The Only Thing That Works Better Than A Cold Shower...

“Flower’s New Rose

Mere days since Penguins' goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury's long time girlfriend, Veronique Larosse, left he's been spotted around town with a new woman.
“Who knows what she's really after.” A source close to the Penguins stated. “We all know it's not Marc-Andre.”

“Ouch!” I said as I threw the article back down on the table, “Glad to know that a ‘source close to the Penguins’ doesn’t think I can get a girlfriend by my own merits.”

“This is ri-god-damn-diculous!” Cooke spewed from beside me. “Bull! What kind of gold-digger dates a goalie…?”

“Where do you even come up with those?” I sighed, “and what do you mean…? Goalies are awesome!” I glanced around the table; everyone was avoiding my gaze. “Oh, come on! I’m the only person at this table that plays the whole damn game!”

Jordan started to laugh, “Dude you stay in the same foot of ice… spinning like a ballerina” I let out a disgruntled groan as they erupted into laugher; they’d never let me live that down…

The phone rang, giving me an excuse to leave the table. I picked up the receiver, hoping to hear Abby’s voice.

“Marc-Andre! How could you?!” A woman scolded through the phone.

I let out a sigh and turned my back to the boys. “Hi Mom.”

“A girlfriend!? A girlfriend, already? How could you not tell your mother!?”

“Listen, listen! I just made it official the other day, alright? I was going to tell you… I’ve just been busy… I’m sorry.”

I heard her exhale loudly. “Well, your sister is very upset that she had to find out on the internet… I hope we get to meet her. Christmas?”

I gulped audibly, Christmas? “Mom… it‘s a little early for that…” I groaned and put my hand over my face, there’s no point arguing with her, I said silently. “I’ll ask her today, ok?”

“That’s what I want to hear… Marylene wants to talk to you.” I groaned as I heard her calling my little sister. I glanced over at the clock; it was almost noon.

I put my hand over the receiver, “Guys, I gotta go after this… I’m meeting Abby for lunch so… either get out not or lock up before you leave.” Staalsy, Cooke and TK looked at each other; nodding as they heading into my living room - turning on the Xbox.

“Marc!” She squealed loudly into the phone. “We need to talk…” She sounded serious, I tried not to laugh; I could only imagine what this was. “You need to get back together with Vero… I was going to be a bridesmaid!”

That’s not what I was expecting at all. “Umm… Marylene, that’s not going to happen. I have a girlfriend now, and Vero… she’s got someone too.”

“What? What are you talking about?!” She snapped, sounding angry and confused. “Vero doesn’t have a boyfriend…”

“Yes she does, she probably just doesn’t want to-”

“No. She doesn’t Marc. I see her everyday, she’s been hiding in her house since she got home. She’s miserable.”

“But… that’s not… she-” She told me that she had a boyfriend… that’s why she had come over...

Mary answered my question for me. “She told you that she had a boyfriend because she walked in on your new girlfriend… she was trying to hide how upset she was.”

“Look Mary, I gotta get going… I’ll give you a call later, alright?”

“Fine. Bye.”

She hung up, completely put out. Of course I was the bad guy in this situation. Vero had been like the sister Mary never got to have; they use to do everything together back home, and when we left for Pittsburgh - they talked almost everyday.
It didn’t matter that she had left me, or that she was the one who lied about having a boyfriend.

So what now? I was confused, a little annoyed, surprised. It still didn’t make sense to me that Vero would show up here and then lie about having a boyfriend; even if she saw Abby. Why?
If she wanted me back and was trying to make me jealous… it was almost ironic. The main reason I felt different about her, was thinking that she belonged to someone else. I wonder if I would have chased after her if I had of known the truth…
I stopped that thought right in it’s tracks… either way it doesn’t matter. I smiled as I thought of Abby; how things had turned out - for the best, I was honestly starting to believe.

Still, I wanted to know. I checked the clock; still lots of time, and grabbed the phone again. “Hey Vero, it’s Marc. I was just talking to Marylene and she said that you don’t have a boyfriend… I… I don’t care or anything, I just wanted to know... if you’re you ok?” I let out a sigh, trying to figure out what to say. “Look, just give me a call…”



I heard Abby, before I could see her. “Marc, my mother's not giving...” I walked through her office door, to find her staring out the window. “Marc, you don't have to say yes, but will you please save me from my family and come home with me for Thanksgiving?” She let out a sigh, sounding worried.

