No Thank You

Alex had skillfully ignored any questions Matt had thrown at her that night on the drive to her place. The fact that she simply refused to answer any of them and attempted to steer the conversation towards other topics multiple times had resulted in an uncomfortable silence between the two for the rest of the drive, but she had regained her manners and had thanked him for the lift once he had stopped in front of her apartment block.

For the next 5 days she had ignored any calls that came from Sidney to both her cell phone and even had refused to take his calls at work. Not knowing whether or not Matt had told any of the guys about the whole ‘issue’ drove her mad. As a psychologist she advised people to let go, talk about things in order to deal with them, but really: these guys were pretty much strangers to her and she didn’t see the necessity to let them in on her private life. Alex wasn’t even sure if she’d ever see them again.

Grabbing her luggage from the carrousel at arrivals, she made her way out the doors and pulled her wool scarf tighter around her neck; weather in Philadelphia was certainly a few degrees colder than in Pittsburgh this Friday afternoon.

It was Scott’s 30th birthday and albeit their split just under a year ago, they were still amicable and he had practically begged her to make the journey and spend the weekend with him and their mutual friends.
First she had been reluctant to agree, after all, staying with her ex was not something she usually did. After she had broken up with him back in March, he had hated her for putting her professional career before their relationship but over the following months he had apologized and admitted that he loved her for not just putting her life on hold to make things work. He knew that she was a strong person and would never just give up everything she had worked for so hard. Even if it meant they could no longer be together.

“A.!”

The voice called her back from her thoughts, quickly scanning the crowd on the overfilled footpath in front of the line of waiting cabs. The corners of her mouth lifted involuntarily when she recognized him about 50 feet away from her location, his left hand stuck up in the air in an overjoyed greeting. Lifting the strap of her messenger higher up on her shoulder, she pulled her suitcase behind her and made her way towards him.

“Couldn’t let you make the trip to see me and pay for a cab, could I?”

He smiled down at her before kissing the crown of her head and pulling her into a tight hug, inhaling her scent. God he had missed being able to do this, her body always managed to mold perfectly against his even though he was just under a foot taller than her.

“Happy birthday Scotty.”

She mumbled against his chest, the smile still very much on her lips. The slight stubble on his chin was just long enough not to scratch her forehead and he smelled as if he had just stepped out of the shower. Finally letting go of her, he immediately grabbed the handle of her suitcase and slid his hand into hers as he turned around towards the short stay car park.

“I still feel sorry about last week, but they called a meeting for one of the two days we were supposed to be off.”

Trust him to feel bad about standing her up after she had just hauled her ass to Philly to see him, after it had taken her a few days to agree to come out.

“You could have called you know. I was hit on by three different men waiting at that bar, you know how much I hate being alone at a place like that.”

There was no anger in her voice and Scott knew that she was right. She was a beautiful woman who never made a big deal dressing up as she hated the possible male attention thrown her way.

“But you didn’t mind it one bit when I tried to chat you up back then, did you now.”

The cocky smirk on his face had her chuckle, she had missed him, she really had.
Pushing the button on his car keys made the headlights of his truck blink twice before he opened the boot and easily lifted her suitcase up.

“If I remember correctly, half the team was pleading with me to give you a chance after I had told you to leave me alone. Does that sound about right?”

Closing the passenger door behind her, she dropped her messenger bag to the floor and unwrapped her scarf, knowing that he would be blasting the a/c in a moment’s time. Before starting up the engine, he turned around to face her, letting his eyes roam over her face and the rest of her rugged-up body.

“That it does. But all that matters is that you changed your mind and gave me 2 years to prove to you that you had made the right decision. We better get going though, I know you hate this kind of talk and some of the guys are coming over in about 2 hours. Welcome home Alex.”

He had always been good with words, damn him for making her wonder if things would have somehow worked out had she stayed in Philadelphia. Placing her hand over his on the gear stick, she looked back out the windscreen and felt at ease for the first time in days.

