Chapter Fifteen
El
The boys won both games in the weekend series, but Matt claimed it wasn’t without difficulty. In fact, he said it was actually a struggle from start to finish.
I’d never say it aloud, but I could tell.
Over the past few years, specifically last year, I watched the boys dominate every game they played, controlling the puck effortlessly and hardly giving their opponents a chance.
But yesterday was different. It looked like all the boys lost themselves.
They weren’t playing with the intensity and skill that I knew they were capable of, even if they did pull it off in the end.
Either way, I was at the hockey house for one thing and one thing only— to support Matt.
Fresh off both wins, a party was in store. It was The Stallion Way, of course. And now that I was an official Stallion, I joined in on the fun.
Yesterday, most of my day was taken up by dance.
I made the club team, and we were finally getting our season started.
Today, I’d spent the entire day up until the hockey game with my face buried in a textbook, reading, highlighting, and burning the information into my mind the best that I could.
Needless to say, I was ready to let loose a bit.
By the time I arrived at the house, it appeared that I was late to the party.
The place was already packed inside, and since the weather was still nice, even the yard was filled with people too. There was practically nowhere to escape to if I needed a breather.
Random faces were all I saw as I wandered in, and I received a fair share of dirty glares from Barbie lookalikes, drowning themselves in White Claws and Trulys.
Whereas they stood confidently in minidresses and curled hair, I’d settled for jeans and a halter top tonight, hair thrown up in a claw clip.
The pungent smell of vodka swirled through my nostrils as I stepped over a large, dark spot on the carpet. Someone spilled already?
Sliding through a group that was blocking the opening to the hall, a set of turquoise eyes appeared in front of me.
“Looking for someone?” Keith grinned.
He already knew the answer to that question.
“Matt,” I said.
“Ah,” he nodded. “He’s hiding.”
“Hiding?” I lifted a brow.
Keith’s smirk disappeared behind his beer as he took a swig. “Lizzie’s here.”
“Oh.” I could feel my blood run cold. I wasn’t a fan of that girl. But even more so, she wasn’t a fan of me.
“Which, according to Cody, means you should also be hiding?” Keith’s brows furrowed.
I couldn’t tell if he was bullshitting or if he genuinely was clueless as to what the hell was going on.
Instead of pressing, Keith asked, “Do you need a drink or anything?”
I shook my head. “I’m okay. I just need to find Matt.” Looking past him, I scanned every face in sight, but none of them were the only one I was looking for.
Keith’s mouth formed a hard line. He gave a nod. “I think he’s in his room.”
“Thanks.” Without another word, I trailed past him. There was a swarm of people passing by Matt’s door, glowering as I maneuvered myself around them and knocked on the door. Resting my forehead along the wood, I spoke loudly.
“Matt? It’s me.”
Within seconds, the door opened, and I fell into the empty space.
Sturdy hands clutched my waist to steady me. “Geez,” Matt chuckled. “Are you drunk already?”
“Completely sober, actually,” I smiled, making my way in. Giving him a once over, his black flannel was unbuttoned, revealing a white tee underneath, matched with a pair of blue jeans. He looked like he was ready to have a good night, like he’d been looking forward to it. “You’re hiding?”
A deep grunt fell from Matt’s throat as he winced. “Hiding is... maybe not the term I’d use.”
I folded my arms lightly across my chest. “So, what would you use?”
Matt’s response came out sounding like a question. “Avoiding?”
I watched far too closely as his hand, the size of a bear paw, traced along the stubble on his chin. Why did I want to reach up and run my hand along the same pathway?
Matt looked at me, waiting for me to say something.
All I could do was grin silently.
A slanted smile fixed itself on his lips as he dropped his head and sat on the edge of his neatly made bed. “What? You think I’m overreacting?”
“It’s not that,” I said, sitting beside him. “I just don’t think you should let her ruin your night.”
Music was blasting so loud that it shook the floor beneath my feet, and I could still hear unfamiliar voices looming from outside the bedroom door.
Matt’s hands gripped the edge of the bed, his arms flexing under the pressure. His tongue darted out, licking his lips so casually, yet the way it made me feel was anything but casual. Sometimes, it was so goddamn hard not to jump across the barrier we’d built and smash my lips against his.
Jesus. And I hadn’t even started drinking yet.
“You’re right,” he said, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of it rather than me.
But the reality was, I felt just as awkward about this as he did.
