Days of Black and Gold

“Why did I agree to this?” I asked, descending the stairs with the other women.

“You love us,” Catherine grinned, leading us down the hallway. “And you need to give Geno hell for fighting.”

“That’s true,” I agreed, catching a small amount of movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head slightly, I let out a groan at the sight of an edentulous smile.

“Maggie.”

“Alex,” I breathed, stopping to face him. “I can’t talk.”

“You look good.”

“Don’t.” I spun to follow the wives.

“Maggie,” he said again, grabbing my wrist. “Please.”

“No, Alex. I have nothing to say to you.”

“I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I said, pulling my arm from his hand. “Please just leave me alone.”

“I thought I made it clear that you aren’t to contact her.”

“I didn’t contact her,” Alex snarled. “I just want to talk.”

“Sidney,” I warned, placing a hand on his chest. “Let’s just go.”

“Fine,” he snapped, leading me in the direction of the Penguin’s locker room.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Cath asked me to come down and see some of the guys. I didn’t want to, but it’s hard to argue with a team of wives.”

“You should have found a reason.”

“She was my ride.”

Instead of responding, he turned and entered the locker room.

Sighing, I continued on into the room designated for family members.

“Nice of you to join us,” Catherine chuckled as I approached.

“You lot left me with Alex.”

“We saw Sid rescuing you.”

“Well, he snubbed me after that. I tried to have a conversation, and he basically told me to fuck off.”

“I can’t believe how pissed at you he still is.”

“It’s almost like he found out his fiancée was engaged to a female via the ex-fiancée.”

“No need to get hostile,” Catherine surrendered. “If you want to leave, let me know, okay?”

“I’m alright, for now. I’m just a bit rattled after seeing Sidney, but things will get better once some of the players show up. Wait, do they all know Sidney and I split?”

“Do you know that you and Sidney split?”

“Not really, but I think it is a fair assumption to make.”

“I have no idea what Sidney told the team,” Catherine confessed. “Kris has been silent about the whole matter.”

“Marc has, too,” Veronique added, as the two French Canadians emerged from the locker room.

“Margot, it’s good to see you,” Marc smiled, pulling my in for a hug. “It’s been a long time.”

As he released me, Kris pulled me in. “I’m glad Cath convinced you to see us. The guys miss seeing your pretty face.”

“That’s really kind,” I grinned. “You both played well tonight.”

“Merci,” they chorused.

“Do you know how soon Genooo-” My voice shrieked as my feet were lifted momentarily from the floor. As I connected with solid ground, I turned to find out who had found the strength to lift me. “Phil?”

“How are you?”

“A bit shocked, actually. How are you?”

“We won, so I’m doing pretty well. What brought you out tonight?”

“Needed something to do,” I quipped. “Cath thinks it’s unhealthy that I hang out at home alone. She said I need to see people more often, but that just seems so boring.”

“Alone? Why would you be alone?”

I exchanged a look with Catherine and Veronique before looking back at Phil. “Uh, sorry?”

“I thought you lived with Sid. Oh, fuck, are the kids not his? Did he find out? Is that why he’s been so pissed lately?”

“The kids are his,” I assured him, placing an arm on his shoulder. “He didn’t mention I moved out?”

“No,” Phil drawled, glancing around.

“That could be a good sign,” Catherine muttered.

“I don’t think so,” I shook my head. “Sidney’s been really good about sharing good news. Something about him not telling his teammates doesn’t leave me feeling too positive.”

“I’m so fucking lost,” Phil mumbled, shaking his head. “When did you move out?”

“Erm, about a month ago.”

“What for? I thought you two were happy.”

“We are, were. I don’t know anymore,” I groaned, running a hand down my face. “He’s pretty angry with me.”

“What did you do to our captain?”

“Apparently, keeping secrets from your significant other is a bad idea,” Catherine rebuked.

“Tell me how you really feel,” I quipped, noticing Sidney enter the room with Evgeni. My eyes bore into the men as they whispered back and forth.

“Margot?”

“Sorry,” I murmured, returning to the people I was speaking with. “Got distracted.”

“You should probably work harder to keep your eyes in your skull,” Veronique chuckled.

“It’s hard once you’ve seen him naked,” I smirked.

“I do not need to hear that,” Phil groaned, as Evgeni and Sidney approached.

“You make it,” Evgeni grinned, pulling me in for a hug. “I was afraid you would make excuse not to.”

“Maybe you should have,” Sidney breathed.

“Someone had to come knock some sense into you,” I said, ignoring Sidney’s comment. “What the hell were you thinking getting into a fight with Ovechkin?”

“Someone need to defend you.”

“I don’t need defending,” I hissed. “I have no problem taking care of myself. Yes, Alex was out of line, and I let it happen, but it’s over, Geno. Let it go.”

“Does everyone except me know what’s going on?” Phil questioned.

“Pretty much,” I nodded. “But it’s not important. Geno is blowing things way out of the water. Getting in fights with Ovechkin is not going to help anything. It might make it worse. Sidney took care of Alex, so please just forget about it.”

Evgeni cocked a brow in Sidney’s direction. “What you do?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sidney grumbled. “I have to go.”

“You’re not taking Margot with you?” Phil asked with a smirk.

“Don’t cause trouble,” I growled under my breath.

“She’s staying in the city in case she goes into labour early,” he explained. “Right, Margot?”

“Uh, yeah,” I muttered, taken aback. “Can’t be too careful.”

“I’ll see you later,” he said, walking away.

Phil looked at me, a serious expression on his face. “Shit, Margot, you’ve got a fuck load of groveling to do to get back on Sid’s good side.”

“I know, Phil, I know.”