The drive was spent with idle chitchat, catching up on each other’s lives and plans for the summer. She knew that his schedule was always busy this time of year so she had been surprised that Scott had been able to pick her up from the airport.
Slowly passing by the houses in his neighborhood all the memories came crashing back: late night sleepovers, going on runs with him before dawn, a block party a few months after they had started dating which had turned into possibly the best day of her life. And the arguments they had had when she had refused to move in with him after going steady for a year solely to remain closer to the city and her offices and possibly because she didn’t want to be alone in a big house when he was on away trips.

The truck was pulling into his driveway and she had to laugh straight away when she discovered that he still had Christmas decoration up in one of his windows.

“Seriously Scott? It’s April! I cannot believe you still have this stuff up!”

She laughed as she pointed at the window she had been looking at, opening the passenger door to slide out of her seat. He only smiled and lifted her small suitcase out of the trunk before wheeling it behind him towards the front door of his house.

“Kyla is here by the way, she came down for the week. She’s been very excited when I told her you’d be coming down here for the weekend, she was a bit upset when you didn’t stay in touch after breaking up with me. Just giving you a heads-up.”

Alex was happy to see the younger Hartnell sibling again after such a long time, but she also knew that Kyla would have taken it very personal that Alex decided not to stay in touch. She was her ex’s sister, it would have been weird to stay in touch as the mention of him would have been unavoidable. After both her and Scott had somewhat rekindled their friendship, she had simply forgotten to get in touch with Kyla again.
He dropped her suitcase near the staircase and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it in the small closet underneath the stairs. Holding his hand out to do the same with hers, she could hear the distinct noises of pots clanking from the kitchen as she gave him her coat.

“You’re making her cook for your birthday dinner? Oh Scott, you’re a terrible brother! You have enough money to get this shit catered.”

Dropping the rest of her belongings next to her suitcase, she almost skipped into the kitchen, hearing Scott chuckle in her wake. Watching Kyla stand in front of the sink doing the dishes, she walked up and hugged her from behind causing the woman to drop the plate she was just cleaning back into the soapy suds.

“I am so sorry that I didn’t stay in touch, please don’t hate me!”

She turned her head and smiled at me, her eyes sparkling with joy. Quickly letting her whole body follow the previous movement, she engulfed me in a tight hug, much like her brother’s, and pressed me against her.

“You’re far too precious to be hated. You have no idea how many late night conversations I had to endure with this lug over there, literally crying that he could land with any girl but the girl he wanted left him. It’s good to know you guys at least talk again and that you even came out this weekend. Now help me do the dishes before the guests arrive.”

She hip-checked Alex lightly and handed her the plate she had already washed before to dry, a smile on her face as she looked over to her brother, who had been watching the entire interaction from the door.

Hours later the place was buzzing with about 40 people spread around the house and the garden. Catering had come after all and food had been set up just minutes before the first guests had started to trickle in. Most of his teammates were there and the ones that had been on the team when she was still around were more than happy to welcome her back, even went as far as playfully hitting on her seen that she was “on the market” now. Even Danny Briére was enveloping her in a tight hug and updated her on his family life once they had found a quieter place to talk.
Most of the men were only drinking in moderation, seen that they apparently had a game the following evening, much to her surprise. But that didn’t mean Kyla and her had to slow down on the drinking, and the same rule applied for some of the wives and girlfriends of the team.
Standing in the kitchen next to Scott’s sister, they followed Bryzgalov’s swift moves as he was mixing some sort of alcoholic drink for them, babbling along in his heavy Russian accent.

“You cannot tell me you didn’t miss this Alex. I mean, I know shit always got crazy for you and Scott during the season, but you always had your job and both your friends around. I missed you this summer, no one to get silly with back home!”

They laughed and gratefully accepted the drinks Bryz pushed into their hands, downing some of the concoction without any hesitation.

“You know that your brother stood me up last weekend and didn’t even call me? And you know what was even worse: I had Matt Niskanen hit on me and I somehow ended up at their table with The Kid, and when I left after a few minutes he followed me out and he-“

“He what, A.?”

