[WAITLISTED] you were never mine // matthew boldy

5

"Don't worry, I'm not here to bother you about your new...uh, girlfriend," Kirill said with his glowing smile.

I groaned. "Are you sure? You have a smirk on your face," I mentioned.

Kirill blinked. "No, I'm being serious," he responded. "I was wondering if you could help me,"

I raised an eyebrow. "Help you?" I repeated.

He nodded his head. "Yeah. I need...uh," he paused to think. "Advice, I think is the right word,"

"What do you need advice for?" I asked Kirill.

His hazel eyes darted to the floor, then back up to me. "My girlfriend who I just met just randomly...uh, disappeared from my texts. She's not talking to me," he told me, which I found extremely surprising. Who would want to ghost somebody like Kirill?

I nodded my head. "So she ghosted you?" I asked him.

He looked at me in confusion. Probably because he didn't understand what I had just said about "ghosting."

"She's ignoring you," I clarified.

Kirill nodded his head. "Yeah, and I don't know what I did to upset her. There's no explanation," he responded. "What should I do? I was supposed to hang out with her with Jared and his wife but Jared canceled the reservation,"

"Maybe she's busy. Is she in college?" I asked him.

He nodded his head again. "Yeah," he responded.

I sighed. "I think that might be it. College is stressful," I mentioned.

"Matt, you don't understand. She just left my apartment after I got done using the toilet. She said she had some...sleep tournament," Kirill said.

I looked at him in confusion. "Sleep tournament?" I questioned, almost laughing at the idea.

"Yeah. I was just as confused as you are when I heard that come out of her mouth," he responded. "Just...help me. I really want her to know that I still care about her and I'm starting to get worried. I think she blocked my number,"

I nodded my head. "For sure. What's her number? I'll call her and tell her to come to the locker room so y'all can talk it out," I said.

Kirill gave me his girlfriend's number. "Just don't take her away from me. I love her with all of my heart, and I'd hate for Peyton to leave you because you're talking to another lady," he chuckled.

My face started to redden. How did Kirill know about Peyton and I? Damn, Russians are actually pretty scary.

"Wait, Kirill," I said as Kirill got up from the bench.

He glanced back at me. "Yeah?"

I gulped. "How do you know about Peyton and I?" I asked him.

He chuckled with a smirk. "Let's just say...word gets out faster than Dean throwing punches at Darby," he responded before he went back to his locker.

I started to stare off into space. First thing I do in our new relationship is immediately fuck it up. I broke my first promise.

How would Peyton feel if the Minnesota Wild players knew I was dating her, when she isn't supposed to be? Or was it just Kirill who knew? All for a "private relationship" either way.

I sighed again and tied my skates before grabbing my helmet and stick, then headed to the tunnel for warmups to start.

—
peyton stanton -

After the game, in which the Wild beat the Stars in overtime 3-2, I finished editing and processing the photos I had taken at the game before clocking out and heading home.