From Boston to Pittsburgh With Love

Adriana P.O.V.

Late July

*******

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

I relished in the sweat pouring down my back and face. It felt like this was the once thing I could control right now, the amount of anger I could throw at this punching bag was the only thing was motivating me as these days in Prague droned on.

Since arriving in Prague three weeks ago I've spent nearly every day at the gym that was just blocks away from the estate. The trainer here was a friend of the my family and agreed to let me ditch "social classes" with my grandmothers friends to spend the day at the gym. I'd arrive at 8 am and spend close to four hours kicking and punching the anger I felt into the Everlast bag that hung from the ceiling. Following that another 2 hours I would spend biking of running. I would end the day with hot yoga to calm myself down, a trick I had picked up from Milan's wife Brittany.

As I grabbed a water break I noticed some different faces on the bikes in the corner of the gym. Two guys that looked to be in their mid 20's had huge smiles plastered on their faces as their joked with Jakub, the trainer. They were wearing black t-shirts that had the words "Penguin Nation" printed on the chest. I hadn't the slightest idea what that meant. I pushed them to the back of my mind as I thought of Milan and felt a surge of anger rush through me. I turned back to the back and lost myself in the throws of violence.

An hour later I felt the bag stiffen and looked up to find Jakub holding it in place for me with a sly grin on his face. I knew something was up so I immediately stopped hitting.

"What on earth is so important Jakub?" I asked wiping the sweat from my face with a rag and grabbing a drink.

"Oh nuthin-" Jakub said slyly.

"Then let me finish the workout.!" I said back.

"It's just that the guys over there where pretty impressed with your hitting skills. And they wanted to know if you'd come over and chat and yea know let them in on some trade secrets." He said with a wink as he walked back to the two grinning airheads in the corner.

I sighed and grabbed my rag as I walked over to the bike corner while attempting to wipe the sweat of my face and stomach. When I arrived the guys stopped talking at looked at me, each wearing shit faced grin. The first guy had a lopsided grin and curly brown hair, his jaw slightly lopsided from a previous injury. He jumped off the bike revealing that he was an inch shorter than me, and extended a hand.

"Sidney. Sidney Crosby." He said with a small smirk.

"Who are you James Bond?" I said with a laugh while shaking his hand.

He laughed and hopped back on the bike. I looked at the next guy sitting next to him. Something about his messy black hair and goofy grin made me want to grin from ear to ear. He hopped right off the bike in one swift movement and strode over extending on hand.

"Evgeni. But you call me Geno." He said in his thick Russian accent with a huge grin.

"Nice to meet you Sidney and Geno." I smiled, unable to keep my eyes off the Geno.

As I attempted to shake Geno's hand he flipped it over to the back side and brought it up to his lips and kissed it.

"We no get your name." Geno whispered looking into my eyes.

"Ooops, žao! I'm Adriana." I smiled up at the two of them, totally oblivious to Jakub smiling in the corner.

"Addy, these two dont speak Serb!" He said chuckling.

"Shit. Sorry, sorry was what i was trying to say."

"Like your accent. You're like Geno here!" Sidney said with a pat on Geno's shoulder.

I smiled at Geno, "I wasn't aware I had an accent. But I do speak a little Russian!"

The way his face lit up when he heard those words made my knees become absolute putty.

"REALLY?! I like you SO MUCH already!" He said in Russian grinning as he wrapped me in a tight bear hug

"Well boys, um it was nice to meet you. But unfortunately my time here today is up!" I said as I walked over to my bag and walked to the locker room, totally unable to control myself after meeting Geno.

******
Geno's P.O.V.

I had never seen someone like her before.
Sid and I had arrived in Prague two days prior. Sid thought it would be a good idea to have a "boys week" before we go back to Pittsburgh. He had heard of Jakub through some friends in the KHL and wanted to check out his gym. My expectations of this trip and been low and unpromising. That is until I saw Adriana pounding away at the Everlast bag in the gym that Tuesday afternoon in July.

"Shit. Geno check this girl out over there." Sid said bumping my shoulder and pointing to the other side of the gym.

There, pounding away at the bag in the corner was a girl. It's not often that I get to see girls kick ass like this. She stopped punching and turned around to wipe her face on a rag, thus revealing her face. As soon as she turned around I felt everything around me stop, she was absolutely stunning.

Sid, noticing no response coming from me took that as a sign to question Jakub about her. "Hey Jakub, who's the bad-ass over there?"

"Her? Oh that's Adriana Lucic!" Jakub said smirking at us. Something about his smirk made me want to throw him through a window.

