I slowly batted my tired, crusty eyes to find the sun seeping through the metal blinds in Matt's room. He wasn't in the bed next to me, and the digital clock next to me read 8:21 in bright, red numbers.
I groaned and reached over to grab my phone from the charger, greeted by a cute picture of Matt's head laying on my chest, looking tired as I had my fingers waved through his soft, dark blonde hair. His blue-gray eyes pierced the camera with affection and kindness, and he looked like he was about ready to fall asleep on me.
I got up from the bed, groaning as the bed creaked, and stretched my arms and back.
I sniffed and smelled a scent of strawberry and whipped cream that emanated from the kitchen down the hall and around the corner.
Grabbing my phone, I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to see what the particular scent was from.
I peeked around the corner and noticed Matt cooking pancakes on a countertop grill. Along with the pancakes, he was frying sausage and bacon on the stovetop next to the countertop grill. He was still in his outfit he wore to bed, which was a navy blue USA Hockey shirt and gray sweatpants. His hair was still somewhat messy, as if he had also just rolled out of bed.
"I thought Boston people didn't make breakfast, they just had tea, coffee, and donuts," I said to make my presence known to Matt.
He turned around and smiled with a soft chuckle. "I grew up an hour away from Boston. I'm not from there," he chuckled as he flipped his pancakes.
I rolled my eyes. "So you're saying you're from Boston," I said to annoy him, though I wasn't sure how he'd be the rest of the day. Considering we were planning on hanging out the entire day, starting with a coffee run.
"No, I'm from a small town called Milford. I lived closer to the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border than to Boston," he responded, turning back around to face me, folding his arms.
I scoffed. "Still from Boston," I smirked.
He rolled his eyes and messed around with the sausage and bacon in the frying pan on the stovetop. "You're more irritating than Brandon," he muttered as I slipped into one of the chairs at his table overflowing with junk mail and other unnecessary shit.
I smiled. "Oh, did I hurt someone's feelings?" I said in a baby-ish voice. "Does someone need a tissue?"
He stomped over to me and forcefully brought me up from my sitting position. "Say one more thing for the next few minutes and that pretty face of yours is gone." he threatened, pulling me closer to him.
I smirked. "By what?" I asked.
His blue-gray eyes glared into my eyes, then he gently put me down. "I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about," he told me, then he walked back over to tend to his food.
I rolled my eyes and sat back down in my chair.
After Matt was done making breakfast, he dished up both of our plates and we went to eat on his couch. He flipped on the television and put on a rom-com about a couple stuck on the island of Guam.
I took the first bite out of his strawberry pancakes he made with butter and whipped cream on top, sprinkled with mini chocolate chips. My mouth immediately melted in flavor, and I suddenly wanted more.
"Holy shit," I muttered, swallowing the pancake bite.
Matt glanced at me as he stuffed his mouth with his own pancakes. He smirked as he pulled the fork out of his mouth. "Are they good?" he asked after he swallowed his bite.
I nodded my head, stuffing my face more with his angelic pancakes.
He chuckled. "Some would say I'm better than Gordon Ramsay," he added with a wink.
I swallowed my bite of pancakes. "Nobody says that. That's a bold assumption," I told him, pointing at him with my fork.
He smirked again. "Well, last time I checked, my last name has the word 'bold' in it," he said.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, then I continued to eat the breakfast that he willfully made for the two of us. Maybe this was to get us in a good mood for later today while we were out and about in downtown Minneapolis.
When the two of us finished our breakfast, I had gotten ready for the journey back home so I could get ready for our day ahead.
"Leaving so soon?" Matt asked as he straightened his couch a bit.
I slipped on my black pair of Vans and hovered my hand over the door handle. "We'll see each other in less than an hour. I just need to go home and get ready," I told him.
He frowned as he walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. He pecked me on the lips, then pulled his body away. "Drive safe. I'll be here if you need anything before you get here again," he said.
I smiled, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. "Of course. I love you," I said, opening the door.
"Love you too," Matt said before I exited his apartment and started the journey back to my apartment.
—
On Matt and I's itinerary was this: we stopped at a local Caribou Coffee drive-thru to get our desired coffees, then we'd make the drive over to downtown Minneapolis to walk around the city. I heard he's never experienced downtown Minneapolis for the time he has been up here, and I thought I would be the person to show him. While walking downtown, I told him I wanted to stop in some shops to see if any of them had any business wear or professional wear for my trip out to Las Vegas in a little over a week.
