“Oh come on!” Jordan’s voice pierced the air lightly, hand pulling mine forward when my body was telling me to go back.
“But Jordy!” I whined in protest as he pulled me up the stairs towards the Lemieux’s front door. I knew it was Christmas eve and everything but that didn’t mean that I wanted to go to the annual Penguins Christmas party. It had been tradition since before I could remember to have a party and it was Mario’s turn this year since it was the turning point of our season.
“No buts, Bernie! You’re coming and that’s final!” Jordan replied easily, pulling me to the final stair and looking me over one more time. He and I had been best friends since before I could even remember and living a few minutes away from his house in Thunder Bay as a child had made us even closer. We were the best of friends and he took care of me like a sister. His brothers, on the other hand, took care of me as a really hot girl. Marc and Eric lusted after me through my teens and Jared had dated me for a few months before he left to play in the AHL. Now I was left with Jordan and we were closer than ever thanks to my job as the Pens Assistant goaltending coach.
“Alright alright I’ll go. Geez.” I said as a smirk crossed his face. He leaned in and kissed my cheek lightly.
“See now that wasn’t so hard was it?” his voice was happy and upbeat now and I felt as though I had done the right thing. This beat sitting at home in sweats watching old Christmas shows any day. I just hoped to god that he wasn’t here.
“No it wasn’t. But did you have to make me dress like this?” I asked, looking down over myself. I was wearing a red skirt with the same Santa Claus fluff around the bottom as could be found on Jordan’s hat. My shirt was red like the skirt with green pin strips and some more fluff around the bottom. He looked me up and down and smiled, nodding his head.
“Yes I did. But think of it this way, at least now you can get hit on by guys who actually care about you. Unlike that dick…… whatever the fuck his name was.” Jordan said coldly, rolling his blue eyes.
“His name was Michael. And he was not a dick.” I answered icily, folding my arms over my chest. Maybe this was a mistake.
“He cheated on you. Four times.” Jordan reminded me. I felt a cold hand squeezing my heart and he shook it off, noticing the immediate change of feelings in my eyes. “Anyway, let’s just go inside. It’s cold out here.”
“Yeah.” I said gently as he pulled me inside the house. It was warm and bright inside, the feeling of Christmas deep in the fiber of the walls.
Mario’s house looked much like the childhood imagination of a winter wonderland; well without the snow. The large tree was covered with tinsel and it glittered brightly in the semi-dimmed lights of the house. Everyone was bustling around eagerly, eating cookies and fraternizing. Jordan left me almost as soon as we got inside and went to go talk to Max, who winked at me as I walked by. Still no sign of him, which was good. I saw Sid and Marc sitting together on the couch eating Christmas cookies and I waved hello to them both as looked around the warm scene. I eventually found a place next to the hallway wall and stood there, leaning back against the brightly decorated wall. Nat fluttered by and said hello, handing me a drink as she passed. I sipped it gently finding that it was perfect spiked eggnog.
And finally, when I thought nothing could get better, my head swam as I heard a familiar voice. One I hated with a strong passion. A Russian one.
“Nathalie! Is…. Very nice to see you. Happy… Christmas.” Geno’s voice floated through the house like a wave. Everyone greeted him with smiles while I greeted him with daggers in my eyes. Geno and I had never gotten along. My first day on the job had lead to a huge fight with him on ice and we hadn’t been friends; or even spoken; since.
-Flashback-
“That was good! But try to shoot a little higher next time.” I called over to Geno as he skated back to beside me. He had been helping me train Marc for our upcoming game and he wasn’t exactly doing what I asked but it was still helpful.
“I shoot fine. Marc block it. I not need to go higher.” Geno answered, balancing a puck on his stick.
“Yeah, your shot was amazing but we’re training him on his weakness which is high right side. Just try it.” I asked timidly. Geno was a star, a phenomenon. But most importantly he was quite an attractive kid once you got passed all of the fame.
“He do fine with it. I not need to do anything differently.” Geno insisted.
“Just please do it like I ask. I’m just trying to help the team. Don’t fight with me Geno. We need to work together.” I said a little firmer.
