No One Belongs Here More Than You

I raced around the house, fixing a few last minute things before I had to leave to meet with Maria. We were meeting for coffee at a Starbucks not far from Evgeni’s apartment, and then I was going from the Starbucks to the airport. I had called Sidney, who had arranged a ticket for me, and I was surprising Evgeni by showing up to Game 4 of their series. Once I decided that everything as in order, I grabbed my bag, walked out of the apartment, locked the door, and threw my bag in the trunk of my car. My pocket was going to ache after buying a last minute flight to Philadelphia, but I was so excited to see Evgeni that I didn’t care. I was beaming at the thought of him as I walked into the Starbucks, and I almost yelped as I was glomped by a tiny brunette.

“Ashley!” Maria cried, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back and smiled.

“Maria! How are you? You’re still as bubbly as ever, huh?” I asked as she released me from her tight hug. She nodded, her dark eyes smiling as she examined me closely.

“Damn girl, the years have been kind to you!” she chuckled, and I nodded feverishly.

“Yeah, and to you too. You look great!” I smiled. I had always thought she was a pretty girl in high school, but now she was absolutely gorgeous. Maria had been the closest thing I ever had to a best friend growing up. Her parents let me work under the table at their Italian restaurant, and I knew that they had been the ones to call the police a few times after my dad roughed me up. Maria was the spitting image of her mother, with thick, brown hair so dark it was almost black, spilling down her back in heavy, natural curls. Her face was heart shaped, gorgeously tanned, and she had full, red lips that were always smiling. She was a little Italian goddess, as we used to call her. We chatted for a while, and then she suddenly got serious.

“Ashley, I heard that you just graduated from Pitt with an English degree…is that true?” she asked. I nodded and sipped my coffee.

“You bet. It wasn’t easy, but I did it,” I said.

“The real reason I came out here to meet with you was to offer you a job at my father’s publishing warehouse out here. He needs an editor desperately, but he wants someone close to the action. If you take the job, you’d be here in Pittsburgh still, and the work load wouldn’t be too heavy, probably two, maybe three books, at a time. You know how he is,” Maria explained.

“Always careful to publish the right thing at the right time and not too many things at once,” I nodded, knowing her father’s system perfectly well.

“Exactly. So, will you take the job?” Maria asked. Her eyes were bright and excited. She shared her father’s fervor for business, and I suddenly understood why she had pursued a degree in business instead of English. I toyed with a napkin on the table, quickly racking up the pros and cons in my head. After a few minutes of thought, I slowly nodded.

“I’ll take the job,” I said finally, and Maria squealed with delight.

“Oh my gosh, my dad will be so happy! I’ll call you the next time we’re in the ‘Burgh, and we can arrange a contract with you,” she said. I grinned.

“That sounds great. I’m really sorry I couldn’t stay longer,” I said, feeling truly sorry.

“Where do you have to rush off to anyway?” Maria asked curiously.

“Philadelphia,” I said with a small smile.

“Who’s in Philly? Don’t think I don’t see that smile girl!” Maria teased, and I sighed.

“My boyfriend is in Philly right now. He’s got a huge game tomorrow night, and I wanted to surprise him by showing up. His friend got me a ticket, and I got myself the plane ticket, and a cheap hotel room. I’m essentially broke after this, but it’s worth it,” I explained with a huge grin.

“Don’t tell me your boyfriend is a Penguin!” Maria hissed, leaning across the table with interest.

“He is,” I smirked.

“Which one?! Please don’t tell me it’s Crosby. That boy is a doll, so I’d just be jealous,” Maria chuckled, and I shook my head.

“Oh God no, I wouldn’t date Sid in a million years. Too much ass for me. I’m with Malkin,” I smiled, pulling out my phone. I showed her the background, which was a picture of me in his home jersey, riding on his back. We were both laughing, and we hadn’t realized that Marc had taken a picture of us until he sent it to my phone. Maria cooed.

“You two are so cute! I am really happy for you Ashley. I’m so glad you dumped that loser you were seeing before,” she said, and I nodded.

“Oh, he didn’t take that well at all,” I said quietly.

“I’m sure he didn’t. Well, you call me tonight and we can talk about it then. Don’t you have to get to the airport soon young lady?” Maria asked, standing up. I checked the time and then nodded.

