Chapter Six
El
The annoying screech of my alarm blasted in my ears, and I groaned. Eyes closed, my hand tapped along the mattress, searching for my phone and turning the alarm off.
Forcing my eyes open, I rolled over, and the first thing I saw on Matt’s nightstand was a framed photo of us from senior year of high school. We were in front of the Christmas tree in Chicago; I was on his shoulders with my arms out wide.
I couldn’t help but smile.
The funniest part? I had this exact same photo framed, sitting in a box right now, waiting to be unpacked today.
I pulled Matt’s navy-blue comforter all the way up to my chin. It smelled clean, fresh. I could tell he washed all his sheets right before I arrived.
Suddenly, I wondered how many girls had been in this bed before, and something about the thought made my stomach plummet. Pushing it away, I sat up and climbed out of bed.
I usually only slept in an over-sized t-shirt and underwear, so I slipped on my sweats before leaving Matt’s room.
A lot of the oversized shirts I had used to be Matt’s that he gave me years ago after growing out of them.
Whereas I stopped growing back in high school, it seemed like he was still growing, even now.
With an arm draped behind his head, Matt slept soundly on the couch. He was so tall that his feet hung off the end, Cedar U blanket only covering the area between his mid chest and his ankles.
I’d seen Matt absolutely unhinged before. I’d seen his most lethal, most destructive side. Never in our lives had it ever been aimed towards me, but I’d seen what he was capable of.
Right now though, he was peaceful, harmless. There was something so beautiful about him in this state.
His few freckles were so visible with him being so still, and for some reason, I wanted to reach down and touch each one.
He’d been blessed with long lashes that had every girl drooling, and his jawline looked like it would leave me bleeding if I grazed my hand along it.
Eyes dropping to the exposed part of his thick chest, I gulped.
As if my stare had awoken him, Matt stirred, letting a heavy breath out his nose.
I was the first thing he saw when his brown eyes fluttered open.
His voice was hoarse. “Well, good morning.”
“Morning,” I blushed lightly.
“Were you watching me sleep?” he teased with a sleepy grin.
“No,” I lied.
“Sure.”
“I was actually about to draw on your face,” I joked. Thoughts of kissing that drowsy smirk flitted around my head, and I shook off butterflies.
“Yeah? Where’s your marker?”
“I... dropped it... under the couch.”
Shaking his head through a chuckle, he sat up. Another light blush consumed me, knowing I’d been caught.
Thankfully, Matt left it at that though, and we got our morning started. After making eggs, Matt took charge and woke the guys.
Getting them all up and ready on their day off was a process, and I made a mental note to make sure I planned something nice for all of them to show how much I appreciated this.
It only took us an hour to get me entirely moved into my new apartment. Moving was so easy when there was a handful of hockey players assisting.
Afterwards, all the other boys left, and Matt stayed behind with me, very adamant on helping me unpack.
I focused on my bedroom, while Matt took the kitchen, unloading all my dishes into the dishwasher.
When I got to my box of photo frames, I pulled out the photo of Matt and me that I saw this morning. Without hesitation, I set it right beside my bed, tucked against the corner of my nightstand.
“El?” Matt called.
“Yeah?”
He appeared in the doorway. “I almost forgot.”
“What?”
Digging around in his pocket, Matt pulled out a key and handed it to me.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“It’s a key to our house,” he stated. My eyes flicked upwards, mouth parted in the slightest. “I just... figured you should have one, just in case. I got one made for Jade too.”
I chuckled in disbelief, shaking my head. “Thanks, Mattie. That’s really thoughtful of you.”
Shrugging, he gave a boyish grin, causing an army of butterflies to flutter around in my stomach again.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a key to offer you at the moment,” I joked.
He snorted lightly. “What a fake friend you are.”
“I know. I’m the worst,” I smiled.
My heart ignited at the softness in Matt’s eyes, sparkling and serious as he looked at me. He spoke with sentiment. “I’m really glad you’re here, El.”
