Chapter 21

Geno had obeyed me; at least, I believed he had. I hadn't seen him or heard from him since the night I sent the text to him, signalling the end of our communication.
He hadn't tried to come and see me, even though he knew where I was. Part of me was glad for that, but part of me was sad too... that part I tried to ignore.

Life continued on much as it did at the try-outs. We ate, slept and played hockey; returning to our rooms exhausted at night.
Mattie and I had had sex every night since our reconciliation; although I was mentally and physically exhausted, I had no conscious to tell him no - not after he had let me off the hook so easily.
It seemed like things were back to normal for us; after all only Consti had ever known about my betrayal, and luckily for me he wasn't one to gossip.
Mattie carried on as if nothing had ever happened. He played his part well, skilfully almost; the loving, dutiful boyfriend - but there was something else underneath the surface. I couldn't be sure if it was mistrust, sadness, jealousy or disgust; but at times when his eyes lingered on me I could see something else pooling behind his eyes.


Aaron, Jake and I had been swimming; enjoying one of our precious moments of freedom before the games officially started tomorrow. We were heading through the lobby, on our way back to our floor when I saw them...
Mattie and Geno.

Mattie had his back to me, but Geno's eyes found mine automatically. His eyes stared deep into me, even from across the room his eyes were so intense that I had to look away. I looked back up in time to see Geno give Mattie a pat on the shoulder before turning and leave out the front doors.
Mattie turned around, the emotion now present on his face was unrecognizable; he looked up and saw me. He gave me a weak smile and headed towards me. "Umm... guys, I'm gonna go talk to Mattie, I'll see you in a bit..." They nodded goodbyes and headed up towards the elevator.
I made a b-line for Mattie; taking his hand in mine and dragging him towards the stairs. “So… what was that about?”

Mattie’s POV

“Ah… I’m assuming you mean my talk with Evgeni?” I asked, already knowing the answer, as I walked beside her up the stairs.

“Yah… I hope he wasn’t being… rude or anything…”

“No, actually, the opposite.” I sighed, figuring she’d find out about it sooner or later. “See… we had this run in the other day… and kind of went at it a bit-”

“Oh Mattie! I hope he didn’t hurt you or-” She cut me off; but I continued on above her.

“No, nothing like that, just words. Apparently after he calmed down a bit he felt like a jerk and decided he needed to explain himself.” We walked up the last two flights in silence; I could tell she wanted to ask me what he said but, luckily she didn’t push me.
Even though I wasn’t being forced to repeat it out loud, I couldn’t stop replaying it in my head:

He had marched through the front doors and intercepted me as I was making my way out of the dinning hall.
“Hey! You, me, talk.” He signalled with his hands as he spoke; pointing to each one of us in turn. Great, he’s going to kill me…“My English not so long…”

“You’re kidding? I never noticed…” I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Huh?”

“Never mind, what do you want?”

He looked confused and uncomfortable. He was wearing a suit and tie; the latter he kept fiddling with, like it was on too tight or he wasn’t use to it. He looked around like he was trying to avoid a scene, but he eventually decided the lobby was private enough; before he took a step towards me. “I sorry about… ah… last day… I not good to say this things to you.”

“Are you gonna apologise for kissing my girlfriend too?”

“No.” I glared at him incredulously, he shrugged in response, like it was no big deal. “I love Carlie. I not say sorry for this. Maybe… it not good time but, I not sorry.”

I cocked my head to the side and watched him for a minute. Hell, at least he’s honest. “Well, don’t kiss her again…” I threatened half-heartedly, God, why the hell does he have to be so frigging big!

“I no kiss until she say ok.” He nodded, giving me a crooked grin. “You good kid, I don’t like you to be bad relationship but… I like to win girl.” I couldn’t help but smile at this. Maybe it was because he was bigger than the Jolly Green Giant, or maybe it was because he actually seemed to be a nice guy; whatever it was I found my anger starting evaporate. Great, so he’s famous, rich and nice… fuck me.

We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes before his eyes caught something behind me. “She here now, I go.” He patted my shoulder before he turned and walked out the way he came.




Carlie had changed her mind about going out to the bar, again; for the tenth time that day. I could tell she wanted to, but she felt too guilty about what had happened; like staying in one night would make me forget about it.
I left with Consti, telling myself that my absence would allow her the privacy she so desperately needed; that and I wasn’t gonna watch SAW again - movie creeped me out. At least that's what I had told her, but guilty as it made me feel, I knew I needed to get out for a bit; clear my head.


