had hurt Geno more deeply than I thought possible. I was sad because I wasn’t sure who I wanted to be with anymore. I tried to think back to the night I found out Mattie actually loved me, tried to remember the feeling of it, tried to remind myself that I loved him; but I couldn’t remember anything beyond the power of Geno’s kiss.

I sighed and shut off the water, wrapping my hair in a towel and putting on a pair of jeans and my Team USA t-shirt; my traditional #14 on the back. After finishing my hair and putting on some make-up I was ready to go. I walked out into the room at 6:45 and laughed at Mattie, still fast asleep. I tried to wake him up but it was impossible.
At 5 to 7 I headed down to the lobby. There ended being only 14 people on the bus; myself, Jake, Aaron, Consti, Rennie and a few others.
Dean was not impressed but he let it slide, figuring it would be better for him to let it go.

“So…” Consti said from the seat next to me as the bus took off from the hotel. “You gonna tell me what that was about last night?”

“What are you talking about?”

“About superstar checkin you out all night and shootin the death glare at Mattie…”

“Umm… I’m not sure what you mean, I didn’t notice any check-outs or death glares.”

“Huh… fine then. Don’t tell me.” He relaxed in his seat and shut his eyes, pretending to be uninterested. I watched him for a few seconds before I said anything.

“Fine! Alright, I met Evgeni before… a while ago at the Igloo… we went on a couple dates. Nothing happened though… it’s not a big deal.”

“Wait!” He bolted upright and turned to face me. “Who?”

“Evgeni Malkin… back that day we got to skate at the Igloo for that hockey practice… I met him and he asked me out.”

“Ah… wow. Alright, well I wasn’t talking about Malkin…”

“What, who were you-”

“Hey guys!” Rennie’s head popped up over the seat in front of us, halting our conversation. “Are you excited for this?”

“Ah yah…” I gave Consti a look, indenting to mean ’we’ll talk about this after’, he nodded and fell silent.


Our scavenger hunt was based on photos, as Dean explained. We were divided into two teams (7 people on each) and we’re each given a camera. On this camera we had to take random pictures.

Picture of someone (or multiple people) with:
1. The Moscow River
2. A Chagall sculptor (@ Tretyakov gallery)
3. Moscow Metro
4. The Armoury (Oruzheynaya Plaza)
5. The Moscow Kremlin
6. The ‘Red Square’
7. (In) the Novodevichy Cemetary
8. St. Basil’s Cathedral
9. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
10. Pushkin Square
11. Sanduny Banya
12. Dorogomilovsky Market

Afterwards we had to run back to the arena and give the camera back to Dean. We had 4 hours.

The next 3 and a half hours were spent yelling, running, laughing and pushing each other around Russia. Unable to read any Russian at all, or speak for that matter, we opted to run around aimlessly; searching for anything that looked like a good picture.

“Ummm… k… we’re looking for… Pushkin Square. What does that sign say there?” Rennie yelled at one of the O‘Shea twins.

“Ah… I’m going with… square, triangle-ly thing, a weird ‘A’ and… a smiley face, without any eyes… that make any sense?”

“Sure does!” Consti fired across the square, “idiot…” he added under his breath.

“Let’s just take another picture and get back… it’s starting to get freezing!” I shouted, huddling up beside Consti.

“Yah, let’s get out of here!” Aaron shouted, running by and slapping Jake in the back of the head. All the guys took off running back towards the hotel; while Consti and I followed behind slowly.

“So… anything you want to tell me? You’ve been off all day.” He started, his eyes watching the road in front of him as we walked.

“What do you mean?”

“You just seem like you’ve got a lot on your mind…” I sighed, and he left it at that, allowing me to collect my thoughts.

“Can I tell you something? Off the record?” He nodded, still not looking at me. “I cheated on Mattie last night.” I watched for a reaction that never came. After a time, his silence became defining. “… do you have anything to say to that?”

“What do I say?” He shook his head and smiled at me, “Carlie, look at me, am I really the person to pass judgement on you for sleeping with someone else? Do you have any idea how many times I’ve cheated?”

“Woah! I didn’t sleep with him… I let him kiss me… but, God Consti. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Do you love Mattie?” I nodded. “Do you love Geno?” I nodded again. “Well, tap ‘em both then.”

“Consti!”

“What! Geno obviously knows about Mattie right?”

“Yes but-”

“And Mattie has no idea at all…”

“Yes but-”

“Well, I’m sure judging by the fact that he kissed you last night, he’d be willing. Wouldn’t he?”

“Yes, probably! But-”

“But nothing! That’s what I’d do!” He shrugged without emotion and gave me a smile, thinking he’d solve all my problems.
“I don’t want to cheat on Mattie… and I don’t want to break up with him… but I can’t stop thinking about Geno… shit this is messed up. Do you know what I am now Consti?! I’m one of THOSE girls. The girls that cheat on nice guys… pretty soon I’m gonna start saying ’like’ and ’hot’ all the time.” I let out a sigh and came to a stop outside of the hotel.

