Physical Therapy

Geno’s POV

Oh my God, we did it. We went undefeated and won. I am so happy with this medal around my neck and trophy in my hands. All I want to do is celebrate with Roxy, hopefully without clothes. I really needed this, after getting kicked out of the playoffs by Philly. We get back into the locker room and the Champaign is popped and flowing. The doors open a few minutes later to reveal some of the wives and family. It is one big party by this time so I stand up on the locker to look for Roxy. I see her come in with Max and my family.

“Rox!” I yell over the crowd and her head snaps to me. She has the biggest smile on her face and tears in her eyes. I climb down and make my way to her. We meet in the middle and she attacks me with a hug. I pick her up and spin her around.

“You did it! I knew you would!” he says into my ear. “I am so proud of you! I love you so much!” her words warm my heart and I show her. I pull her face to mine and give her a passionate kiss; it is only a tap on the shoulder that makes me pull away. I see my mom and dad with smiles on their faces. I let go of Roxy to give them hugs, they tell me they are proud and that they will see us later.

“What do you want to do now?” Roxy asks me after I have gotten dressed.

“I want a burger then you naked” I say without batting an eye. She just laughs and shakes her head. We head out into the night looking for a fast food restaurant. After getting our burgers we head back to the hotel. “I missed burgers” I say after have eaten mine.

“Yeah, they are good” she says and finished up hers. “Now for phase two, wait here” she says before going into the bathroom. A few minutes later I hear the door open and see her standing there in my jersey with my medal around her neck.

“You are so sexy” I breathe out.

“So are you, but I think you are wearing too many clothes” she says before unbuttoning my shirt and pulling it off my shoulders. I work on my pants and get them off for her. “So Mr. Malkin, Mr. Champion, so you want the jersey on or off?”

“I want you naked, so off. You can keep the medal on” I say with a wink.

“I knew you would like it” she whispers before pulling the jersey off.

“Fuck” I say seeing that she was naked underneath, my gold medal hanging perfectly between her boobs. She climbs into my lap with a smile and I knew I was in trouble.

“Baby, you better hold on tight because we are going on a wild ride” she says into my ear.

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“I thought we were going back home after?” Roxy says as we pack our bags before going to Russia for the parade and ceremony.

“We were but we won so now to Russia.”

“How long?”

“A week?” I say with a shrug.

“Fine” she says and I know she wants to go home but I have to do this.

We get checked out and to the airport for our flight. We get on our plane and get settled in before takeoff.

“One week and then back home?” she asks

“Yes, I promise” I say

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“Welcome to Russia” I say to her as we land.

“That didn’t take long” she says as she stretches. “So, what is on the schedule?”

“Parade tomorrow and ceremony. Visit prime minister next day. Visit children” I say thinking of the things we need to do.

“Like at an orphanage?” she asks

“Yeah or hospital”

“I don’t think I can go there without either crying or adopting one” she says

“It is hard but they love it” I say as we get our stuff and get off the plane.

“You are the sweetest man I know” she says and hooks her arm with mine as we walk down the hallway. Just trying to get out of the airport was a miracle, people stopping me every few minutes asking for a picture or autograph. I complied with as much as I could take before apologizing and getting out of there.

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“This is Moscow apartment” I say as I open the door.

“This is beautiful” she says as she walks around. “Oh my god! This view is amazing!”

“Yeah, big reason I got this place” I say standing behind her and wrapping my arms around her.

“I love it. It is so you” she says leaning back on me.

“What mine is yours” I say with a smile then my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to find a text from Sergei asking if I was home yet. “Sergei wants to meet you”

“Your best friend? He is here?” she says sounding a little scared.

“He lives one floor up” I say and pull her to the door after texting him back saying we are coming up. We make it to their apartment and I open the door like usual.

“Ev, how many times do I have to tell you that is rude!” she whisper yells at me.

“It fine, they family” I say with a shrug.

“They?”

