No Thank You

She could feel the presence of someone next to her, sliding into the free bar stool to her right. Alex didn’t even have to turn around to know it was yet another man, the earthy yet spicy cloud of cologne told her as much. Looking at the time on her phone, she muttered a curse before swiftly emptying her beer and placing it back onto the bar.

“Hey there, can I-“

“No thank you.”

She cut the stranger off before he could finish his offer of buying her a new drink, waving down the bar keeps herself. Alex still didn’t turn around to face the stranger; instead she reached inside her purse and grabbed a $10 bill to pay for the fresh bottle of Canadian beer that was put in front of her. Smiling at the bar tender as he looked at the 3rd guy who had sidled with her over the past 30 minutes, she gained herself a confused look as he gave her the change and walked away again, not before glancing at the man beside her a second time.

“Good to see a nice dressed girl like yourself not relying on guys to buy her drinks.

Rolling her eyes she finally gave in and turned around to give the rather persistent stranger a cold goodbye, but her tongue developed a mind of its own and simply refused service to the words she had lined up.

With the top two buttons of his crisp grey dress shirt undone, she looked right into the face of one of the city’s well-known hockey players. He was handsome in his own rights, his somewhat long hair not fitting into the picture of the well-dressed guy at all. She couldn’t help but mirror his amused smile.

“Shame to see that some well-dressed men can’t take “no” for an answer and just leave.”

Alex countered, grabbing her beer and raising it to her lips, taking a drink to cover for her sudden nervousness. His eyes followed her movements and she could see his Adam’s apple bop as he swallowed. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all that her date was 30 minutes late.

“And she has bite, too. I like. My name’s Matt.”

He reached out his hand for her to shake, and she gracefully accepted.

“Oh I know who you are Mr. Niskanen. I am usually bad with faces but when it comes to the city’s athletes I’m up to speed with the need-to-know facts.”

Putting his head to the side he gave her a calculating stare, shaking it and chuckled to himself.

“No name can’t be as smooth as I thought. Or maybe you just don’t like us hockey players.”

She laughed out and put her head back into her neck, appreciating that he was able to make fun of himself. Not many men knew when to admit defeat and simply move on when it came to pulling women on a night out, but he was old enough to know better and was sure to have another girl pining away for him just meters away. Athletes in this city had it easy, even when Pittsburgh’s teams didn’t have a history of big victories, in any other code.

“If it helps you over your sadness, even if Sidney Crosby himself would walk in here and try to sweep me off my feet: my answer would still be the same. My date turns out to be a no-show and I’m perfectly fine throwing a little pity party for myself.”

He feigned hurt and placed his hands over his heart causing her to laugh yet again.

“The Captain? Seriously? I thought you were different, that hurts!”

“Have you seen the guy’s quads? I mean, I feel the need to cross my legs when I see him in those tight-“

“OK, I give! Please stop! Obviously your date not showing must have got your pretty little head all confused. Sidney Crosby…you do not look like a Crosby kind of girl.”

Leaning her elbow on the bar, she smirked at him, placing her chin into the palm of her hand. This friendly banter was developing into something fun. She liked how this guy was giving her the time of day even thought she had shot him down straight away. Other guys could have turned into assholes, but the man across from her was obviously amused that she was giving him a run for his money.

“Really now? And what do I look like in your opinion Matt?”

He gave her the once over, tapping his lips with his index finger as if he was actually putting thought into this. Then he turned his head and looked towards one of the booths that was tucked into the back of the bar, a full table of what looked like men, built enough to maybe be his team mates.

“You’re way too sassy to like a guy like Crosby. You don’t seem like a puck bunny or someone who’s interested to land with men who have a certain status. My guess is you work a quiet job and you like to blend in and not make a show of yourself. You like simple…and Sid isn’t simple.”

She knew where this was going even before he continued. And from the look he was giving her, he knew that she had caught on to him, too.

“Not a bad assessment coming from a hockey player. Maybe you’re not as much of an air-headed bunch of guys I thought you all would be.”

She raised her bottle to him before taking another swig, already figuring that this little flirt session would have to end soon before she was starting to enjoy it too much.

“Come sit with us. I would rather enjoy seeing my friends try and fail landing with you.”

There was that smirk again. God, this kid was handsome, and she did notice how his big hand was gently placed on her arm that was still leaning against the bar.

“What if one of them doesn’t fail. Would you get upset and run home crying? I don’t think I’d be able to handle breaking any hearts tonight.”

He laughed and gave her arm a firm squeeze, as he got up from his seat and silently asked her to follow. ‘Here goes nothing’ Alex thought as she followed suit and allowed him to put his hand on the small of her back to guide her to the table he had previously looked at.

“Trust me: if I failed I doubt any of the others would get lucky with you. Be careful with the boys though, they seem innocent and all but they’re great in teaming up against innocent girls like you.”

She was about to protest over his ‘innocent’ remark, but they had already reached the table and in turn stopped the conversations going around. It was obvious that the entire table gave her the elevator look.

“Guys, this is…”

“Alex.”

I offered, as he obviously wasn’t able to introduce me by my name to the round of 8 men sitting in front of me. Looking back over to Matt, I caught him winking at me, signaling for me to take an empty seat in the booth. The guys introduced themselves before the majority of them went back to the conversation they had been in before she had been dragged here.

“Obviously I’m doing something wrong if Matt here is able to pull a gorgeous woman like yourself.”

A young blond guy with a Scandinavian accent smiled at her, getting lost in the depths of her cleavage.

“Some tool stood her up, can you imagine that?”

A couple of more heads turned their way towards us again as Matt mentioned my failed date.

