Auston Matthews Imagine

Auston Matthews - Part Twenty-Eight

Everything in the room seems to go still, they stare other and I stand in the kitchen frozen in time. Auston slowly looks back at me, an unreadable look on his face as he opens his mouth to speak to me.

"Y/N, who's your friend?" He asks, his voice dangerously low and immediately I feel defensive. He has no reason to be mad at me. None.

"Auston this is Riley, Riley this is Auston," I say, moving from the kitchen to the outskirts of the living room. I may be defensive, but I'm not dumb enough to walk over to Auston right now.

Auston nods at Riley who stands and holds out his hand, Auston eyes it a moment before setting his bag down pointedly on the stairs before moving to the couch and shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Riley says pleasantly, though I can see him squirm slightly as Auston squeezes his hand probably a little too hard. I hurry to Auston's side and put a hand on his arm, he immediately lets go of Riley's hand and also moves his arm out from under my touch. A flash of hurt passes through me and I frown.

"How's the project?" Auston asks me, looking down at me with unfamiliar eyes.

"Good, we were just finishing up," I stammer, unable to hold his gaze and look down at my hands.

"Right, I was just packing my things," Riley says, sitting back down and stuffing the last of his books into the well-worn backpack. Auston reaches out and relief floods me, but quickly vanishes again when he takes my elbow and walks me to the kitchen.

"Auston," I hiss, jerking my arm out of his grasp. "Do not man handle me."

"Your lab partner is him?" Auston hisses back at me.

"No, he's just a stray I picked up off the street," I spit back at him, sarcasm thick on my words. "Of course he's my fucking partner, Auston. What's your problem?"

"And you were here working alone, with a very good looking guy, who was blatantly staring at you before I even opened the damn door." This time it isn't a question and I give him an exasperated look.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? He is my lab partner Auston, what do you not understand about that?" I snap.

Just as Auston opens his mouth to speak, my dogs come bounding into the room, some watch dogs they are. They bounce around at Riley's legs and he reaches down to pet them.

"I never asked, what are their names?" Riley asks me, glancing over at where Auston and I are huddled behind the counter.

"Zalla is the bigger one on your right, Andie on your left," I say, giving him a tight smile.

"Andie? Isn't that a boy name?" Riley asks, glancing back up from them.

"That's rich coming from a boy named Riley," Auston grumbles next to me, loud enough for Riley to hear.

"Auston!" I hiss, sending andelbow into his ribs though he barely even notices, his stare on Riley. To my surprise Riley doesn't get upset, he laughs quietly instead.

"Touché. Should have seen that coming," he gives one last pet to each of them before heading towards the door. Sending a filthy look at Auston, I hurry to open it for him.

"Thank you for coming to work on our project, Riley," I try to smile at him, embarrassed by Auston's actions.

"No problem, thanks for hosting. I'll finish the conclusion and email it to you this weekend," he says before slipping out the door and down the path to his car.