“I’m doing it the way I want to do it.” Geno fought back. And that lead to a full out fight in Russian and we turned away finally, vowing to not speak if we were to fight.
-End Flashback-
And much as I still felt that pull of attraction to him, I kept my sharp distance. We were never going to do anything but fight. And screw him and his fame if he thought that he could do whatever he wanted when ever he wanted. That was not the way the world worked. That wasn’t the way I worked.
Everyone continued to party and it got later and later and I found myself staying still in my own little corner of the party, calmly sipping the drink Nathalie had refilled for me twice now. I saw Sidney winking at me and I wrinkled my nose at him lightly, laughing as he made a sad face and turned away to talk to Jordan and Max again. Jordan had been coming over every once and a while to chat but for the most part he stayed with the guys, eyes watching me to make sure that I didn’t need him for anything.
The party got into full swing about an hour later and as everyone danced and joked with each other I stayed mostly out of the way. I didn’t want to be a part of the fun as long as the threat of running into Geno was still prevalent. I turned away and walked across the room to get a cookie, finding myself in a dark place where the lights had been turned out. It was dim and there was just enough light to see where the cookies sat on the table. I retch out to get a Christmas tree shaped cookie that had been calling my name and just as my fingertips touched it a hand was on mine. I followed the arm back to it’s owner and found my stomach turning. Geno Malkin. I pulled back immediately and walked away back to where I’d been sitting almost all night. I sat down and took another drink of my eggnog, sitting the glass down on the counter next to my seat on the barstool.
I closed my eyes and listened to the music, opening them only when the music became muffled by something in front of me. And what I found that something to be was the man I hated most.
“Bernadette……” Geno said gently, trying to keep me in one place. I was close to getting up before I found his eyes. They were soft and thoughtful and they held me in place long enough for him to find the words he was looking for. “I am…… sorry for what I did. We need to…. Work through it. We can not go on not talking……… Should be working together not alone. Better team that way.”
“I’m just so sick of your superstar attitude towards everything. Not everything in the world revolves around you Geno. You’re not the king of the world. You just have to realize that I’m not going to just lay down and take everything you give.” I said, attempting to keep my voice down. Geno nodded and put his hand on top of mine on the counter.
“I understand………. You are angry…… I am not always……. Best at finding words……… Saying sorry is not….. Easy for me to do and I…… am not best at apologies. I will work with you…….. If you talk to me again…… we need to speak to work….. We will be…. Great team.” Geno tried to say quickly. I nodded, though I wasn’t completely sure of anything. He walked away and I stayed put, thinking everything over. I caught him sneaking glimpses at me as he went about the room, talking to people and trying to look busy. His eyes looked a little lustful and as he made his rounds he finally talked to Jordan. Jordan’s eyes met mine and he smiled, obviously being informed that we had reconciled. I looked away and when I looked back I saw Geno coming back over to me.
“Hey.” I said easily, taking a bite of a cookie Sidney had thrown over to me a few minutes before Geno had first come over. Geno’s eyes found mine and seemed to be smiling so I naturally smiled at him.
“How are the cookies……… I have not had one yet today.” he said easily, starting a conversation in the most pleasant way we had since before we’d fought. I still felt uneasy about being friendly with him but the uneasiness was quenched with the feeling that he was so adorably cute.
“They’re good. Want one?” I asked, offering him a sugar cookie. He smiled and took it from me, taking a little bite of it and closing his eyes.
“Very good….. Nat is…. Great cook.” he complimented. I agreed with him and we munched cookies, making small talk and occasionally joking with each other in Russian. It was the first time I’d smiled since Michael.
“You’re a good person, Geno.” I said easily as we stopped our laughter.
“I’ve always been good person… you are just blind.” he answered, a familiar cockiness in his voice. I found myself lost for words. He was reverting back to his attitude.
“I’m not blind, I just couldn’t see what wasn’t there before.” I said under my breath. He cursed at me in Russian and began a heated battle, almost as heated as the first. And in the middle of all this fighting I heard Jordan’s voice loud and clear from the other side of the kitchen’s bar. He was leaning down on the counter, looking over at me with Max and Sidney on his flanks.