“All I know Carlie, is that if you don’t wanna cheat on Mattie, then you either need to break-up with him or stay away from Geno.” I couldn’t imagine what breaking-up with Mattie would do to me, or worst or all, what it would do to him. It was painful to even think about it; it was painful to think about staying away from Geno too though.

Consti held the door open for me as we made our way into the hotel, heading further into the main lobby to find where everyone was. We say everyone, even the ones still recuperating from last night, gathered over on some couches. I headed over and took my seat beside Mattie.

“Sorry about last night.” He said pulling me close to him. “I didn’t mean to get that drunk.”

“Don’t worry about it… at least Consti was there to carry you home.” I laughed, resting my head on his shoulder.

“Carlie…” He whispered in my ear, as Dean started asking us about our day. “I need to ask you to do something, and I don’t want you to get angry… alright?”

“Sure Mattie… what is it?” I pulled my head off his shoulder so I could look him in the eye.

He looked at me and then down at the ground. My heart started beating faster as I waited for him to continue. “I want you to stay away from him. For me.” He never looked back at me, instead turning his attention to a loose thread on the couch. I thought about playing stupid, pretending I didn’t know who he was talking about, but I knew.
I looked away, trying to force myself to draw a breath. How does he know? How much does he know? Oh my god…

“Of course I will. I will.” He nodded and looked up at me with a smile on his face and teary eyes. He pulled me close to him again and I resumed my position on his shoulder.


Mattie’s POV

I sat up and looked at the clock; 10:22. Well shit… I rolled over and headed to the bathroom. The room was still tipping the slightest bit, giving me all the indication I needed to figure out why I couldn’t remember the previous night. I moved slowly under the hot water, trying to figure out what had happened, and where Carlie was now.
Ugh poor Carlie, I can’t believe I went and got drunk like that last night… I’m such an ass. First night in Russia and I leave her alone.

I dressed quickly, intending to head down to the lobby and see who else was kicking around. If I was just waking up, one of the O’shea brothers had to be here for sure.
I took the elevator down to the lobby and saw some of the boys sitting in the continental breakfast lounge.
I wave to them and grabbed a plate, piling it up with a random assortment of food and taking a seat beside Reid.
We joked around and had a mini-food fight before the conversation turned to Carlie.

“So… not gonna lie man… I don’t know how you do it!” Jeremy called from across the table. A few guys nodded in agreement.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, sure she’s really hot, and a nice girl and all that but… don’t you get sick of being around her all the time?”

“Not at all… I love her so… anytime I get to spend with her is awesome.” I answered truthfully, earning a punch in the arm from Rayner.

“Does it bug you that she’s so good at hockey?” Reid asked.

“No. I mean, you have a girlfriend right?” He nodded, we’d discussed this before. “Well… you want her to do good at whatever she does right?” He nodded again. “That’s pretty much what I figure. It makes me happy when she does good..”

The conversation moved on, centering around the female Russian servers in the room. I glanced around the restaurant and felt the heat rise in my face. I was sure that the food in this hotel wasn’t good enough to draw attention from anyone other than the people staying in the hotel, so there was only one reason why he was here.
Evgeni Malkin sat in a corner booth with Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby, he was watching me. Son of a bitch.
Crosby got up to leave, Gonchar beside him, and Malkin following behind; detest etched on his face.
I got up and followed them out of the lobby and onto the street before they noticed I was following.

Malkin grinned when he saw me, saying something to Gonchar in Russian; before turning around to face me.

“Why are you here?” I spat, coming to a stop a few feet away from him.

“Look we don’t mean any trouble… we just came to eat-” Crosby started, getting cut-off by Malkin.

“Why you look so worried?” Malkin laughed, as Gonchar grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away, whispering to him in Russian.

“Geno, come on it’s not the time.” Crosby half whined, turning on him; a pleading look in his eyes.

“Stay away from her.” I growled, wondering if I would get a clean shot at him before Crosby intercepted me.

“See… he know. I tell you she would tell him.” I had to figure it out on my own actually… I didn’t need him to know that though. I nodded instead.

Gonchar and Crosby looked uncomfortable; tensing for any action that might erupt.

“She gonna pick me.” He stated, causing me to take another step towards him. Crosby’s hand came up against my chest, gently holding me back.

“She’s with me. If she wanted you, she’d be with you-” I started.

“She was. After you drunk… she with me. Ask her, she tell you.” He gave me a smug smile and turned to leave. Relief crossed Crosby’s face as he watched him walk away. He gave me an apologetic smile and turned to follow his friends. How did he know I was drunk? Was he at the bar? I turned and headed back into the hotel.
Ok, this doesn’t matter. She’s with me. If she wanted him she’d be with him… she loves me. She’d never go near him again if I asked. I shouldn’t though, I should trust her but… I’ll ask. I have to.
I went straight to over to Dean, who was gathering people on the couches. I sat down and tried to calm myself down. I was going to ask her I had to. I had to hear to say she’d never go near him again. It’s gonna make me feel like an asshole, but I have to… and if she says no? If she says no… I’ll still stay.
God Carlie, please don’t say no…