Her head whipped around and the alcohol buzz was wearing off quickly as she looked into Scott’s serious face, some others standing right behind him. Looking at Kyla again in a silent plea, she could see that even she had been surprised on how the 6’2” man could have possibly snuck up on them like this.
Scott stepped closer to her and stared right into her blue eyes, his height visibly making her consider her next statement.

“Nothing. He just wanted to make sure I got a cab alright. What else did you think he was doing, manhandle me and have his way with me? Please Scott, I know that non of you are fans of his but that wouldn’t be his style. He waited until I was able to hail a cab and I left. End of story.”

Lies. He could see it in her eyes, he could see how she was chewing on the inside of her lower lip right after the words had left her mouth, but with the amount of people around the last thing he wanted to do was launch into an argument with her.

“Alright then, guess I’ll have to thank him for being such a gentleman when I see him tomorrow evening.”

Her eyes shot up at his words, confusion spread across her features as Briére and some of the others chuckled and the group of people dispersed again, going back to the various conversation that had taken place prior to this little scene in the kitchen.

“What are you talking about Scott, I don’t understand.”

Kyla moved to her side and pressed the drink back into her hands, an apologetic smile on her lips.

“You couldn’t have talked that much with him if he didn’t mention that they’re playing in Philly tomorrow night. I know you always loved coming to our games when we were pitted against Pittsburgh, I thought with it being my birthday and us playing against your new hometown, it’d make a great weekend.”

Pressing a kiss against her forehead he turned around and hollered to some of the boys in the den that he was ready to do some shots.

She was running from one disaster into the next! Niskanen knew that she somehow knew Scott since he had seen his caller ID and picture n the screen a few nights ago. And now Scott and some of his guys knew that some of their most hated rivals had hit on her, Niskanen and Crosby included. She knew from the two years they had been together that chirping on the ice could quickly get out of hand. If Scott mentioned anything to Sidney or Matt about meeting his ex girlfriend or warned them to stay away from her, she knew that at least Matt would bring up parts of what had gone down the night she had come along to James Neal’s house. And God forbid Crosby opening his mouth to draw blood and try have Scott lose his cool.

All of a sudden she didn’t miss the life of a hockey player’s girlfriend at all. She hated herself for her big, alcohol induced mouth though, causing a scene. And from the way her ex boyfriend had looked at her, she knew that he hadn’t bought her story fully.
Just as she was about to skull her drink back to at least get so drunk she wouldn’t care about any of this anymore, she saw Max Talbot appear in her peripheral vision. He sauntered over to her and hopped unto the countertop next to where she was standing, his beer still dangling in his hand.

“I don’t think I had the chance to introduce myself earlier: I’m Max, just signed with the Flyers this season seen that Pittsburgh didn’t want to renew my contract to my terms.”

Alex put a small smile on her lips and shook the hand that he had reached out for her. They were currently alone in the kitchen, a tense silence overtaking them.

“I’m Alex, Scott’s ex girlfriend as you might have guessed by now. You have to excuse Scott, he always goes a bit caveman when he thinks women he cares for are being taken advantage of.”

She tried to smooth things out, not sure if he had been in the room when the little scene had taken place or not. Alex wasn’t even sure why she was trying to explain herself or Scott’s reaction to a guy she had barely talked to, but with the whole Pittsburgh connection…

“It’s quite entertaining to have one of my new teammates and two guys from my old team talking up a storm about the same girl. But don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. But if I was you, I’d let Sidney know not to let something slip tomorrow, the kid is known not to handle personal attacks too well on the ice, especially when it comes from a Flyers’ player. It could get ugly if him or any of the other guys that were at Nealer’s house mention your little moment of…indiscretion to Scott. The guy still thinks he has some sort of claim over you.”

With those words, he pushed himself off the counter and offered a bright smile before leaving her alone to her thoughts.

Men; there was a reason why she had decided against dating since her split with Scott!