𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓈 - 𝓈. 𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝒷𝓎

two

alexis jogged down the stairs with her body covered by a sweat set. she walked into the kitchen and sat down, playing with her bottle of iron pills. her hands shook and cole put his warm hand on top of hers, "calm down, hun. i'm sure you'll do fine."

"i know but what if they don't like me as a person?" she laid her head on the cold counter and cole rolled his eyes.

"how could anybody not like you, lex? you're hot, nice, and you're great at hockey. you're literally every guys dream."

"but i don't want to sleep with them, coca cola, i want friends. what if they don't like me like that? what if they try to make a move?" she asked as he made her a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast.

"don't you already have a friend there? from sweden?"

"yeah marcus but i want new friends. i'm so scared that they'll ship me off if they don't think i'm good enough." cole slid the plate to her.

she ate a piece of bacon and looked down at the floor, seeing tate by her feet, "you'll still love me if i fail right, tater tot?"

he picked his head up and wagged his tail, expecting to be given food.

"i'm gonna need you to stop being so negative. you're just making yourself feel worse. eat and get your little butt to practice. i'll be here with tequila just in case."

"god you're the best." she smiled. "what did i ever do to deserve you?"

"you pay seventy percent of the rent." he joked, sitting beside her with his own plate of food.

****

alexis walked into the arena, her backpack resting against her lower back. she opened the door to the locker room and was pulled into a tight hug.

"i missed you so much, monkey." marcus pettersson spoke in swedish.

"i missed you more, dip shit." she pulled back, "you get taller?"

"nope. i think you got shorter." he hugged her again, "i really can't believe you're here."

"just wait till we're back on the ice." he grinned.

"you are so right. let me get ready really quickly." alexis rushed to her cubby and took off her clothes. she changed into a compression set and started putting on her gear.

sidney crosby stood in front of her, "hey."

"hello." she answered, tying her skates.

"it's really nice to meet you. it's great that you're here." the man said awkwardly and alexis laughed.

"calm it, dude." she smiled and he blushed, "i know this is new but just treat me like everyone else."

"yeah... ok." he nodded and kris laughed at his locker, watching sidney fidget.

"sid, come here." the man said, allowing for his captain to get out of an awkward situation.

"oh my god. i can't speak to her. how am i supposed to be her captain?" sidney sat down and glanced at alexis. she grabbed her gloves and helmet before walking out of the door with pettersson.

"marc looks close to her, maybe ask him about her." kris shrugged, putting on his shin guards and pants.

"good idea."

****

alexis skated around the ice and took a deep breath, her nerves calming down quickly. she looked at marc, "is sidney always so awkward?"

"he's awkward but not that awkward. he's not good with chicks."

coach sullivan whistled, "hall! come over here."

"uh oh." alexis skated to her coach and he smiled.

"how ya feeling?"

"pretty good. i'd feel even better if i knew what we're doing today."

"well i and my assistants were planning on a practice game to get everyone's juices flowin'. of course you'll warm up with murray first."

"that sounds great." she grinned, "thanks."

"no problem." he crossed his arms as she skated away. alexis was going to go back to marcus but sidney was already speaking to him. she shrugged, heading towards matt.

she sat down on the ice next to him and started to stretch, "i gotta admit, this is so nerve-racking."

"i feel ya. everyone here has felt the same way. nobody is expecting you to play like a god."

after the short game alexis took off her helmet. she skated to center ice and marcus patted her head, "lexiglass wall is back babyyyyy!"

"oh come on, marcus. i know you guys were going easy on me." alexis pushed marcs shoulder and the group looked confused.

coach sullivan had told them to try as hard as they could to gauge how she dealt with pressure. the fact that she thought they weren't playing their best was insane.

"let's go! the gym is waiting for all of you!" assistant coach todd reirden blew his whistle and the team got off of the ice.

alexis changed into a black tank top and shorts before pulling on white sneakers. she followed marcus up to the gym and sat on the ground, starting to stretch.

after almost an hour of workouts practice was over and the players started to leave. alexis decided to stay behind and run on the treadmill, wanting to calm her mental state down.

after she ran almost a mile sidney stepped onto the one beside her. he looked over her shoulder and matched her speed, "hey."

alexis looked at him, "hello again."

"so i'm not great at this but i wanted to welcome you. i have no idea what having a girl on the team will do, but i think this is gonna be a great year for us."

"i do too. as long as the team doesn't keep looking at me weird this is gonna be fine."

"what do you mean? when you were changing? because if so i'll talk to them."

"no. everyone had a weird look on their faces after the game."

"oh! that's because we were trying our best to score on you. like the other team would in an actual competition."

"seriously?" she slowed her treadmill speed to four miles per hour, "are you sure everyone got that message?"

"thats why we were so confused! you're an awesome player, alexis."

"lexi." she blushed at the compliment.

"and you can call me sid." he smiled.