Holy Gorgeous

“So, let me see if I get this,” Peyton began, turning so she was half facing me and half facing where the game was taking place. “The whole goal of this game is to get that chunk of rubber into the net?”

I rolled my eyes, “First off, I know you already have an understanding of how hockey works, so stop acting like you don’t. It doesn’t make you seem cuter,” I smirked at her as her confusion was melted down into a frown. “And secondly, yes. But there’s more to the game then that.” I heard the crowd begin to roar even louder and whipped around to stare down at the source of commotion;Eric Godard fighting Kevin Bieksa. Can we say dream fight?

“Oh dear God, why is he hurting the good looking one?” Peyton asked, her hands flying up to cover her face.

“Which one is the handsome one?” I asked, frowning as Bieksa threw a left punch that shot Godard’s head back, but also caused him to lose balance and fall to the ice, making it easer for Godard to pull him up and land a few uppercuts. “From this angle they’re both bloody.”

“The one in the blue.”

I made a face, “Really? Out of all the guys on the ice, Kevin Bieksa is the one you’re drooling over?”

“Well, I figured I have to pick someone off of the home team-”

“You are wrong,” I interrupted. “I love our Canucks, but when it comes to a good looking team, you give the applause to Pittsburgh.” The two guys in front of Peyton and I turned around to send me a bemused expression, which I acknowledged with an embarrassed wave.

Peyton shrugged, watching as the reff’s lead Bieksa and Goddard to their respective penalty boxes before skating off to review who had instigated the fight.“How was I not watching this before?” Peyton asked, watching as both teams clanked their sticks against the board in honour of the fight. “It’s so intense. And for some reason, guys smashing each other into the boards is really hot.”

I grinned. “I know, right?”I sat back down in my seat, along with the rest of the crowd, as play continued, Pittsburgh winning the face off and taking procession, with Crosby passing the puck off to Tyler Kennedy.

“What’s happening? Are they going to score?” Peyton asked.

“Not if Luongo is on his game,” I said back to her, watching with a racing heart as Kennedy, Guerin and Crosby played tic-tac-toe around the goal, with Crosby making a quick pass off to Guerin who returned the favour by taking a wicked slapshot right up in the five slot. I winced my eyes shut, awaiting the sound of a disappointed Vancouver crowd as the visiting Penguins took the first lead.

“Oh wow, he’s good,” Peyton yelled, standing up to cheer. I opened up my eyes, looking down to see Roberto Luongo holding Guerin’s slapshot in his glove, standing back up as the entire crowd began to chant, “Lou, Lou, Lou!”

“God, I love hockey.” Peyton decided, nodding her head. She studied someone on the ice for a second before pointing down, “Give me the Down low on Crosby.”

I glanced over at the visibly disappointed Sidney Crosby as he skated back over to his teams bench and hopped over the board, letting out a sigh as he shook his head, clearly upset that the play hadn’t gone as planned.“Uhm, he’s 22, captain of the team, rumoured to be the next Wayne Gretzky-” I stopped, remembering that Peyton wasn’t very into sports and probably had no idea who Gretzky was. “He’s a really great player. That’s about all I know. He doesn’t give too much away in his interviews.”

Peyton nodded, her eyes staying on Crosby for a moment before she turned to me. “You think that tall guy will hold his promise and come find us?”

I nodded. “He sent his coach to give us tickets and a pass that apparently is magic, so I’m thinking he’s going to keep his promise.” I studied the way she grinned, flipping half of her hair over her shoulder and straightened out her back. I groaned, “Peyton, come on! If you’re going to be one of those girls who tries to score herself a hockey player, you can’t pick Crosby.”

She glanced at me, “Why not? He’s cute.”

“Well, yeah, but-” I paused, trying to think of the right words to use. “He’s just not that type.”

“What, you know that?”

“Well, no…but he just seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t do that. People aren’t even sure he’s had a girlfriend,” I tried to explain.

Peyton let out a small laugh, “Relax, Hanna. I’m not a whore. I just think he seems like a cool guy, he’s attractive, successful and in front of me. I’m giving it a shot.”