“What if I want to say yes?” I chuckled as she jumped in her seat. She turned around and flashed me that grin, the one that I loved so much. Her eyes left my face and fell upon the paper bag and bouquet of roses in my hands; raising her eyebrows. “The last flower didn't really work out. I thought I'd try again.” I beamed as I watched another smile break out over her perfect lips. She got up quickly and swept across the room towards me, tip-toeing up to give me a kiss.
I let out a sigh as I chucked my purchases onto her desk; lifting her off the ground once my hands were free. Kissing her is probably the best way to spend a day… I thought as let my tongue drag over her cherry flavoured lips. Deciding that was my new course of action, I pulled her closer to me; feeling my body respond accordingly.
“Seriously you guys… get a room…” Max quipped from the door; I didn’t bother acknowledging him. “Geesh! My poor virgin eyes…“ He sighed after another minute, causing me to finally break away.

I turned around to see him grinning; I let out a snort; “Right, because we might do something to corrupt poor little Maxime.” He shrugged in response, his smile growing. “So, are you here for a reason?”

“Nope, just coming up to say hi… good thing too… I’d hate to think of what would have happened if I got here any later. Someone has to watch out for this girls virtue.” He nodded at Abby, causing her to blush.

“Ok… I’m sorry to eavesdrop, but did Max Talbot just say he’s watching out for someone’s virtue?” Mario appeared behind Max, looking sceptical.

“Oh ouch! What, you think I’m not like that?” He asked, feigning hurt. Mario shrugged and continued down the hallway, Max following suit. I listened to them laugh together until they were too far away to hear anymore.
I turned my attention back to Abby.

“Is he always like that? Appearing everywhere?” She sat back down at her desk, giving me a flirtatious grin.

“No actually… apparently it’s a new habit that he’s picked up. Let’s hope it doesn’t last.” I licked my lips and bent down to kiss her again. Her stomach let out a growl and I backed off, laughing slightly. “One interruption after another…” I sighed, grabbing the brown bag and pulling out some Chinese food.

I dug in, realizing just how hungry I was. “So what’s this about Thanksgiving?”

“Oh…” Abby said, poking at her food with a chop stick. “My mom saw… that article about us.” I laughed, needing no further explanation.

“Sounds like my Mom… who’s hoping to meet you… during Christmas?” I grimaced as I waited for her reaction. She let out a small laugh.

“Looks like our parents are already into this relationship.” I nodding in agreement and relief. We sat in silence as we ate; or as I ate and Abby played with her food. Wow, she’s really nervous about this… or maybe it was the article. I thought to myself as I watched her.

“Hey Abby, you’re not upset about… the article are you?”

“What?” She looked up at me. “Oh… no! Are you?”

I shrugged. “I wish you didn’t have to deal with it but… I’m not upset no… How could I be upset when my girlfriend‘s a fox?”

She started to laugh and shake her head, “A fox, am I?” I nodded enthusiastically, causing her to laugh some more.

Might as well… at least she’s in a good mood. “Umm… so I know that you’re really busy getting ready for this banquet but… do you think you’ll have time to go to it?” I bit my lip as she looked up at me.

“Oh… I really don’t know…” I gave her my best puppy-dog-face. “Marc, I’m not sure that that’s a good idea?”

“Why not.” I finished off my lunch, tossing it into the garbage.

She sighed and threw her’s in too; still full. “I don’t think the other girlfriends like me too much…” She looked down at her lap, like she was ashamed by this.

“Well… I don’t know about that, I haven’t heard anything. Besides, I don’t like them very much!” I saw a smile dance at the corner of her lip, so I pressed on. “You’ll be with me anyway… please babe.” She looked up at me, surprised. Ugh, ’babe’… oops. To my surprise she smiled.

“I guess I could go… for a bit.” I grinned and pulled her face towards me, kissing her gently; for once, extremely excited about a formal function.
Then again, I’d get excited over anything if I got to take Abby with me…



I knocked on the door, terrified. I already knew that her brother hated me because of what had happened before; in his eyes I was the guy that made his sister cry.
I thought about Marylene and sighed, If roles were reversed; I’d hate me too.

The tall, tanned guy - that I had seen once before, at the rink - pulled the door open and shot me a dirty look. “Hi… I’m Marc-Andre. We spoke on the phone before…”
He nodded curtly before moving aside, to let me in.