"You're going out to Vegas with Kirill and Cam?" Matt asked as I told him my idea of shopping while he figured out his way out of the apartment complex parking lot.
"It's a part of my job," I responded, making myself comfortable in his Toyota.
He chuckled, then pulled onto Redwood Street. "I suppose. Me and a bunch of the guys are thinking about going down to Cancún for a mini vacation," he told me. "Plus their significant others as well,"
I frowned, fidgeting around with the air vents. I truly wanted the full passenger princess experience, you could say.
"but since you're going to be in Vegas, I guess that plan's shot." Matt finished.
I briefly glanced at him, guilt stricken all over his pale, acne-covered face. "I'm sorry, Matt. At least we have today to make up for it, sorta?" I responded, hopefully cheering him up and making light of the situation.
He sighed, putting his right turn signal to turn onto West University Avenue. "Sure, you can say that," he muttered, stopping at the traffic lights that screamed red.
I looked into my reflection in the side mirror and frowned again, looking back out into the windshield. "We also slept together last night," I added. "That must have made you happy,"
When the light turned green and a green arrow appeared on the light, Matt accelerated the vehicle slowly behind a silver GMC Sierra truck onto University Avenue. "It did," he responded unemotionally. Damn, he must be really hurt about me going to Vegas even though it's my job.
I sighed. "Matt, I don't know if you understand, but I'm going to Vegas for work. If I didn't have to go, I'd go to Cancún with you and your teammates and their wives. I don't go on road trips with you and the team, so I don't see why it's a big deal that I'm going to Vegas just for a few days." I told him, trying my best to keep myself collected.
His face quickly shifted from an upset look to a look of realization. "Oh shit, you're right," he said.
I chuckled as I facepalmed myself. "Matthew," I giggled. "You were so adamant about being right,"
"Yeah, oh well, oops," he said, briefly glancing at me before focusing on the road again. "Nobody's perfect, right?" he chuckled.
I smiled. His laugh always made me blush, it was cutely deep and his perfect smile complimented the laugh.
We crossed the Mississippi River and entered the downtown limits of Minneapolis.
"Holy shit, man! Watch where you're flying!" Matt screamed at a sudden biker on the road that was to his left. "There's a reason why you've got a bike lane!"
I couldn't stop myself from getting a giggle out of Matt's acute road rage.
"Jesus, Minnesota drivers can be worse than Massachusetts drivers," he muttered, then let out a deep sigh and continued driving.
I rolled my eyes and looked outside at the businesses along each street we drove down on. I loved being downtown in a huge city, which was why I was very excited when I heard that I got the job with the Wild a year ago. From growing up in rural Minnesota to living in the big city (or cities), it was definitely a change for the better and I'm enjoying every second of it.
Matt pulled into a parking lot, paid the twenty dollar parking fee, and parked his car in one of the spaces.
We were in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, traffic bustling being heard on all sides.
"Well, where should we go first?" Matt asked as he locked his car and walked over to me on the sidewalk.
I shrugged. "There's a small mall over there, maybe we could go there," I suggested, pointing at a building with many shops and bulbed lights strung around everywhere.
He shrugged. "Sounds good to me," he said, then we started walking towards the building.
We walked into the mall, overblown by the amount of people in the mall at eleven in the morning. A faint noise of pop music played on the intercom system of the mall below the constant chatter from shoppers alike.
"Hey, there's a Chinese place!" I exclaimed as I pointed at the small Chinese food express booth by the food court. Chinese food sounded good.
Matt chuckled. "I'm still full from my pancakes," he mentioned.
I smiled as I glanced up at him. "Me too, but it doesn't hurt to maybe get Chinese to go," I told him.
He chuckled again, sticking his hands into his Minnesota Wild sweatshirt. "Right, right. What were we coming in here for, again?" he asked me.
I giggled. "So I can find some new clothes," I told him.
"Oh yes, because you wanna be a famous Vegas showgirl," Matt joked.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, you old skank," I told him as I grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind me as I began looking for a decent shop with business attire.
"I'm two months older than you!" Matt exclaimed behind me.
—
I never thought shopping with a girl would be so tiring. Perhaps it was more tiring than Dean's lame slap shot drills that easily grow repetitive or skating suicides.
