My Arranged Marriage to Sidney Crosby

Disclaimer: Only own my characters. The Pittsburgh Penguins belong to the talented Mario Lemieux.

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Chapter Seven

“Hey Hunter- this is Max Talbot.” Sidney said, not bothering to get up from the couch to introduce me to his friend. Max stood up as soon as he had seen me and took my hand, kissing it.

“It’s nice to meet you Hunter.” He said.

I laughed, “My name is Jessica, but call me Jess. Crosby boy calls me Hunter.” I told him, smiling.

“Well then Jess, it’s nice to meet you.” Max said.

“You as well.”

Max went back to his seat on the couch as I took a seat on one of the chairs, getting comfy. I saw a book sitting on the bookshelf behind me that was opened upside down and picked it up. I looked over at Crosby and Max and saw that Max was watching the T.V. while Crosby watched me. He looked back at the television and I at the book. I started to read where, I figured Sidney left off, and didn’t exactly concentrate on the words. Every so often I would look up and see Crosby looking at me. Max would yell at the T.V. about something that a ref had said and Crosby would join in with him. Max would then look at me and smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. He was a cute boy, but I could tell he was a major player.

“So, Jess how long have you known Sid?” Max asked me, during a commercial.

“For too long.” I told him.

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Yea, we’ve known each other since we were babies. He was always the annoying jerk who showed off all the time.” I said.

“Oh, now we get to hear the real truth. I’ve always heard he was the perfect kid.”

“Perfect kid? Please, we’re talking about the boy who dipped my hair in blue paint that wouldn’t come out for weeks.”

“Sounds to me like someone had a crush on a certain someone.”

“Oh please,” Sidney said, “This is coming from the girl who would break my toys and try to beat me up.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t so annoying and mean.”

“And I’m guessing the fighting never ended.” Max said.

“Still can’t stand him one bit.” I told him.

“But you’re staying with him?” he asked.

I nodded, “Yea sounds crazy right?”

“Just a tad,” Max said, “But things can change over time. Hey! You should come to dinner with me and some of the guys tonight.”

“Oh that sounds like it would be fun,” I said looking at Sidney who gave me a look that said shut up, “Don’t you think Sid? It would be nice to meet some of your teammates.” I smiled sweetly at him.

“Oh I don’t know, I mean we have so much to do and so little time.” He said.

“Like what?” I asked him. I really wanted to meet some of the guys on his team and figure out what he was really like. I had only ever known him as the Sidney Crosby who was an ass and never anything else.

“Oh well you know- things.” He said, glaring at me to shut my mouth.

I smiled even more, “What things Sid?”

“Just picking up a few stuff.” He said, trying to think up something clever.

“Well I’m sure it won’t take too long. We’ll probably have enough time to have dinner with your friends.”

I heard him sigh and smiled in triumph, “Alright. What time are you having dinner?”

Max laughed and winked at me, “Oh I would say about seven-ish. The usual place.”

“Alright, we’ll be there. We might be a little late though.” Sidney told Max, breaking his glare with me.

“That’s fine man, no worries. Just don’t show up two hours late or anything ridiculous like that.” Max joked.

“Alright Max, now if you want me and Jess to get to dinner somewhat on time you should be going.” Sidney said.

“Well that wasn’t rude.” I said sarcastically to myself.

“It’s fine Jess, he does this all the time,” Max said, “I’ll be going. Can’t wait to see you later tonight.” He told me, taking my hand once again and kissing it.

“It was nice to meet you Max.” I called to him as he walked out the door.

Sidney walked back into the living room and gave me one look and I knew what was coming. He sat back down on the couch and turned off the television, but remained silent the whole time.

Okay, so maybe I didn’t know what was coming, “Are you mad at me now?” I asked, deciding to go out on a limb. Maybe if I apologized, for what I don’t know, but maybe if I said sorry first we wouldn’t get into a huge fight that would end badly.

“No.” he said, then looked back at the television and turned it on.

I sighed, I knew he was lying. I got up from the chair I was sitting in and walked over to Sidney. I sat down on the couch and tried to get Sidney to look at me. He pretended like I wasn’t there and I scooted closer towards him. He still pretended that I wasn’t there and I got fed up. I brought my feet up on the couch and decided to relax. My legs were sprawled out next to me and I rested my head on Sidney’s shoulder.

I could tell he was shocked but I simply closed my eyes and waited. He didn’t say anything for the longest time but then I heard him take a deep breath and he shifted his position. He put his arm around me and leaned back on the couch, slouching as well. I kept my eyes closed and waited some more.

When nothing was said I also shifted my position to make myself more comfortable. Sidney started to rub circles on my arm. I didn’t complain and would have fallen asleep if I hadn’t heard Sidney begin to talk.

“I’m not mad at you Jessica; you just frustrate me at times,” I was about to say something, but Sidney continued, “That’s how it has always been.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I remained silent trying to think of some response. Nothing came to me.

After a minute or so I heard him start to talk again.

“You have always driven me crazy. Everything you do you always have the attention of everyone. Everywhere you go you gain the attention of everybody. It’s always about you and I guess I didn’t like that. I always felt that I was in the background when you were around so I started to fight with you. I didn’t want you around and I didn’t want to be around you.” He said.

That’s when I knew what to say. I sat up, but not much, “That’s not true. I do not get attention everywhere I go from everyone I know.”

“You’re awake?” Sidney asked me and then sighed, “It’s not just the people you know. Have you ever noticed that whenever you walk in a room everyone turns to look at you? I mean you could be on the metro and everyone would turn to stare at you.”

“That’s not true,” I told him, trying to look him in the eye, “No one even blinks an eye when I enter a place.”

“When we go to dinner tonight I bet you almost everyone in that place, especially my teammates, will be watching your every move as soon as you walk through that door.”

“What are we betting on?” I asked.

“How about if I am proven right then…”

“Don’t make it bland like you normally do. Make things interesting.”

“Are you feeling that confident about the whole thing?”

“Of course I am.” I said, crossing my arms.

“Alright then, if you’re wrong and I’m right then let’s say… you have to spend one full week with me. And if I’m wrong and you’re right then I won’t bother you for a week.”

“And what exactly do you mean by spending one full week with you? I want to know what I’m getting into before I agree.”

“You sleep in my room. With me,” he said, “Like any married couple would.”

“Except for the fact that we aren’t married,” I told him, “In fact I don’t even have a ring to prove that we’re supposed to be getting married.”

“Fine, then like quite a few engaged couples do. And just because you don’t have a ring doesn’t mean that we aren’t getting married.”

“I know. Fine. You’ve got a deal.” I said. I knew I was right and a week of Sidney not bothering me sounded great.

I offered him my hand and he took it and we shook.

“Deal.” He said.