I pursed my lips, deciding not to argue with her on it. The facts were that Peyton was the kind of girl guys wanted. She was tall and slim, with legs that seemed to go on forever and eyes that she described as sparkling green auburn(meaning green with a hint of brown). She had strawberry blonde hair that could be styled easily and always seemed to look perfect. On top of all of that, she was also really funny, charming and easy to talk to. Girls have a word for her. It’s bitch.

“How much longer until the game is over?” Peyton asked.

“An hour, give or take.” I mumbled, reaching down to grab the bag of Peanut M&M’s I had bought.

“I am going to have to use the first intermission to make sure my hair looks fantastic,” Peyton decided.I let out a sigh, trying to direct my attention back to the game and not on the way Peyton was fluffing her hair

---------------

“I did not know the gates opened like that!” I squealed as the security guard who met us at the end of aisle popped open the barricade that overlooked where the players walked back to get to the dressing rooms. Peyton laughed, carefully stepping down and waiting for me to join her before we headed down towards where the Penguins were. “This is kind of exciting. I know I’d never watched hockey until tonight, but I am a fan.”

I glanced at her, shaking my head as I cautiously headed down towards where the Penguins dressing room was. “I’m so nervous. You know how you always try and think about ways to meet the hockey team? The fact that one of them actually happened is making me freak out.”

Peyton didn’t say anything for a second, making me wonder if she either hadn’t heard me or didn’t care. She eventually let out a long sigh and turned to look at me with wide eyes.“Holy gorgeous.”

I frowned, confused for a moment before I looked ahead of us and took note of the mass of Hockey players racing in and out of their rooms, some of them going off for interviews, some just racing out to grab something, all of them in only their spandex under shirts and pants. “Oh wow.” I agreed.

“Hey, glad you guys could make it!” Jordan Staal greeted, already changed out of his jersey. “How was the game?”

“Hot.” Peyton answered, earning a confused look from him.“

It was great. Well, not for you because you lost, but I’m from Vancouver and they won so it was…good,” I answered, scratching the back of my neck. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to meet the rest of the team.”

Jordan grinned, “I think it’s a great idea. My PlayStation died, so I am really starved for entertainment. And if I have to hear Talbot and Fleury singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ to each other one more time, just because there’s nothing else to do, I just might throw myself off of the plane,” He stopped, taking a deep breath. “And that can’t happen. I’m far too good looking to die this young. It would be a travesty to the world.” Peyton and I both stared at him, watching as he looked up at the sky and let out a gentle sigh before he finally turned his attention back to the two of us with a grin. “Come on, I think the team is decent now.” He waved one of his hands and headed back through the tiny door that lead into a surprisingly small change room.

Peyton and I both stood awkwardly at the edge of the doorway, watching as all the players mingled with one another or finished up an interview. The small room was crowded, the floor overtaken with camera cords, some of the players stuck sitting down on the change bench from all of the cameras and reporters crowded around the player next to them. Max Talbot was sitting next to Marc-Andre Fleury, pretending to be his translator as Fleury only answered the questions in French, allowing Talbot to make up whatever answers he wanted, usually earning a laugh from Fleury and the reporters.“Anyone you’re anxious to meet?” Staal asked, tossing the towel I hadn’t even noticed he was holding into a small bin near me and placing both of his hands on his hips.

Peyton grinned. “Is Crosby available?”

Jordan laughed, making me fight back my own laughter at the way he seemed to find her asking this so ridiculous. “Are you kidding?” He chuckled once more, moving to stand next to Peyton as he pointed off to a corner of the room that was completely hidden by the mass of reporters and cameras. “He’s over there. And once he’s done there, he’ll be making his way out to address the rest of the media waiting in a room outside.”Peyton blinked, seeming to not completely understand why this should stop her from meeting him right then, but she shrugged. “Well, I know nothing about anybody here, so whoever you like, I like.”

He nodded, “Fair enough. Anyone in particular you want to meet, Hanna?”I blushed at the fact that he remembered my name, earning a smug smirk out of him as he waited for my answer.

“Uhm, well, I’ve always wanted to meet Matt Cooke, ever since I was 14 and he still had his front teeth and boyish good looks.”

Jordan nodded, “In my personal opinion, he still has those boyish good looks,” He told me, leading Peyton and I over to where Matt Cooke stood, unwrapping pieces of Hubba-Bubba Bubble Gum and rolling the wrappers up to toss over at Tyler Kennedy as he tried to remain composed during an interview, chewing a few of the pieces gum and tossing the pieces he couldn’t fit in his mouth towards the media pile in front of Crosby.