“OoooooOO!” Jordan cooed, “Someone’s breaking rules!”
“I am not!” I shot back through half a laugh at the lost look on Geno’s face.
“Rules……… rules are broken?” Geno asked through his accent. A wicked smile crossed Max’s face and be pointed up towards the ceiling. Geno and I both looked up in unison, distracted temporarily from fighting, and followed his ghastly pointing until we found what he was looking at. A mistletoe was hanging directly between us. I felt a twist in my stomach. I still disliked Geno for fighting with me all this time but it seemed too good to be true and I found myself still attracted to him a little bit. It was strange and sudden and it faded away with the sound of his voice. “What is….. Broken rule?”
“Mistletoe is like the most Christmasy tradition ever.” Sidney explained to a star struck Geno, who was listening intently to what he had to say. Always one to learn, he was. Max took over from the end of Sidney’s sentence.
“And when two people meet underneath it they have to kiss or you get bad luck on Christmas.” Max finished. Geno’s eyes were sort of wide as he realized what they’d just explained. And mine were wide with the knowledge that Geno was probably the most superstitious person on the team.
“So you two are breaking rules.” Jordan finished with a hint of glee in his voice. Jordan had always known that I liked Geno a bit and he’d taken to making my life terrible for it. This was like icing on the cake of terror he’d put me through since I started working with the Pens. Geno turned towards me, looking a bit lost or scared, or maybe that was how he always looked, I wasn’t sure. Either way he raised an eyebrow at me and whispered so that only I could hear him.
“I am very superstitious.” he whispered, “I do not………. Want bad luck. For you or….. Myself.” I nodded and suddenly felt the twisting in my stomach again as he put his hands on mine. “We are not friends…….. It will mean not…. anything.”
“Yeah…” I whispered back as he inched closer. I felt the need to pull away but resisted as he came within an inch of my face. I could hear Jordan’s voice on my right.
“Don’t break the rules.” he said jokingly in an upbeat manner. I didn’t have time to say anything before Geno’s lips were on mine. He pressed them to mine gently, not overstepping his boundary even though there was a sudden spark. He waited patiently for a few seconds before attempting to pull away. I pushed my fingers through his and in his surprise I pressed my lips to his with equal force. We kissed for a long time, lost in the magic that was all the anger dissipating from us both and we were thoroughly enjoying the feeling of finally being this close.
We must’ve been that way for a while because the clearing of Jordan’s throat was enough to make us break apart quickly. Our eyes fluttered open and we stared at one another, amazed by the sparks that were floating in the air between us; making it electric. We never broke eye contact and we were suddenly content watching each others every move.
“Well, that’s that. Good luck for everyone tomorrow.” Jordan said cheerily, moving away from the counter with Sid and Max and walking back to where they had been chatting with Marc. Geno stood still in front me and we were silent for a minute, unsure of each other.
“Did you feel…….” I started, staring softly into his eyes, curious as to whether or not he’d felt the fire that had engulfed me.
“Yes……” he whispered back, coming closer again. His lips found mine and he kissed me deeper than before with an unseen intensity that shook me to my core. And soon I found that it had become more than kissing but full on making out. It was a dizzy dance through emotions I’d never felt before. But we were private about it and Geno took the liberty of blocking us from view as he continued to kiss me, seizing every opportunity to make me feel a new emotion. Eventually he got one hand away from mine and ran his fingers back through my hair, holding me close as he continued to make my head spin round and round with every move.
And finally we broke apart and he smiled at me. I felt myself mentally swoon as his breath tickled my face and he kiss my cheek once, sort of red faced. I’d never imagined him to be so embarrassed about something as simple as kissing. He was a lot different than I’d painted him in my head. A lot different from what he’d been putting on everyday at practice.
“Happy Christmas……..Mistletoe love.” he whispered quietly. “No more…… fighting…. Kissing is……. Much better way to deal with disagreement………” I smiled as we kissed again. What a wonderful Christmas. And a wonderful night.