“Thanks for pointing that out, no really, awesome! But as I told your dear team mate before: I am not interested in any male company tonight.”

Just as she finished her no-go comment, some one put a bottle of beer next to her’s which caused her to look up.

“Look and learn guys: not every girl in Pittsburgh is willing to just give it away. I’m Sidney.”

Her mouth dried instantly, and she looked into Matt’s eyes with horror, as he seemed mildly amused. He was probably recalling her comment about his captain’s legs, even moving up a chair to make space for him. She started looking up to the man next to her as he shimmied his way into the free seat, dark blue jeans hardly containing the muscles hiding beneath them.

“Alex.”

She was all but able to mouth as the city’s most prominent athlete was sitting down next to her, shaking hands with some of his teammates and even some hollering. This was so awkward.

“I guess I better be going, I don’t want to interrupt a boys’ night out.”

Grabbing her purse, she was stopped by a hand coming from the left. Sidney Crosby’s big, strong hand was gently placed on top of hers.

“Please stay. The night is young and most of these guys will find themselves some girl sooner or later. It’s always good to have someone around who’s not just sitting with these guys to try and get in their pants.”

Alex turned to him and got mesmerized by the depths of his brown eyes. The gentle smile on his lips didn’t help her need to leave either. But she wouldn’t just cave in because Sidney Crosby asked it.

“Well unlike you I have a Monday to Friday job. Seen that I got stood up I rather just go home and drink a bottle of wine instead of people thinking that I am some sort of puck bunny, hanging out with a bunch of hockey players.”

She was very well aware that even though her comment had been made rather quiet, some people at the table had turned quiet to listen in. Alex assumed that the Captain wasn’t usually going out with the rest of the team, so when he did they paid attention to what happened. Especially when it was something regarding a girl.

“Well, at least she didn’t change her mind, told me earlier that even Sidney Crosby wouldn’t be able to chat her up. Not so special now Crosby, right?”

Matt was shouting and high fiving 2 or three other people in his joy. Did they all really feel this inferior to the child prodigy that they celebrated small things like this?

“Have you ever been-“

“Yes I have been to a hockey game before, but thank you for wanting to invite me. Listen, it was fun sitting with you guys but I am really not interested in taking this any further. Go Penguins!”

She raised her fist as if she was celebrating and then took a bow. Rather leave them with a bang than look like an idiot. Grabbing her purse from the table, she passed Sidney and quickly pressed a kiss to Matt’s cheek.

“Thank you for making this failed evening fun.”

With those words she simply took off towards the exit, needing some fresh air. Pressed against the nearest wall outside she took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Any other girl would have been all over the opportunity to sit with these guys, why on earth had she been such an idiot?

“Hey, you OK?”

Her head shot up at the low, slightly mumbled words from next to her. Sidney Crosby. The slight Canadian accent had intrigued her earlier, but the low tone of his voice right now had her almost shiver.

“Yeah, just needed some air, it’s just too hot in there. Listen, I didn’t want to come across as rude in there-“

“So you like my quads, eh?”

She had to laugh and blush at the same time for somewhat being saved her guilty admission. Looking back up into his dark eyes that were partially covered by some of his stray hair, Alex felt the urge to swipe it out of his face.

“He mentioned it completely out of context. I said that even if you and your quads would walk in I wouldn’t give you time of day. He tried to buy me a drink at the bar earlier.”

He sucked his famous lower lip in swiftly before grabbing her hand and putting it right on his bulging thigh, resting his on top of hers. His face was now within mere inches of hers, his eyes boring into hers.

“Tell me you don’t imagine yourself holding on to these when I bend you over and push your face into the mattress.”

He whispered, keeping the little distance there was between them. Feeling every little muscle in his quads play under the denim fabric had her readjust herself with a shiver throughout her whole body. He was playing dirty, and she was not going to end this night like one of the city’s many puck bunnies.

“I am sure you are very agile with those, but I would rather just go home and go to bed. Alone. I am not the one-night kind of girl and this is what this would be.”

Placing her hands on his broad and solid chest, she gently pushed him off and sidestepped him. She could see Sid clench his jaw a few times, most likely not used to rejection. He was after all the city’s most well known face.

“Maybe we could go for-“

“I don’t do coffee. But here, have my card. Call me whenever you feel the need to talk to some sane female.”

Picking one of her business cards out of her purse, she slid it into his hand and stood on her toes to press a light kiss against his cheek. She had not expected him to react quickly and lock her face between his smooth big hands though, turning her face towards him to pull her closer.

“At least promise me you’ll remember this when you go to bed tonight.”

Pushing her up against the wall with both his hands now anchored in her long brown hair, his lips were flush against hers in a hungry kiss. Sid’s lips were moving against hers’ eagerly before her brain could even comprehend what was happening. This kiss was not what she would have expected from the well-known shy captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was forceful, demanding yet imploring as the tip of his tongue prodded to slip past her lips.

With an inaudible sigh she gave in and his thick and fleshy tongue started to dominate her mouth as his hands suddenly started to grip her sides. Or maybe they had been there before and she had simply not noticed with the amazing sensation that was quickly rushing down to between her legs, pooling in a wet heat.

Sidney’s hips were now pressing against her pelvis with a sense of urgency, and her clouded mind immediately cleared. Pushing him away again and detaching her mouth from his, she wiped her wet lips with the back of her hand and shook her head. Wow.

“I can certainly promise you that Mr. Crosby. Now this lady will have to go hail herself a cab and hope for the best that the wet spot in her panties will not leave a mark on the backseat. Promise me you will take this sexual energy and make some girl very happy tonight. Bye. …and thanks for everything.”