She Makes Me Wanna

“Alright, alright, alright! Settle down you animals!” Kris called, trying to get the group sitting in his living room to settle down.

“Ow, ow! Yeah Tanger!” Jordan called, but Kris ignored the comment.

“Okay, so today was our first game of the season. We won 4 nothing over Winnipeg, so that’s a damn good start, eh boys? Now, we all did our fair share, but I think we really gotta give it up to the dynamic duo over there, Sidney and Emily. Holy shit guys, all four goals had your names on them,” Kris said, holding his beer up to us. Sidney and I both shrugged, but apparently being humble wasn’t smiled upon in the Letang apartment because I was immediately pulled up by Gronk and a beer was shoved into my hand.

“Speech!” Flower called from the couch a few feet away, and I flipped him off.

“Come on rookie, say something!” Aaron Asham yelled from his seat on the stool of the island in Tanger’s kitchen. I rolled my eyes, took a sip of the beer, and cleared my throat.

“Alright, you guys want a rookie speech?” I asked. The guys cheered, so I sighed heavily and bit my lip for a moment.

“Okay. So tonight was an absolutely fan-fucking-tastic start to the season. Captain, you did a great job, and I really owe all of you for showing me the ropes during the pre season. I plan on staying in Pittsburgh for as long as possible, and I hope you guys want me to stay too, ‘cause I’m not going out easily. Flower, you played a damn good game, kept our net safe, and uh…Tanger is a douche. That’s all,” I said before sitting back down on the couch next to Jack. Jack gave me a high five as the apartment burst into laughter once more.

“Alright lady and gentlemen, let’s have fun tonight!” Tanger roared, and someone turned the music up almost immediately.

“Nice speech,” I heard someone say, and I jumped before turning around to see Sidney grinning behind me. He took a sip of whatever was in his red solo cup, and raised his eyebrows.

“This is the most disgusting beer I’ve ever had…Tanger, why’d you buy girl beer?” Sidney said, screaming the last part in Kris’s direction.

“Well it’s for the two ladies here…you and Emily!” he retorted, and Sidney rolled his eyes.

A few hours later, after the alcohol consumption had slowed a bit, Kris demanded that everyone sit in the center of his living room once more. He turned off the radio, and as he did so I had a feeling I was in for something quite interesting.

“Okay, so for everyone here who’s been here more than once, you guys all know that the first home game after party of the season ends with Twenty Questions. Rookies, the rules are simple. I pick someone to go first, and they spin the bottle. When the bottle stops moving, whoever the bottle is pointing to has to answer whatever question the spinner asks honestly. Then, once they’re done being thoroughly embarrassed, they get to spin and ask the next question. Sound good?” Kris explained, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Isn’t this a kid’s game?” I asked.

“We’re all a bunch of big kids really,” Geno shrugged from a few feet away. A few seconds later Kris was spinning the bottle, and it landed on Marc-Andre. Flower groaned and took a long sip of his beer before standing up.

“Alright you little fuck face…if you could get with any guy on the planet, who would it be?” Kris asked, a smirk forming on his face. Flower groaned again and ran a hand through his long hair before sighing heavily.

“Any guy? Erm…Sacha Cohen?” Flower said finally, and everyone began to laugh again. I looked at Jake, who rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Not who I would have chosen,” he chuckled in my ear, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Ew dude, the guy from Talladega Nights and Borat?” Asham cried between bouts of laughter. Flower shrugged and picked up the bottle, while Tanger occupied his seat. The bottle spun quickly, and when it finally came to stop I bit back a groan of my own. The bottle was facing me. A chorus of “oohhhhs” sounded throughout the living room.

“Let’s go rookie!” Kris cheered, and everyone began clapping and cheering “rookie”. I stood up, handed Jack my beer, and took a deep breath.

“Ne votre pire! (Do your worst!)” I said, holding my head up high. Marc bent down so that he was almost eye level with me, and I immediately regretted the statement.

“Okay…so, if you had to sleep with one guy on this team, who would it be?” he asked. I swallowed roughly, and felt a slight blush creep into my cheeks. Of course he would ask me that…I mean, I’m the only girl on the team…fantastic. What do I say? Do I pull the lesbian card? But then they’ll take it seriously and think I’m a lesbian and…well… My mind raced as I looked around the room. However, before I could bite it back, my eyes fell on Sidney.

“Captain,” I blurted out, my face burning as I did so. I immediately shook my head so that my bangs hid part of my face and stared at my shoes.

“I’m jealous Sidney!” Gronk chirped, and my face flushed even further. Instead of making a further ass of myself, I simply spun the bottle, and it landed on Gronk.

“Alright Jordan…marry, fuck, and kill…um…Geno, Flower, and Tanger. Go,” I said. Jordan made a face, thought for a moment, and then chuckled.

“That is definitely more awkward than the last question…I’d marry Flower, fuck Tanger, and kill Geno. Sorry bro, but Tanger would be more fun and Flower is too precious to kill,” he laughed before taking the bottle from me. I sat in his place, and as the laughter echoed through the room once more I felt a lot better about my response than I had before.

A few of the guys were passed out on the floor by the time I got ready to head back to my hotel room. I hugged Jack tightly, gave Gronk a high five, and thanked Kris for having me. However, right before I was about to slip through the door, a large body got in my way.

“Not going to say goodbye to me, huh?” Sidney asked, his arms folded over his chest. I grinned sheepishly before hugging him tightly.

“Sorry Sid, I didn’t see you so I assumed you passed out somewhere. Bye!” I said before darting around him and heading down the stairs.

***

“Bye,” I said, but by the time I was able to form the word, Emily had already vanished down the hall.