Give Into Me

Sidney was having a bit of trouble trying to listen to the best man's speech. He couldn't stop glancing back at the girl who had stepped on his toes, who seemed to be watching him as well. Every time he would look over his shoulder to glimpse her, her eyes would flicker from the balcony to him and she would shift her gaze away again, blushing. In the light of he billiard room, her cheeks would turn nearly the same color as her red hair, the color of a sunset.

Just about to look back for maybe the seventh time, Geno elbowed him forcefully in the ribs.

"What you staring at?" asked the Russian quietly, turning his head in the general direction Sid had been looking. In his head, Sid was hoping that his friend would take no notice of the red-head.

"Nothing," he replied, clapping absent-mindly as the best man sat down and staring blankly back up at the balcony where the maid of honor had begun her speech. This girl was pretty, too, and had been eying him since the beginning of the ceremony back at the church, smiling flirtatiously whenever she caught his eye.

Thankfully, Geno hadn't seen the short, red-headed girl sitting at the back of the hall, her hazel eyes flitting back and forth from the balcony to Sidney. But when he was sure Geno, Nealer, and Max weren't watching him, Sidney stole another glance toward the back of the room, only to be caught looking by Chris Kunitz, who grinned knowingly.

~

Kaelin had just noticed Crosby glance back over her shoulder again when her cell phone started buzzing on her lap from the umpteenth time in the last half hour. It was Ella. She had been calling nonstop since halfway through the best man's speech, blowing up Kaelin's phone to get a hold of her for God knows what. At first, every time she received another call and the phone started to buzz, the teenage girl sitting beside her would glare at Kaelin and look at the phone enviously, as if wishing she had her own phone at the moment. Kaelin couldn't blame her; Clare, the maid of honor, had been telling the most dull story of something she and Tammy had done in college. But now, the constant buzzing sound was obnoxious, so much so that the whole table would scowl at Kaelin every time the phone went off.

Not able to stand it any more and irritated with Ella by now, Kaelin stood quietly and walked silently around edges of the hall, into the living room, across the dance floor, and out the French doors onto the covered back porch. She kept going to the biggest part of the porch, where the fireplace was full of burning logs. There were several couches for relaxing later that evening, but Kaelin stood by the hearth, warming herself by the fire as she answered her phone.

"What the hell is wrong?" Kaelin asked before Ella could say a word. "Why have you been calling?"

"Thank God, you finally answered!" Ella exclaimed. Kaelin had to hold the phone away from her ear for a moment. "I thought you were dead!"

The second sentence hardly registered after the first. For some reason, Kaelin's mind went to some sort of worst case scenario: Ella had come into contact with a cat and was puking all over the floor, or she'd had some crazy party in the last twenty-four hours and was having trouble cleaning up the aftermath, or the apartment building was on fire and she was watching it burn to the ground.

"What happened? Are you okay? How —?" Kaelin started to rant.

"What? Everything's fine, Kae. I was just calling to say hi," explained Ella. "You didn't call yesterday."

She — is — ridiculous, Kaelin thought.

"Are you kidding me, Ella?" she mumbled, dropping down into the nearest chair and rubbing the side of her head. Sometimes, all Kaelin wanted to do was strangle her best friend. She could be a real pain in the ass. "You had better be joking. Please, tell me you need me for something. Or something's wrong. Please."

There was no answer.

"Ella?"

Nervous laughter.

"Well, er, Kae, you're not gonna be too happy about this, but, er, I just wanted to say hello — check up on you," said Ella meekly.

Kaelin rolled her eyes, exhaling slowly.

"You seriously called me fifty times just to 'check up on me'?" Kaelin said sarcastically, shaking her head at Ella's ridiculousness.

"Not fifty times," Ella added. "More like twenty-three."

Kaelin sighed, a quiet, exhausted chuckle escaping her. Already, this trip had tired her out, and there were still two and a half weeks left to go. She hadn't been sleeping well since she arrived, not able to fall asleep until late at night and having to wake up early in the morning, trying to reset her internal clock. Although she had come to Pittsburgh to relax, she had spent the first four days worrying about what she was going to wear to Tammy's wedding rather than spending some time with her mom.

But her mother had seemed distracted all four days, and whenever Kaelin made an attempt to get at what was preoccupying her, Yvonne would shut down as if she didn't want to talk about it, leaving the room if she could. It wasn't like her to hide things from Kaelin.

"Well, I can't really talk right now," said Kaelin, hearing the applause from the billiard room, signifying that the maid of honor had finished her speech. Soon, Tammy and Paul would head off to the dance floor and the partying would really begin.

"What're you doing? Where are you?"

"God, woman! Why on Earth do you need to know?"

"I'm just curious . . ."

"I'm at a wedding. Now, I really have to go —"

"Who's wedding? I didn't know you were going to a wedding on this trip. We could've gone dress shopping!"

"Tammy O'Connor. A friend from high school. We ran into each other on Sunday while I was out getting dinner for me and my mom. She really wanted me to come."