“Da Sergei, Xenia, Natalie, and Victoria”

“Evgeni!” I hear from the kitchen then little feet racing to me. “Uncle G! Uncle G!”

“Who are you? Not my girls!” I say and crouch down for hugs.

“It’s us!” they say jumping into my arms. “We missed you” Natalie says with a pout.

“I miss you too” I say standing back up. “Natalie, Victoria this is Roxy” I say and put my arm around her.

“No more Oksana?” Victoria asks.

“No more Oksana” I say

“Good, she scared me” Natalie says and Roxy laughs.

“Hi” Roxy says with a smile.

“Do you love uncle G?” Natalie asks and I can tell she is trying to ‘protect me’.

“I do love uncle G, with all my heart.” Roxy says back with a smile.

“I like you” Victoria says with a smile and hugs her legs.

“Thank you” Roxy says but Natalie is still trying to figure her out. We make our way to the kitchen where Xenia is making something on the stove. I go over and give her a kiss on the head and a hug.

“We have missed you Evgeni” she says in Russian and before I can stop her she is asking about Roxy in Russian. “So, is this one for real? She is cute”

I look to Roxy with a smile on my face and nod at her to answer. “I sure hope so. If not, I have wasted months and brain space on him.” she says back in Russian with a smile. I see a growing smile on Natalie’s face but she washes it away when she notices me looking.

“I like you!” Sergei says from the cutting board he is using. I see Roxy’s shoulders relax a little at the admission.

“Me too” I say and grab her around the waist pulling her into a hug.

“So what are your plans for the summer?” Sergei asks

“We are spending the week here then we are going back to Pittsburgh for a couple of days before going down to Florida for two weeks. Then back here for the rest of the summer to train.” I say in my native tongue finding it easier.

“Florida?” Xenia asks

“That is where I am from. We are visiting my family” Roxy answers back in English.

“How did you end up in Pittsburgh?” she asks

“Well…” We spent the rest of the afternoon switching stories and some in my expense from when I lived with them.

“Okay, okay time to go home.” I say standing from the couch. We make our way to the door but before we can go I feel a pull on my arm.

“Uncle G,” Natalie says and pulls me down to her level so she can talk into my ear. “Roxy is nice. I guess she can stay” she says in a whisper.

“Thank you Natalie” I say because I know she is serious. We make our way back to the apartment.
“Natalie says you can stay” I say to Roxy and see her light up.

“Really? I thought she hated me”

“She is protective. She like little sister to me” I say with a shrug. “You grow on her. She approve”

“Well I am glad I got the approval of a 10 year old”

“Her opinion is big”

“I know and I am happy she likes me. We are going to have to order out, there is no food here” she says looking through the cupboards. After finding some takeout menus in a drawer we order dinner then settle in for some TV.

“What’s wrong?” I ask when she massages her temple.

“I had no idea. Is this how it feels back home?” she asks pointing to the TV.

“How what feels?”

“Watching TV shows and movies, they talk so fast and I can’t follow at all” she says with a frustrated sigh and puts her food on the coffee table.

“Yeah, it gets better”

“I’m getting a headache” she says getting up and grabbing her laptop from her bag. “I’m just going to check my email then go to bed”

“Okay, I be there soon” I say flipping through the channels and watch her walk into the bedroom. I stay up for a while and when I finally go into the bedroom I find Roxy curled in a ball asleep with still one hand on the laptop. I move the laptop and put her under the covers without waking her and then get ready for bed.

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“This week has been crazy” Roxy says as we get comfortable in our seats before takeoff.

“Long ride back” I say thinking of the upcoming plane ride.

“Good thing I have you to keep me company” she says and kisses my cheek. I am trying to play it cool and not let on that I am keeping secrets from her.

This past week I have been in contact with Sid, Sarah, her parents, and my parents. I called my parents to talk marriage, her parents to ask if it was okay to marry their daughter, Sarah for ring advice, and Sid to calm me down. Sarah has been sending me pictures of rings from jewelry stores in Pitt but nothing has looked right.