“Hey, Cookey,” Jordan interrupted, startling Matt a little bit as he turned his head to look at Jordan and then down at Peyton and I. “These are our new tour guides for the next two days, Hanna and-” He frowned, turning to look at Peyton, “I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name.”

“It’s Peyton,” She told him, smiling up at Matt Cooke. “Hi.”

He nodded, glancing in between the two of us, clearly confused about how in the hell we knew Staal. “Hey. So…enjoyed the game?” He asked lamely, earning a small giggle out of Staal.

“Not as much as I’m enjoying you throwing things at the other players,” I admitted.

This earned a grin out of him. An adorable, two teeth missing grin. “It’s pretty great,” He admitted with a childish grin, chewing loudly on the however many pieces of gum were in his mouth. He unwrapped one more piece, the last piece in the package, rolling up the wrapper to, once again, throw at Kennedy, and then turning to look at Peyton and I. “Gum?”

I grabbed it out of his hand so fast it startled him. Then I realized what a nut I looked like and dropped the piece of gum to the floor, staring at it in complete embarrassment.

There was a lapse of silence before I heard Peyton, Jordan and Matt all burst into a fit of laughter. “That was awesome,” Matt laughed, leaning down to pick up the gum and whipping it over at where the media in front of Crosby was, his face falling as he noticed that they had finished their interviews with him and were all slowly making their way out of the room, leaving Sidney Crosby to glare at Matt Cooke. “Oh, shit,” he muttered, grabbing Jordan and hiding behind him. “Introduce him to the girls, Jordan. Maybe they’ll distract him.”

Sidney shook his head, using one of his hands to tiredly rub his face as he stood up from where he had been sitting. The rest of the team had already showered and changed, but Sidney was still in jersey, the sweat he had made earlier still clinging to his skin. He ran his hand through his hair next before giving Peyton and I a smile. “Hi, I’m Sidney,” He introduced himself, still a few feet away. “I’d come closer but, I kind of smell.”

“That’s fine. The view’s good from here,” Peyton assured him with a flirtatious grin.

He remained awkwardly silent, directing a look to Jordan that I believe said, “What the hell are these girls doing here?”

Jordan grinned at him, “Sid, this is Hanna and Peyton. They told me how to get to our change rooms at that events centre this morning, and also questioned Talbot’s sexuality.”

Sidney laughed, a laugh that, no matter how many times you’ve heard it in interviews, catches you off guard. “Oh, you’re those girls,” He realized, still giggling lightly. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

I smiled, trying to swallow the nerves bouncing around in my body. “You were amazing tonight. I really thought you had Luongo beat on that breakaway.”

He nodded, twitching his mouth to the side. “Yeah, I did too,” He admitted, his attention moving from me to the man calling his name. “I’m sorry, I have to shower and then go do a few more interviews,” He apologized kindly. “I’ll try and talk to you two later on,” He promised, giving a small wave and sending Jordan another look as he headed off towards where I’m assuming the showers are.

“Well, was he all you had hoped for?” Jordan asked, looking at Peyton and I.

Peyton shrugged. “He’s certainly a good looking guy. Kind of boring, but hot.”

Jordan nodded. “He’s not actually boring. Sid just has troubles opening up, I think,” he shrugged. “I can guarantee that when the media isn’t around and it’s our day off, you’ll get to see a little more of the real Sidney.” He glanced around, noticing how the locker room was almost empty now. “Well, how about you guys hang out in the hall with the rest of the players, and we’ll work out how we’re meeting up so you can show us around,” He suggested. Peyton and I agreed, making our way out of the room to join the swarm of trainers, players and leftover media.

I had to close my eyes for a second and take in a deep breath, inhaling the disgusting smell of sweaty men mixed in with the frigid scent of the ice. This whole thing, meeting a Hockey team, being asked to show them around my city, it was almost too much to believe, and I actually feared that, as I stood there with my eyes closed for a few seconds, I would open them to find myself at home in my bed.

The feeling of something smacking my face followed by the laughter of whom I assuming to be Matt Cooke was enough to assure me that this wasn’t just some crazy hallucination or dream. For whatever reason, I was actually here.