New Year, Same Us - Auston Matthews

two

July 7, 2017

It had been a hell of a season, and that showed when Auston won the Calder, but he thought it didn't count for too much because they didn't make the playoffs.

He gave it his all and I was hopeful for next year, but when it came time to go back to Arizona, you didn't catch me complaining.

Auston decided to have a few of the guys out on the lake and it was more than needed TLC to recoup from a brutal season ending and then a long offseason.

Willy, Kappy, Mitch and Auston were having a diving contest off the boat, while Annika, Penny, Steph and I were chillin out on lawn chairs on the dock.

We were supposed to be judging their dives, if you could even call them dives. But we were mostly just nodding and telling them they looked good to get them to shut up.

I took a sip of my drink, enjoying the way the sun warmed my skin when I felt water being flicked onto me.

I sat my drink down and closed my eyes, trying to relax again as Auston groaned. "(Y/N)..."

I tried to refocus on the rays soaking into my skin when I felt little droplets hit my stomach. I opened my eyes just as he started to shake his head like a dog, the water rolling off his hair and coating me in spots as the corner of his mouth quirked up.

"You little devil." I said getting up and chasing him around the dock.

I heard Willy in the background of my aforementioned chase with a little too much sass, "Actually, he's a leaf!" And that had Kappy rolling.

It was easy to catch up to him, seeing I had no real room to work with in the first place. The dock was tiny.

Our friends laughed as we played a cat and mouse game, with Auston trying to dodge me while I almost fell on my ass trying to catch him.
And when I finally cornered him at the edge, the girls all cheered.

Truth be told I think he let me catch him, but I wasn't trying to call his bluff today.

I wrapped my arms around his bare torso, which was already tan from two days on the lake.
He held my arms around him as I tried to push him off, but he didn't budge, instead his chest rumbled beneath my touch.

So I laid my cheek on his shoulder to catch my breath, smiling all the same, "why'd ya splash me ya big idiot?"

"What can I say? You were looking a little hot, thought I could cool you off." He grinned, the kind where he was teasing me and I wondered if he knew the real effect of what his words did to me.
He had too.

I was glad I was standing behind him so he couldn't see my cheeks start to burn, because it wasn't from the sun.

I brushed his comment off, "What's the real reason?" I twisted myself in his embrace. I was in front of him as he looked out to the lake.

He got pouty all of sudden, "wanted you to see me dive." he mumbled and I laughed, remembering when we used to dive in the pool as kids, and if we weren't diving, we were racing from one end to the other.

"I can still rate it, you don't have to be a big baby about it." I chuckled standing back, motioning for him to continue, "go ahead."

I waited for him to execute a perfect dive, just like I knew he could, (I had seen the Triple Lux 5000 just about every time we did it), but he scooped me up into his arms instead and jumped off the dock before I could even have time to protest.

I really should have seen that coming.

The water was cool to the touch, which was a nice contrast to the way that Auston's skin burned against mine. His arms wrapped around me as we came up for air. I held on to him for stability more than anything. At least that's what I told myself to feel better about it.

"She literally gives him what he wants." Annika said as the group of them laughed. "It's hilarious."

"Not funny!!" I shouted back as I tried to swim away from him. But he caught my leg and dragged me back through the water laughing.

I splashed him a little on my way to the ladder and he splashed me back. I knew it could get out of control pretty quickly, and I wasn't willing to wage a war against Auston, so I just pressed my hand to his face urging him to stop.

He looked confused but I drug my fingers until my pointer was resting on his lips shushing him. Damn those were some soft lips.

Very kissable lips.

Not the point.

We both cling onto the ladder as one of his arms tightened around me, not willing to give way yet.

I could hear Steph and Penny in conversation and the others were playing cornhole or something.
Mitch was animatedly yelling at Kappy about how Annika was kicking their asses and Willy was laughing.

I turned to Auston. "I'm willing to make a truce." I said seriously.

He nodded slowly and I pulled my hand away from his mouth. "I think we're better off as a team. So we need to destroy them."

His eyes danced with mirth, "So schemy, so viscous. I love it. What's your plan?"

"You guys okay down there? It's a little too quiet!" Mitch yelled.

Kappy added curiously, "Not making out or anything?"

"Kas, shut it." Annika scolded.

Auston was about to respond but I clamped a hand over his mouth again and my eyes went wide as he licked me, causing me to yank my hand back quickly.

I just looked at him like 'what the fuck' even though I was smiling, but he seemed to get the notion that we were supposed to be quiet until further notice.

I gave him a signal to jump them on 1. He shot me a thumbs up and I rolled my eyes. When we didn't answer I could hear their feet padding over and I silently counted down from 3.

3, 2, 1. We jumped up and yelled, "Ahhhhh!!"

They all screamed, "AHHHHH!!!!"

Penny didn't even flinch.

It was Mitch who was the most startled. He had walked backwards a little bit and fell off the other side of the dock.

I don't think I've ever seen Steph laugh so hard. Auston had his arms back around me, so when he fell back into the water, dying of laughter, I did too.

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