Head pathetically dropping to the key in my hand, I desperately tried to hide the heat searing my cheeks. Once I felt it ease up, I looked back at him, clutching onto the key like it was my most prized possession. “I’m glad too.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Now let’s finish unpacking. This place is a mess.”
“Have you seen your house?” I taunted, prompting a deep laugh to flood my ears.
And I liked the sound way too much.
***
It took most of the day to unpack, but I was thrilled with how my apartment turned out.
The countertops were wiped down, the carpet was vacuumed, and everything was neat and organized, just the way I liked it.
Matt had even helped me hang up my string lights, which draped around the perimeter of the living room. It came in handy having a six-foot-five man as a best friend.
The apartment was the perfect size for me, and now that everything was assembled, it was a cozy space.
My favorite, baby pink throw blanket was folded carefully over the back of the couch, and little knickknacks that I’d collected throughout the years were spread around.
There wasn’t a bland area in the place. Although the apartment wasn’t as new or fancy as the one Kota and Bridget lived in last year, I still liked it a lot.
I didn’t think Matt was going to stay as long as he had, but he insisted, only running home to shower after hours of moving things, unpacking, and cleaning.
The last thing I had expected was a fresh, suave hockey player to reappear on my doorstep with Chinese takeout and board games.
Of course, he’d nailed my takeout order without even asking, and ordered twice as much food for himself. After eating, we contemplated what board game to start off with before settling on Battleship.
After yesterday’s long drive and all the chaos of moving today, I was beat. But Matt was one of the only people who I could be around all day long and never get tired of.
“B3,” I called out.
“Miss.”
My eyes squinted. After ten minutes of Matt calling out “Miss” on repeat, I was getting suspicious.
“Are you cheating again?”
He looked offended. “What do you mean, again?”
“You used to cheat at this game all the time when we were kids.”
“Did not.”
“Swear?”
Silence. Followed by Matt’s hand covering his lazy smirk.
“Oh, you’re such a fucking cheater,” I accused.
Matt belted out a laugh as I shook my head. “Okay, maybe I used to cheat back in the day. But I promise I’m not cheating now.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Do you want to play a different game?” he asked.
“You’ll probably just cheat at that too.”
Pushing himself back in his seat at my small kitchen table, Matt’s legs extended until they hit mine. He was still grinning, per usual. Matt was always smiling, and if he wasn’t, then he was most likely grimacing. Happiness and anger— his only two emotions.
“You’re so damn stubborn,” Matt pointed out, biceps bulging as he crossed his arms over the black tee that hid his broad chest.
It was hard not to notice the little details about Matt— the exact shade of his chocolate eyes. The light stubble that shrouded his jaw, no matter how often he shaved. The way his muscles tensed with each movement.
Regardless of how often I admired him from afar, I’d become good at hiding it after sixteen years of practice.
I blurted out, “I’m stubborn because I won’t let you cheat?”
“Maybe we should watch a movie instead,” he suggested through a smile.
“Fine,” I stood, stepping the short distance over to the living room. “What do you wanna watch?”
“What do you wanna watch?”
I peered over at him from under my lashes, sheepishly. “Twilight?”
A groan shook the apartment.
“Fine,” I sighed.
Appearing beside me, Matt offered a sigh of his own before reluctantly giving in. “Twilight’s fine.”
“Score!” I beamed, falling into the couch. Matt got comfortable beside me, and he didn’t give a single complaint as I announced numerous lines that I knew by heart.
As the sun went down and darkness peered through the windows, I grew groggy, eyelids feeling heavy from today’s exhaustion as I listened to Robert Pattinson give his infamous “Spider Monkey” line, a moment that the internet had immortalized through memes and TikToks.
It was the last thing I saw before my eyes fluttered shut.
Gradually slumping into Matt’s side, I yawned. “Mattie?”
“Yeah, El?”
“Thanks for everything today.”
“You’re welcome, El.”
Sleep consumed me, and when I awoke, I was in my own bed, but Matt was gone.