***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***

I paced back and forth in the hotel room, gnawing on my lip nervously as I thought about the upcoming game. I had already taken my pre-game nap, and there was an hour before I had to head downstairs to get on the bus to the Wells Fargo Center with the guys. I tried to play some PSP, but I got bored, and I threw myself down onto the bed in defeat. I hated waiting for games. It was awful, and I missed having Ashley keep me occupied. I jumped out of my skin as someone knocked on the door, and I walked over and threw it open immediately.

“Hey Geno, I found something that belongs to you,” Sidney smirked. I raised my eyebrows and patted my pockets.

“I not lose anything,” I said, confused. Suddenly, Ashley stepped out from behind Sidney, grinning broadly.

“Ashley?!” I cried, and she hugged me tightly.

“I had to come see you play! Sid got me the ticket to the game, and I flew over yesterday evening,” she explained. I hugged her tightly, and picked her up off of the ground. I buried my face in her neck, and the sweet smell of cherries and coconuts wafted up from her hair.

“You should have told me you wanted to come. I would have paid for flight,” I muttered into her neck, and she just kissed my forehead.

“Nope, I wanted it to be a surprise. I know how you get before games, so I figured I should come visit you before to make sure you’re okay,” she smiled, and I finally put her down. Taking her hands in mine, I smiled and nodded.

“I’m okay now,” I smiled.

“Alright, well I’ll leave you two to it then…remember, NO SEX,” Sidney said, screaming the last part for everyone to hear. Ashley turned and kicked him straight in the ass, and I started to crack up.

“Got it Cappie,” she smirked, and Sidney disappeared into Gronk’s room, rubbing his butt and scowling. I swore I heard him mutter “it’s always the ass” as he walked away. I pulled Ashley from the hallway into my room and kicked the door shut quickly. I drew her to my chest and kissed her gently, but she instantly deepened the kiss, running her tongue along my bottom lip. I opened up to her, and our tongues searched each others’ mouths hungrily, and I felt myself getting extremely turned on. Ashley felt it too, because she smirked against my lips as I pulled her hips into mine. Her hands slipped into the waistband of my sweat pants and started to caress me gently. I moaned and kissed her even more hungrily. She was just as good with her hands as she was with the rest of her body, and I realized with a start that this was the first time I had ever let her do this. She pumped me so expertly that I wasn’t even able to warn her before I came, and I gave her an apologetic smile as she pulled her hands out of my pants. She quickly vanished into the bathroom and washed her hands before telling me to go clean myself up. I did as she asked, and then trotted back out into the bedroom. I was grateful that Sidney had left us alone, because I felt a whole lot better now that Ashley had…calmed me down a bit. She was sitting on my bed and patted the open spot next to her. I hopped into the bed and glanced at the clock. Forty minutes to go. Ashley cupped my face with her hands and pulled me towards her, kissing me gently. I smiled and kissed her back before running kisses down her jaw. She whimpered as I kissed the spot where her jaw met her neck, right under her ear, and I grinned before kissing it again. I ran my tongue against her soft skin, and nipped her neck gently. I knew that neck kissing turned her on, and I suddenly had the urge to do to her what she had done for me, but as my hands made their way towards the waistband of her jeans, she grabbed them and muttered a weak “no”. I pouted, but continued to kiss her neck, allowing my left hand to cup her face gently while my right hand brushed against her exposed hip. After a while, I stopped kissing her neck, and simply stared at her with a light smile on my face. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, and I smiled apologetically once more as I realized that I had given her a fairly large hickey. My gaze fell to her tight, black, faded V-neck Penguins shirt, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Where’d you get that?” I asked, running my finger along the edges of the triangle that the penguin was in. She shuddered as my finger ran against her breasts, and she clamped her hands down on mine once more, looking at me sternly.

“You better watch it Malkin, or you’re gonna wind up getting raped,” she growled suggestively.

“It’s not rape if you like it,” I smirked.

“It is rape if you’re not allowed to have sex until you win the Stanley Cup,” she purred, kissing the tip of my nose.

“Don’t say that! You’ll jinx,” I cried, and she immediately got wide eyed, and then launched herself across the bed, slamming her tiny fist against the wooden end table furiously.

“Sorry Evgeni!” she said, an apologetic smile creeping onto her face this time.

“It’s okay,” I said, pulling her to me once more. My heart thumped happily as she snuggled into my chest and kissed the base of my neck.

“I missed you,” I whispered, and she nodded in agreement.