Ever since we were in middle school, it seemed like Matt always had a girlfriend. Whereas Cody or Crew were known as being playboys, Matt was known as being a heartbreaker.
I couldn’t count all his girlfriends on two hands. Most of those relationships didn’t last very long. Quite frankly, there were only a few that I actually remembered. Lizzie was one of them.
Lizzie wasn’t the first girlfriend Matt had ever had that seemed uncomfortable by how close him and I were. Rightfully so. I didn’t blame her for that in the slightest.
However, she was the first girl who gave him an ultimatum over it.
It was either her or me.
Matt didn’t hesitate with the choice.
There was a sudden, overwhelming sense that this was my fault. That I was the one who broke them apart and was contributing to his current discomfort.
Would he still be hiding away if I wasn’t here?
In reality, this was his house, his party. He could get her kicked out if he wanted. But when it came to women, Matt wasn’t known to fight fire with fire. On the other hand, when it came to other men, Matt was known to throw a punch.
“Hey,” I softly started, “if it will make you feel less awkward to be around her, I can head home.”
The skin around Matt’s eyes creased, lines digging deep into his forehead. He ached steadily from the words.
“Hell no. You’re not leaving.”
“But if it makes it easier on you, then—”
“No,” his face hardened.
I quietly murmured through a nod, “Okay.”
Matt’s hands slapped his own thighs as he pushed himself to stand. A bear paw wrapped around my forearm, gently lifting me up with him. As always, his touch was warm, and the feeling sent a spark to my center.
All the blood rushing through me seemed to stop for a second, overwhelmed from the touch. I could only hope it wasn’t all going to flood to my cheeks.
“You know, I can stand up on my own, Mattie,” I let out.
That lovable smile appeared for me. “Mhm,” he joked.
“Mhm, okay.”
The sea of people in the hall hadn’t let up at all. The air was hot, sticky. It felt gross to breathe in, almost unsanitary.
I tried to keep up with Matt but was falling behind. When he noticed, he reached backwards, snagging my hand with no regard for who might see.
Pulling me through, Matt led us to a tiny open space towards the front of the house. We caught our breath, but not for long.
The piercing glares from Lizzie were tangible. It felt like she was stabbing us with an invisible knife from across the room.
As a girl, I understood her animosity. Her discomfort. Her grudge, if that’s what it was.
But her and Matt had been broken up for well over a year, and they only dated for a few months. If she was going to walk into his house, then she should know better than to assume it wouldn’t be weird for her.
There was a gnawing in my gut— the fierce feeling of needing to defend him. But unlike Kota, I wasn’t very confrontational.
Damn, I wished she was here right now.
Letting out a huff, I turned my back to Lizzie, tapping Matt’s chest.
He brought his ear in to hear me. The strong scent of his cologne hit me like a semi.
“You wanna get out of here?”
“Yeah,” he nodded eagerly. “Let’s fucking go.”
We walked out of the house and into the September night, wandering with no destination in mind. I hadn’t realized how much my body temperature had spiked in that house until a cooling breeze came. I let the fresh air clear my lungs, doing a quick, mental reset.
Walking alongside the road, Matt lightly gripped my arm and tugged me on the other side of him, a certified gentleman, refusing to let me walk beside the street. I smiled to myself at the gesture.
As we strayed further, the boisterous chatter and music began to fade, but it was quickly replaced by other rowdy parties we passed.
“Where should we go?” Matt wondered aloud.
“Not sure. Do you have anywhere in mind?”
I scanned the length of houses ahead of us, each one run-down after years of careless college kids occupying them. Strobe lights of varying colors shone from most, casting shadows of bodies in the front windows.
“Well,” Matt tipped his head to look at me as we stumbled along, “we could go hang out at your place and be lame all night. Or, we could go to the bar and have fun.”
With a villainous grin, I teased, “Didn’t realize my place was so lame.”
He chortled. “You know what I mean.”
“Fine,” I agreed. “Bar it is. Did you wanna go to Stallions?”
“Hmm,” he hummed. “Let’s go somewhere new.”
“Somewhere new?” I chuckled.
Burying his hands into his jean pockets, Matt gave a tiny shrug, such a small, innocent reaction for such a huge man.
His gruff voice echoed into the night, and he kicked a rock away as he spoke. “Yeah. Let’s see where the night takes us.”
I felt lucky that instead of spending his first few wins of the season at a raging party, celebrating with his teammates, that Matt preferred to spend it with me, regardless of what we were doing.