"What did you end up wearing? I know you didn't pack any dresses."

"I borrowed one."

"And?"

"And . . . what?" Now Kaelin was legitimately confused as to what Ella wanted to know. Her best friend was sometimes a little enigmatic when it came to asking questions.

"What does this dress look like?" Ella nearly yelled into the receiver, Kaelin holding the phone away from her ear again.

"Oh! The dress!" She looked down at herself, trying to describe it best she could. "Well, it's floor-length, off-the-shoulder, pale blue, cinched at the waist with a ruffled top —"

"Please, tell me you're wearing heels?"

"Of course! Otherwise, I'd be so short I'd be forced to sit at the kid's table! But they're wedges. You know me, I trip in these things, let alone stilettos."

"You'll have to send me a picture of yourself! And what did you do with your hair, though?"

Giving a little huff, Kaelin rolled her eyes and shook her head. Although Ella was her best friend, that girl loved to poke fun at Kaelin's thick, mid-back length, red hair. Still, Kaelin couldn't really blame her. The auburn red mop on top of her head was hardly something one could call tame. That's why she usually just pulled it up out of her face.

"I curled it and put it up. You'll see in the picture I send you later."

Ella huffed audibly and added, "All right, well, go have fun at that wedding. Give the bride and groom my best wishes, even though I have no idea who they are. Oh, and Kae?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't forget to be a little flirty with the guys. I'm sure there are some attractive one's there."

"You bet," Kaelin said before she could stop herself.

If you were a friend of Ella's, you kept your mouth shut if you met someone you were attracted to. If you let on the slightest bit that there was anyone out there, she would not sleep until she got it out of you who it was. Kaelin knew that she had awoken that instinct in Ella.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Do NOT hang up! Who did you meet? Tell me everything about him!"

"I'm not gonna tell you."

"You're going to tell me."

"Nope."

"Yes, you are."

"Nah-ah."

"Kaelin Bremner, I will ruin your evening if you don't tell me right now!"

There was a moment or so in which Kaelin first contemplated ending the call and turning off her phone for the rest of the night, but she had a feeling that would not go over well in the long run. She decided to get it over with.

"You need to promise me that you are not going to freak out —"

"I promise."

"— or go crazy —"

"I promise."

"— or scream."

"I promise."

Again, Kaelin paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling, closing her eyes. She wasn't scared as to how Ella would react, nervous more than anything. Ella was the biggest hockey fan she knew and would most definitely freak out, go crazy, and scream all at once. It was going to happen no matter when Kaelin told her. No point in delaying the inevitable, right?

"I met Crosby."

Ella laughed. She actually chuckled, as if Kaelin was delusional.

"You're funny, Kae. Now, really, who is he?"

"Crosby," Kaelin repeated. "Sidney Crosby."

No response.

"Ella?"

Not the slightest squeak on the other end. Then —

An ear-piercing shriek emanated from the phone, Kaelin covering it with her hand in an attempt to muffle it. When she held it back up to her ear, all she could hear was Ella hyperventilating.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh —"

"Ella? Are you okay?" Kaelin asked, now a bit concerned about her friend's well being.

"Kaelin, Kaelin, Kaelin! I can't believe you met Sidney Crosby!" squealed Ella. "What was it like?"

"It was all very . . . casual." She would have to admit that accidentally running into him was probably the most normal way she would have ever met someone of his stature.

"What's he doing at the wedding?"

"I'm not supposed to say anything, but I guess you're gonna find out the next time you watch a Pens' game . . ."

"Don't hold back!"

"It's Martin's wedding."

"Your friend from high school is now married to Paul Martin? Oh, my God. You have freakin' connections to the Pittsburgh Penguins. You could probably get tickets to their games if you wanted to."

"I would not use Tammy to get Penguins' tickets."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you. All keen to stay out of other people's lives. But you have to admit, this is pretty amazing."

"I know. I just ran into him, and then I stepped on his foot!"

"You stepped on his foot?" Ella started cackling. "All right, well, I'll let you get back to Crosby and the others. You had better call me the minute you get home. I want to hear about everything!"

"Okay, Ella," said Kaelin. "Talk to you later."

"G'bye, Kae."

"Bye."

Kaelin ended the call and stood up, starting back across the porch. The other guests were beginning to move about, the boom of bass coming from the dance floor and low chatter from the family room. Several of the more elderly guests had begun to move in the direction of the log room where Kaelin he been sitting. She passed them, nodding courteously as she made her way through the family room, slipped past the dance floor, and had just entered the billiard room and wasn't looking where she was going when she ran right into someone a little more than a foot taller than her. Kaelin had been walking quite quickly, so the force of hitting this man's solid chest made her stumble backward in her heels. And she would have toppled right over if his hand hadn't shot out to grab her forearm, steadying her and not letting go even after she was balanced on her two feet again.

Evgeni Malkin just stared at her for a moment, gripping her forearm as if he thought she might fall over if he let go.