Abby was just coming down the stairs when I looked up; feeling my jaw drop. She looked beautiful - no, not beautiful; stunning, magnificent, perfect. She came to a stop at the foot of the stairs and I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming down her body.
The shape of the red dress as it caressed ever part of her, caused me to bit on my lip.
Her hair was pulled back and curled; hanging loosely down her back. It took all my willpower not to reach out and wrap my fingers in it. I pulled my eyes back up towards her face and those lips.
God, I want to kiss her… I swallowed and tried to find something nice to say, but I couldn’t remember what words were.

She turned slightly to say something to her brother and I found my eyes wandering back down.
If her brother wasn’t here… I sighed, feeling my blood rush south. I need to get that dress off her, hold her, touch her, taste her-. As she turned back and began to move towards me again, I exhaled loudly.

“Ready to go?” She asked, shyly; probably worried about the fact that I was frothing at the mouth. I nodded, still too caught up in her to try and throw a coherent sentence out.
She reached out for my hand and I lead her to my SUV; not caring at all the her brother was shooting dagger at me with his eyes.


I was pretty sure that I was the luckiest man in the world. Ex-that… 100% sure. I could tell that Aberleigh was slightly uncomfortable with the attention and cameras on here; after-all she spent all her time behind them, trying to make people like me look good.
She clutched onto my arm like she was clinging on to life itself; which I didn’t mind. Especially not after seeing all the looks she was getting from the male population of the room - my team-mates included.

Finally pulling myself together enough to look away from Abby for more than a second; I saw what she meant about the girlfriends. Normally, I didn’t have to associate with them. At events like this, Vero would go over and sit with them, leaving me free to hang with the guys.
As Abby wasn’t comfortable with them, she stayed with me; and I could feel their judgemental glares across the room.

I said my part at the mic, chatted with the guys and posed for some pictures; deciding that we had stayed long enough. Aberleigh was putting on a brave front for me, but I could tell she was ready to leave; any time I caught sight of her, I was ready to leave too.


“Well, that wasn’t so bad…” Abby sighed as she flopped down on my couch; kicking off her heels. I nodded slowly, watching her as she undid the clips at the back of her head; allowing her hair to fall free. “Marc, is everything ok? You’ve been really quiet.”

I started to laugh as I undid my tie and jacket; discarding both. “Would you believe me if I said, I can’t function with you in that dress?” She looked down at her body, pulling a pillow across her stomach.

“That bad?” She mumbled, not meeting my gaze.

“I’ve been trying to keep my mind busy so I wouldn’t pull it off you actually…” I walked towards her slowly, taking a seat beside her on the couch. She looked up at me as I pulled the pillow out of her arms; tossing it on the floor. I reached out and wrapped my hand around the back of her neck. I pulled her to me gently, indulging in the feeling of her lips as they tenderly brushed mine.
I wrapped my loose arm around her, pulling her to me more forcefully; her leg working its way across my lap; until she was startling me.
I moaned as I ran my hands up her legs; sculpting my palm against every part as I reached her thigh.
I pulled my face away from her lips and started moving down her throat, and past her collarbone.

I took a deep breath and pulled back; feeling my blood pounding through every part of my body. I had to stop now; if it went any further, I knew I wouldn’t be able to.
I scooped her around until she was sitting on my lap; her face nuzzled into my neck. I kissed the top of her head and held her to me.

I hope she understood. She was sitting on my lap, so I knew she could obviously feel that I was ready for the next step; but we had never discussed that, and I didn’t want to do something wrong.
I looked down at her again; a direct view of cleavage below me - cold shower it is…

“I’m gonna go hop in the shower alright?” I felt her nod against me. “I have gym short and shirts in my room so… help yourself to anything. I’ll be right back.” I moved her onto the couch and headed upstairs.


The cold shower didn’t do as much as I had hoped, and I was still painfully aware of her presence in the next room when I climbed out.
She was curled up on my bed in a shirt; flipping through the channels. The phone rang beside her and I nodded for her to answer, while I fished for some clothes.

“Hello?” She asked as I found the sweatpants I was looking for. When she said nothing else I turned around to see what was happening; the look on her face caused my heart to skip a beat; finishing what the cold shower couldn't.
I pulled on the sweats, underneath my towel before I crawled onto the bed.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked softly, as I came up beside her. She continued to stare at me as her hand reached up to cover her mouth.