Rookie mistake - BK81
Ben Kindel x Malkin Reader Word count: 1101 Summary: Talking to a pretty girl after a game is stressful enough. Discovering her father is Evgeni Malkin is where things start to go very, very wrong. Genre: Fluff, Cute meet, Hockey Romance, Protective Parent.
Masterlist
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Ben had not meant to stare at you.
Though in his defence, it was hard not to.
You were standing just off to the side of the family section after the game, talking to someone who he couldn’t quite see yet, dressed in jeans and an oversized Penguins jersey, with a smile that had made his brain stop working for at least 5 seconds.
Which was embarrassing, because he was not usually this pathetic over a pretty girl.
Usually.
“Kindy.” Sidney Crosby's voice came from beside him, “You good?”
Ben blinked, “Yep.”
“You’ve been looking over there for the last five minutes.”
“I have not.”
“You absolutely have.”
Ben tore his eyes away from you.
“Shut up.”
Sid snorted and skated off toward the locker room, leaving Ben to stand there pretending he had anything better to do than keep glancing back over.
He didn’t, and apparently the universe found his suffering amusing, because a few minutes later, you looked up and caught him.
Ben froze.
You smiled, actually smiled, at him.
Well.
There went his dignity.
Before he could overthink it, he pushed himself awkwardly in your direction, mentally trying to remember how conversations actually worked.
You noticed him approaching and tilted your head slightly to the side.
“Hey.”
Ben seemed to forget every word in the English language.
“Hi,” he managed back after a moment of silence.
Great start.
Up close, you were somehow even prettier, which felt completely unfair.
You tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear.
“Good game.”
“Oh uhh thanks.”
Another moment of silence passed.
Ben wanted to throw himself directly into the nearest wall.
You seemed to take notice of his panic because a small, amused smile tugged at your lips.
“I’m Y/N, by the way.”
Ben blinked. Okay, she’s giving me her name, this is good, names are good.
“I’m Ben. I mean, you probably already know that. Not in a weird way, but I just... Yeah. Ben.”
You stared at him for a second before laughing, not a mean laugh.
Thank God.
But a cute laugh, which somehow made this worse.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ben.”
“You too.”
Is he sweating? Why was he sweating? It's literally an ice rink.
You glanced towards the hallway behind him, “So, new rookie?”
He nodded, “Is it that obvious?”
“Just a little.”
Ben groaned, and you laughed again.
“I think it’s that terrified expression you have going on.”
“I’m not terrified.”
You lifted an eyebrow, and Ben reconsidered.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“That’s fair.”
He smiled despite himself because talking to you seemed to be getting easier now, just slightly.
You asked him about the game, and he asked how often you came to them.
You told him your dad dragged you to most of the home games when schedules lined up.
Dad.
Right.
That should have been a normal enough sentence, but instead, the second those words left your mouth, a voice with a thick Russian accent cuts in from behind him.
“Y/n,”
Ben nearly jumped out of his skin.
You turned immediately.
“Hi, Papa.”
Papa.
Papa?
Ben looked up.
And directly into the face of Evgeni Malkin.
Ben’s soul left his body.
Geno looked between the two of you slowly.
Very slowly.
His expression was unreadable.
Ben briefly considered pretending to have a medical emergency.
“I’m just talking to Ben,” you said casually.
Geno stared at him for a moment before extending a hand to pat him on the arm.
Hard, his arm hurt after that.
Wonderful.
“You did well today,” Geno said.
“Thank you, sir.”
Sir?
Since when did he say, sir?
Geno gave one short nod before looking at you.
“You ready to go?”
You sighed dramatically.
“Okay.”
Then you looked back at Ben, smiling in return.
“It was nice meeting you.”
Ben swallowed.
“Yeah. You too.”
You waved once before walking off beside your father.
Ben stood there unmoving.
One of his teammates skated up beside him, not even ten seconds later.
“Well?”
Ben still hadn’t blinked.
“I think I just flirted with Evgeni Malkin’s daughter.”
His teammate burst out laughing.
“Oh, you are so done.”
Ben dropped his head into his hands.
“This is a nightmare.”
The next day at practice, Ben was fully prepared to avoid all eye contact and possibly change identities.
Unfortunately, that plan lasted approximately twelve minutes.
He was gathering pucks near the boards when a shadow fell beside him.
Ben looked up.
Geno.
Of course.
Ben nearly swallowed his tongue.
“Hello,” he said weakly.
Geno leaned on his stick.
“You like my daughter, yes?”
Ben choked.
“What?”
Geno stared.
Ben stared back.
There was absolutely no point in lying.
He looked guilty enough to be arrested.
“I... uh.”
Very articulate, Geno continued looking at him.
Then, to Ben’s complete shock, the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You can ask her out.”
Ben blinked.
Once.
Twice.
“I can what?”
Geno shrugged.
“She likes you.”
Ben’s brain fully shut down.
Before he could formulate a single functioning response, Geno pushed off and skated away like he had not just changed the trajectory of Ben’s entire life.
Ben stood frozen on the ice.
Sid skated by.
“You look like you are gonna be sick.”
Ben turned slowly.
“I have permission.”
“What?”
“I have permission.”
Later that night, with his heart trying to escape through his throat, Ben stood outside the arena entrance where families usually waited.
You spotted him almost immediately.
Your smile widened.
“Well, hi again, rookie.”
Ben laughed nervously.
“Hey.”
You stepped closer.
“What’s with the panic this time?”
Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “So… funny story.”
You waited.
He inhaled once. “Your dad told me I could ask you out.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then your face lit up with amusement.
“Oh my god, he did not.”
“He did.”
You laughed, covering your face for a second. “That is so embarrassing.”
“For you or for me?”
“Both, probably.”
Ben smiled, and some of his nerves settled when you smiled back.
He cleared his throat.
“Anyway, now that I apparently have official authorization…” he paused. “Do you maybe want to get coffee with me sometime?”
You tilted your head like you were pretending to think.
Ben almost passed out, but then you smiled at him.
“I’d love to.”
Ben let out a breath.
You laughed. “Relax, Kindy. You look like you’ve just survived a near death experience.”
He looked at you.
At your teasing smile.
At the arena doors, where Geno was probably somewhere inside.
And then back at you.
“Honestly,” he admitted. “it kind of feels like I have.”
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Authors Note: I had this idea and thought it would be cute.