"I sorry I run into you," said Malkin after a moment or so, still gazing at her, not breaking eye contact.

"No, no, no, I'm sorry for running into you — it was my fault, really," rambled Kaelin, in awe that she was having such an informal conversation with yet another famous hockey player. She'd always imagined meeting them one day, but not at a friend's wedding.

"Evgeni," he said to introduce himself, releasing her arm finally. "Geno."

"Kaelin," she replied, sticking out her hand to shake his in a more formal greeting.

He didn't shake her hand, instead watching her while he just stood there. Her hand dropped back down and she crossed her arms defensively. They looked at each other for a moment, not speaking.

"You want dance?" asked Malkin, stuffing his hands in his pockets, then pulling them out quickly and keeping his arms at his sides awkwardly.

An expression of shock must have crossed her face at that time because Malkin suddenly tensed, like he was scared he had said the wrong thing. Kaelin, of course, was surprised that she had just been asked to dance by Evgeni Malkin. Not wanting to make a bad impression, she made up her mind hastily.

"Sure."

Now he did take her hand, leading her back out the door and into the living room, which was already crowded with people dancing along to the music. Cutting a path across the the floor swiftly, Malkin pulled her over to where James Neal and Max Talbot were dancing with a couple blondes in scandalously short dresses, especially for winter. They glowered at Kaelin as she came nearer with Malkin clutching her tiny hand within his huge fist.

Puck bunnies. They only wanted Neal and Talbot so they could say they'd been with a hockey player, not giving a damn about feelings and relationships, as long as they could brag to their friends. And Neal and Talbot couldn't care less. The only thing that threatened the system was a girl who had better intentions when it came to men.

"Hey, Geno," Neal said. "Who is this?"

The blonde pulled Neal closer to her, wrapping her skinny arms around his midsection.

"Kaelin," Malkin said, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders. She was tiny in comparison to him, over a foot shorter and thin beside him with his broad shoulders and chest.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Kaelin," said Talbot, his blonde clinging to his upper arm. "Max Talbot, and this idiot is James Neal."

"It's nice to meet you, too," replied Kaelin, Malkin moving the two of them slightly away from Neal and Talbot. He must have been able to tell somehow that she was uncomfortable and didn't want to scare her off.

When Geno and Kaelin started dancing, at first they both were very awkward. She wasn't all too balanced in her heels still, so he had to keep catching her whenever she started to stumble. It was evident that she hadn't danced in a while. Actually, she hadn't danced since she was in high school. And Geno, being as tall and stocky as he was, couldn't make many big movements or he risked knocking someone out. Once, he almost killed Tammy's four-year-old niece, who was weaving through the crowd trying to find her aunt when Geno accidentally bumped her. The girl was nearly knocked to the ground, but Paul Martin appeared out of no where and caught her. She squealed in delight as her new uncle lifted her off her feet and and into the air, forgetting the small collision with Geno's leg. Martin placed her gently back on the ground, pointed out where Tammy was, and sent her off in that direction before turning to Kaelin and Geno.

"Trying to kill my niece, Geno?" Martin joked, making his teammate chuckle. "She's just starting to warm up to me."

Geno mumbled an apology and Martin looked down at Kaelin.

"You must be Kaelin Bremner."

"Yes," she answered slowly, surprised he knew her name.

"Don't look so shocked. We red-heads have got to stick together, huh?"

He continued to chuckle at the confusion on her face.

"I'm kidding, Kaelin. Tammy pointed you out to me during dinner," Martin explained. "I'm Paul."

"Kaelin – wait, you alreay knew that," said Kaelin, blushing profusely. "I'm sorry. It's all just kind of weird to me."

"What weird?" asked Geno.

"This," she said, motioning to the two of them. "I mean, I watch almost all of your games and now I'm just talking with you guys at a wedding, like we're all just ordinary people. I always thought if I was ever going to meet you, it would be in a hockey setting, I guess."

"Well, we are ordinary people" – Martin gestured to himself and Geno, meaning the team as a whole – "so it's not really weird on our end. But I guess I can understand what you're saying."

Kaelin nodded and bit her lip. She was still slightly starstruck by the whole thing. It was inevitable that sometime she would say something incredibly stupid due to nervousness. But it hadn't happened yet. She just hoped that she could hold her tongue if she needed to.

"Hey, you said you watched almost all of our games?" said Paul, an idea obviously forming.

"Yeah, big fan," explained Kaelin beginning to rant a bit. "My mom lives out here so I visit during the summer, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and sometimes we go see a game. I saw my first game when I was six with my ad and since then I haven't intentionally missed a game . . . . I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Geno and Paul chuckling, smiling at her.

"Just a little," laughed Paul. Then he added, "Would you like to meet some of the guys?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. It suddenly registered what he had just asked. She didn't know what to say.

Paul smiled and said, "Come on." He and Geno led her out of the crowd, Kaelin suddenly acutely aware of how warm it was in the house and how fast her heart was beating.