I wasn’t sure what I was feeling anymore; so I drank, a lot. I played some millennium with Consti, followed by a few rounds of ‘I never’. Pretty soon I was drunk enough that dancing seemed like a good idea, and I spent a long time trying to perfect the moon-walk; which would have been hard enough sober.
After giving up on that I joined Consti and some girls at the bar for a few porn-stars.
My face felt flushed and I could tell by the amount of weight I needed to keep on the bar that I was tanked. I looked around for the exit when my eyes fell upon an unwelcome sight. Evgeni Malkin and friends were sitting up in the VIP lounge, again. Shit, don’t you guys ever go home? I thought as I looked away quickly.

Why did he have to be here? Out of every bar in the whole Russia… place… he had to come to this one! I turned back around and glared at him. Look at him, with all those slutty bimbos all over him. Any one of them would take him home but nooo, he has to like my girlfriend, MY girlfriend.
Fuck, they’re all pretty too. I took a peek around the VIP, every girl looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine. Are you kidding me? No wonder Carlie likes him… she’d probably be better off with him anyway I mean, what the hell do I have to offer that he doesn’t.
I play hockey… oh right, he’s way fucking better than I’ll ever be.
I have money… oh right, right, he’s a millionaire… why not!
Look wise… well, the only girl that ever liked me… made out with him and now he’s got girls all over him… fuck my life.

I grabbed a bottle of something off the bar and kicked it back, letting the burning liquid take my mind away from my inadequacies as it forced it’s way down my throat.
I slammed it back down on the bar once it was empty and shoved myself off the bar stool, knocking in to someone.
“Oh! Are you ok?” The girl grabbed me and pushed me back onto the stool. Her accent was thick.

“Where are you from?” I slurred at her. “You got a accent…”

“Umm, I’m from Russia…” She replied, giggling. Of course she was… wow I’m stupid.

“Oh… that’s good.” I replied, not too sure if she could even hear me. She was a pretty girl, maybe. I couldn’t see her too well but she was pretty stacked and they were about to pop out at me…

“So you play for Team America?” She giggled, pushing a finger underneath my chin and pulling my face up.

“What?”

“You play hockey?”

“I guess so…” I looked around the bar, trying to remember who I’d come here with.

“You loose your friends?” She asked, this time moving closer to me; until the girls were squished against my chest.

“Uh… I don’t know who I was here with.” I answered honestly, starting to not care about anything but the set of tits in front of me. Hmm… I’m suppose to be thinking about… something else right now. I started to get a bad feeling in my gut; causing me to move away from the girl in front of me.
How the hell did I even get here? I looked back down at her tiny red shirt again; Ok, need to stop doing that probably, I shouldn’t have drank so much… think Mattie, where were you going…

She pushed herself up against me again, this time placing her cool hands on each cheek and pulling me closer. Her lips pressed up against mine; all I could taste was the assortment of liquor I had consumed that night.
I wrapped my arms around her waste and pulled her closer, forcing my tongue inside her mouth.
On their own accord my hands started to wander, one moving down towards her ample ass, the other moving north to the tiny shirt she was wearing.
One part of my mind was saying something about a public place, the other was screaming something about a pretty brunette that was waiting for me… somewhere… but those thoughts were pushed aside as I felt a hand begin to slide under my waistband.

Gigantic hands landed on my shoulders and pulled me away from the warmth of her body. I tried to shove them off but they tugged on me more viciously; spinning me around until I face-to-chest with a huge guy. I looked up to see a glare firing back down at me. “No.” Was all he said before he grabbed my upper arm and lead me away from the boobs.

“What the fuck man?” I slurred as I tripped over my feet.

“I say no. She do this to you but you not hurt her, I say no.” He lead me to the door and dragged me out into the freezing night air; dumping me on a nearby bench. “I no care if she hurt you. You move on or go away. You don’t come here and do this, I won’t let you.” He was furious, pacing back and forth in front of me, every now and then, running his hands over his hair.
I slumped over, allowing the breeze to wake me up a bit as I watched him. I don’t like this guy… I thought as he marched back and forth, muttering to himself in gibberish. He took me away from that girl… that’s not why though… I shrugged my shoulders and closed my eyes, oh well.


When I opened my eyes everything was upside down and I was bouncing uncomfortably. I lifted my head up and tried to get my bearings, but was unsuccessful; allowing myself to flop back down.
I loud bang and a girl voice signalled into my unconscious, telling me something needed my attention; but sleep was calling louder.
I felt my body shifting until something soft landed under my back. Soft muttering was coming from everywhere around me but I was too tried to try and understand it.
Opting instead to drift off to sleep.