No Thank You

She was sitting at the breakfast bar in Scott’s kitchen, dreading the impending day. Maybe there was a chance of cutting the visit short or at least find some dumb excuse as to why she couldn’t go to the game. But the more she thought about possible excuses, the more she knew that there was no way in hell that she could not make that appearance: Scott hadn’t seen her in a very long time and his teammates and sister were her friends, too.
Looking at the bright green digital digits of the clock on the oven, she sneered and looked at all the breakfast food she had made for both the Hartnell siblings. 6am was no time to have finished cooking eggs and bacon and pancakes. Scott knew that she always cooked up a storm when she was nervous, he would know something was up.

Playing with her phone, she considered sending Sidney a text, telling him not to let slip to anyone on the opposing team that they knew. That they knew in the biblical sense. But that was not going to help, seen that Scott had mentioned he would thank the Pittsburgh Penguin for making sure his ex would get home safely. Opening a new text message, she stared at the blank screen for a while, before closing it again.
How did she even get herself into this situation! She clearly remembered that she had given Matt and Sidney very clear signs that she was not interested in them. So why did she accept the invite to their game, followed by that fateful party at Nealer’s place? Sidney Crosby was a good-looking guy, but stood in stark contrast to the man she had been dating for years until just months before.

“It’s 6am and you already have a huge feast dished up. I think you need to tell me what was going down with those Penguin boys A.”

She literally jumped from her seat upon hearing Scotty’s voice from behind her, grabbing her chest as adrenaline was pumping through her veins.

“Stop creeping up on me like this! Fuck!”

He eyed her suspiciously as he hugged her from behind and kissed her hair, ignoring her little outburst completely. She closed her eyes as all the old feelings came rushing back, how he had always made her feel safe and loved when hugging her.
He let go of her moments later, rounding the kitchen island to inspect various covered plates and pans on the stove to check on the food options. But much to her surprise, he didn’t make himself a plate but came wandering back to the island, sitting down right in front of her and focusing his eyes on hers.

“What happened with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh Alexandra? I know that you were not telling me the whole truth last night. I know we’re not together or anything, but you cannot bring up something like this and hope I am swallowing lies when I am playing these guys today.”

She played with her phone again, biting the insides of her cheeks.

“Matt tried to pick me up the night you stood me up. He quickly accepted that I wasn’t interested, but we had a pretty fun friendly banter going so he invited me to join their table. I left as soon as Crosby joined, but he followed me out and sort of…made out with me? I left him standing there though shortly after and went home. Alone.”

She stopped there, not wanting to go farther unless she really had to. Looking back up at her ex partner of 2 years, she followed his movements as he pulled his hands agitatedly through his hair and then over his face, but didn’t muster a sound. It took him a few seconds before he looked back up at her.

“Why don’t you just fucking spit it out before I have pummel his ass on the ice tonight! We both know no man of that caliber would just let that go, t he one that got away A.! You remember too well how our relationship started. Did you fuck him?”

He said these words quietly, way too quiet. She knew that he could read her like a book, by now he probably already knew that there was in fact more to all of this than just a small, slightly intoxicated make-out session in front of some bar.

“Ugh! I gave him my business card to shut him up and he pestered me all day the following day until I gave in and accepted his and Nisky’s invite to their game that day, followed by a small get-together at Nealer’s place.”

His eyebrows rose in anticipation as she stopped, clearly knowing that she was holding back.

“For fuck sake Scott, it’s non of your business anymore what I get up to and who with! Something minute may have happened, and I decided to not talk to any of them anymore after that night, not by the lack of Sid trying! This is stupid, just-“

“So you let The Kid fuck you and it was so bad you decided to no longer entertain his company, right? Come on Alex, throw me a bone here! It’s bewildering enough that Crosby and some other Penguins’ players would want you as my sloppy seconds, but you sleeping with Sidney fucking Crosby is a whole new can of fucked up!”

Her jaw hang open, not believing what he had just said. Hearing his sister enter the room, she simply disregarded the newcomer to the scene and slid down from the chair, her hands gripping the stone bench top. He was not only insulting Sidney but in the same breath her also.

“Well excuse me for once making a bad fucking decision and it happening to be with Sidney fucking Crosby! Sloppy seconds? What is this, are you now insulting me for being a single woman and falling for the courtship of a rather handsome and successful man who just so happens to be someone you know? Enjoy your breakfast, I’m out!”

The walk to the door was swift, but having opted for boots was manipulated her plans of a fast getaway. As she sat down on the bottom step of the stairs she could already hear Scott make his way out of the kitchen to catch up with her.

“I don’t want to hear it Hartnell. I’m a mature woman with certain needs, and it just so happens that I sometimes have to sate those needs, especially if the last sexual enterprise I had was with you over 9 months ago! We are not together anymore and you cannot talk down on me like that.”

He kneeled down in front of her and placed his big hands onto her thighs, exhaling deeply before leaning forward and looking up at her again.

“I’m sorry A., I didn’t mean to say half of what I did. But… you slept with a guy I know, and you knew how I feel about him. What do you think I’ll see when I meet him pre-game somewhere at WFC, or later on the ice? Him being all over and inside the woman I am still hung up on! I mean, I’m left wondering if he touched you the way I did, if he did it better-“

“Oh please Scott, stop it. The whole thing with him literally lasted 2 minutes and there was no cuddling or anything else. He…was nice, but not someone I would pursue. Please, don’t egg him on later, I have to go back to Pittsburgh tomorrow and the guy knows where I work and has my number. He doesn’t know about our connection and I would rather keep it like that.”

Placing his forehead against her knees, Scott’s grip on her thighs grew a tiny bit stronger, to make sure she was actually the person sitting in front of him. Had she not heard how he said he was still hung up on her or was she simply ignoring it? He did have mental images of a very naked, slender and smooth skinned Alex writhing underneath the mountain of muscle that was Sidney Crosby flashing in front of his inner eyes and he had to shake his head to rid himself of them.

“You know I cannot guarantee that. If I see him, or hear him talk about nailing a girl back home in Pittsburgh-“

“He will not do that, you know that Scott. I don’t want any drama, on or off the ice. I was thinking of calling him to tell him about you and I, or at least to keep his mouth shut but somehow I don’t think he’d be gloating about those 2 minutes in Nealer’s laundry room.”

A soft smile was playing around her lips as she recalled the way Sidney had touched her, how dominant he had been and the speed in which he had been able to make her throw all her reservations over board for a few minutes with the younger man.

“That smile tells me different. Fuck Alexandra!”

He bounced back up to the balls of his feet before standing up and making his way around her on the stairs. She could hear him stop on top of the staircase causing her to turn around to look up at him. His back was still turned towards her but it was easy to see how tense his shoulders were and how hard his left hand gripped the top railing.

“You should call the golden boy and warn him to steer clear of me tonight, wouldn’t want anything happen to him. I’ll see you and Kyla after the game. Don’t forget which team you should be cheering for babe.”

And just like that, the need to finally return all of Sidney Crosby’s unanswered phone calls became a necessity. Going back to putting on her boots one after the other, she wasn’t quite sure if admitting to her ex that she had slept with a much younger and more successful player than him had been worse than having to explain to Sidney why exactly he should keep as far away from Scott Hartnell in tonight’s game as he possibly could.