Peyton ended up buying over five hundred dollars worth of clothes for her trip out to Las Vegas for the all-star game, and I'm sure she'd wear these same clothes when it came playoff time.
Eventually giving in to her request, I ordered Chinese food off of Uber Eats and we planned on spending another night together. Anything to rebuild any lost memories or trust and affection for my ex-girlfriend who was now my girlfriend once again.
"Thanks for wanting to hang out, I know I can be a lot," Peyton said as she chewed on her crab rangoon.
I swallowed my bite of white rice coated in soy sauce. "Oh, of course. I had nothing else to do. I would've probably laid in bed," I chuckled, wiping my face with a napkin.
She set the plastic fork in the bowl with her white rice. "I wouldn't have cared to lay in bed," she said. "You know, actually being comfortable,"
I chuckled again. "What, so you had an excuse to be in my clothes?" I joked, setting the Chinese on the end table next to the couch.
She smirked. She knew I got her.
"Maybe," she giggled as her face reddened.
I rolled my eyes and attempted to take one of her crab rangoons in the plastic bag next to her. She immediately swatted my hand away and her hazel eyes pierced into my soul. She does not want anyone touching her crab rangoons.
"Oh come on, just one?" I pleaded.
She looked at me, then her crab rangoons, then back up to me. "Let me think about it." she told me, then gave me a smug thinking face.
I raised an eyebrow, then she gave me her coveted crab rangoons.
"Thanks," I said, then stuffed it into my mouth. The cream cheese absolutely melted into my mouth, and I swear Peyton probably saw my eyes roll to the back of my head.
She chuckled. "Should've gotten a bag, you goof," she said.
My eyes widened as I continued to chew the food. How dare she say something like that.
I swallowed. "Wow," I responded, smirking.
She giggled.
We continued to eat, then after we ate, we just sat on my couch, Peyton slumped onto my right arm. She smelled heavenly—hints of cotton candy and lemonade swirled together.
I had my arm around her, gently rubbing my thumb up and down her tricep to hopefully stimulate her nerves.
"Don't stop," she begged, squeezing me tighter.
"You don't have to worry," I assured her, following her request and I kept rubbing my thumb up and down.
I've always been a sucker for cuddling and moderate kissing. I'm not a extreme type of guy, despite the fact that I fucked Peyton when we were first dating. That was probably adrenaline and I may have been a little horny that night. Now I'm exhausted from her shopping trip and our hangouts today, and practice is scheduled for eleven tomorrow morning.
I yawned, even though it was really only 8:30 and there was still plenty of night left. But again, I was just exhausted.
"Tired already?" Peyton asked me as she lifted her head to meet her eyes with mine.
"Yeah, your little shopping trips tired me out," I chuckled. "I didn't think it was that draining,"
She giggled, sitting back up on the couch. "Oh, I forgot to mention that. Oh well, you got exhausted because of me," she said, acting as if she was going to get an award for that.
I scoffed. "You think you're gonna get a reward for tiring your boyfriend out because you needed clothes?" I asked her.
She shrugged, still smiling. "I don't know," she said, then her face suddenly got closer to mine. "It's up to you," she winked.
My face reddened as her hazel eyes glistened in an evil, sinister sparkle.
I smirked. "I'm not sure you'll like this said reward," I returned.
"Give it." she demanded.
I rolled my eyes and put my hands on her warm cheeks, then I pressed my lips against hers. She followed immediately, like she expected this to happen. Probably part of her sinister plan based on the look she was giving me a few seconds ago.
"Mhm," she moaned in between kisses, grasping onto my hair.
I smirked. "You always make my heart melt," I told her.
When she could escape the kissing through the short air pockets, she giggled. "That's my main goal." she told me.
"Why don't we go somewhere more comfortable? I know you'd love that. It's a part of your reward." I suggested.
"Take me anywhere, Matthew,"
My heart raced as she called me by my full first name. "You got it." I breathily said, sweeping her off of the couch and to my bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
—
What do you think happened between Peyton and Matt in his bedroom?
Anyways hope you all are liking it so far! I'm not exactly sure how many more chapters I'll be writing of this book, so we'll find out together lmao
Also, for those who come from my Kirill Kaprizov fic, you guys are gonna get some TMM exclusive content in upcoming chapters of this book (but don't tell anyone shh) ;)
Anyways peace out y'all 😋