"Wow...wait did you say LUCIC? Like Milan Lucic?!" Sidney asked wide-eyed to Jakub.

"Um...yes. The baby sister of Milan Lucic." Jakub said still staring at Adriana.

There was something about her that I couldn't shake off. "Um...what she like?" I asked quietly looking at Jakub.

"Oh hoh hoh! Go Geno!" Sid said with a smirk looking over at me on the bike.

I made no response. Just glared at Sid and turned back to Jakub. "Well...what she like?"

"Ha. Um well she's Milan's baby sister. Let's see, she's been here for like 2 months now. Spends every day here at the gym. Um, I think she's 25?" Jakub said turning to us and cranking up the dial on the bikes for us.

"So why is she in Prague?" Sid asked looking over at her.

"Oh well that's a long story. Ha. But the general gist of things is that Milan convinced his grandmother and mother that Boston and NHL were no place for his baby sister to be. Apparently he heard the Adriana was becoming close friends with some of his teammates, and thought the worst so he had her shipped over seas. Believe me there is way more to the story but every time she tells it she just gets pissed off and winds up punching that bag for hours." Jakub said.

What? That made absolutely no sense to me. How could Milan do this to his sister? I mean, I barely knew Milan except for the few moments were things would heat up on the ice. And I still didn't completely understand American traditions, but I did know that Milan had no right to decide what his sister's future was. It made me so angry to think that Milan forced his sister to leave America.

"Can we talk to her?" I asked quietly.

"Ha. Sure why not. Be right back." He said with a smirk towards me.

Something about him made me uneasy. "I no like him Sid."

"Yea he's a little sleazy but we won't be here forever Geno." Sid said patting my back as we continued to bike.

I noticed Jakub over with Adriana talking to her. I didn't like the way he stared at her...why was I feeling like this? It wasn't like she was my girlfriend, I had no claim on her. But when she sauntered over to the corner where Sid, Jakub and I stood this strange feeling come over me. It was as if everything around me didn't matter anymore. She was the only thing I cared about in that moment.

I couldn't move my eyes away from her. Everything about her screamed perfection. Everything from the sweat covering her toned body to the brightest smile I have ever seen. Gazing at her completely dumbfounded prevented me from noticing until it was too late that it was my turn to introduce myself. Suddenly I became hyper self conscious, suddenly aware of every flaw. I jumped off the bike in one quick motion, hoping it looked graceful. I strode over to her trying to keep my nerves calm and my palms from getting too sweaty.

"Evgeni. But you call me Geno." I said smiling down at her.

I liked that she wasn't too short. The perfect height for me...did I really just think that? I knew I couldn't shake her hand when mine was practically dripping with sweat, so i grabbed her hand and kissed it. Her skin was so soft, almost like butter under my lips.

"We no get your name." Geno whispered looking into my eyes.

"Ooops, žao! I'm Adriana." She smiled up at the two of us, totally oblivious to Jakub smiling in the corner.

"Addy, these two dont speak Serb!" He said chuckling.

"Shit. Sorry, sorry was what i was trying to say."

"Like your accent. You're like Geno here!" Sidney said with a patting my shoulder.

She smiled at me, "I wasn't aware I had an accent. But I do speak a little Russian!"

When those words left her mouth I couldn't stop myself from smiling a shit-faced grin. I jumped down from the bike a swept her up in a tight hug.

"REALLY? I like you SO MUCH already!" I practically yelled with joy in Russian.

I released her from the hug, and watched as she said her goodbye's and left the gym. Well one thing was for certain. I knew beyond a reasonable doubt that I would be seeing her again, I would make damn well sure of it.

"Geno? Earth to Geno?! Bud you in there?" Sid said patting my shoulder as we stood in the showers a short while later.

"Huh what? Oh sorry Sid." I muttered turning back to the shower.

"It's fine man But you okay?"

"Think so. I like her. She perfect." I said quietly with a small smile forming on my lips.

"No shit! Everyone could see that! You were practically drooling over her!" Sid said roared laughing.

"I want see again..." I said sheepishly.

"I figured man. Well I found out from Jakub that she's at the huge ass castle down the a few blocks away. So we can think of some reason to stop by." He said smirking.

I silently thanked the fact Sid was such a good friend. I couldn't wait to see her again. Everything inside of me wanted her to be mine.

But what about Oksana, my girlfriend in Russia? I knew for certain I never had these feelings for her...but what we had been together for years now. Our families were close friends, this wasn't something I could throw away lightly.