“Are you okay?” she asks looking concerned.

“Yeah, long week, just tired.” I say and fake a yawn.

“It is a long trip so try to sleep some” she says and gets ready for takeoff. We take off and about an hour in she falls asleep and I pull out my laptop to email Sarah. We get free internet in first class, one of the perks. She has sent me some more pictures of rings but none are looking right to me. When I imagine the ring I want to give to her I don’t see anything huge but not too small. It can’t be overpowering or understated. In other words I have no idea but I will when I see it, I hope. Sarah and I plan to go out on Tuesday to look at rings.

Another thing I have been thinking about is the actual proposal. I know she doesn’t want on any holiday or to be too sappy but I want it to be special. Sarah has already vetoed three ideas and Sid is no help what so ever. I close down my laptop before it dies and move the arm rest to get comfortable with Roxy.

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“So do you have any idea what you want?” Sarah asks me as we look around the third jewelry store.

“For third time, I know when I see it” I say with a sigh. We spend another forty minutes in there and just as we are about to leave I see it. “That’s it” I say pointing it out to Sarah.

“Wow,” she says and covers her mouth “That is the one, I can see it on her finger” she says and asks the sales woman to pull it out.

“This one is beautiful in a platinum setting, with a marquise cut halo diamond, this meaning one diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds, and diamonds on the band.” She says and hands it to me.

“She will love it” Sarah says

“What size?” the sales woman asks

“Oh um,” I say and look to Sarah.

“She is a size 6 ½” Sarah says.

“Well let me go to the back and see if we have one, if not I can order it for you” she says before disappearing behind a door.

“You think we can get it by Friday?” I ask

“If not you can send it to Florida” she says.

“Well you are lucky” the woman comes back holding a box in her hand. “If you will just follow me I can ring you up, no pun intended.” She says with a laugh. I don’t get it but Sarah laughs so I just smile. We move to the register and I think she is a little surprised when I don’t blink when she says the price. I just hand her the card and wait to sign the receipt.

I walk out of the store with my bag and the biggest smile on my face.

“Well I need to put in a couple of hours at work so I will see you later” Sarah says as we reach our cars.

“See you later” I say and get in my car. On the way home I think about a place to hide the box that she won’t find it accidentally. By the time I pull into the garage I have decided the top of the closet is the best bet. Before going inside I ditch the bag and stick the box in my pocket.

“Hey babe, how is Sid?” she asks from the living room.

“Good, be right back” I say and dart up the stairs to our bedroom. After hiding the box I get back down stairs to see Roxy doing yoga in the living room.

“I’m almost done, have you had lunch?” she asks as I sit down and watch her.

“Nope” I say watching her show off her flexibility. “Love outfit” I say looking at her tight yoga pants and sports bra. I love that it shows off her flat stomach and gorgeous curves. “Sexy”

“What it so sexy about me sweating like a pig?” she says turning around and facing me.

“Looks like just had sex” I say with a smirk and see her flush.

“Ev! No I do not!” She says while rolling up her mat and turning the DVD off.

“Want me to show you?” I say pulling her into my lap when she gets close enough.

“No! I need food and to start packing for Florida” she says and gets out of my lap.

“Fine but I show you tonight” I say following her into the kitchen.

“I’m sure you will” she is making sandwiches for us. “You are going to train extra hard while down with my family.” She says with a laugh.

“Why?”

“It is the south, a lot of fried food and there is butter in almost everything. I can’t wait to see how Sid reacts” she says with a laugh and I laugh myself thinking about him and how he is. “But a good thing is you probably won’t even get noticed, not even Sid.”

“Really? But there is hockey there?” I say thinking about the two teams from Florida.

“That is south Florida, where I am from is about an hour from Alabama. You guys are in for a culture shock” she says with a laugh.

“Well I can’t wait to see where you grow up” I say

“I can’t wait to go back home” she says with a sad smile. “But this is my home now, with you”

“I love you” I say and give her a kiss between bites.

“I love you too” she says with a smile.